id always wanted to know whats the weak point of the c4 suspension? its a nice car when lowered imo and has better rims.
also, hiw much did that shell cost? id like to do a restoration project and when I found out the c4 has independent rear suspension I got Interested.
btw nice work on thw car. are you gonna paint it yourself?
Thanks! If there had to be one glaring weak point about the C4ās suspension, it is actually the frame. It was originally designed as a car with T tops but at some point GM execs back in the day wanted it to have a one piece top. Engineering did what it could with the last minute change but it shows if you remove the top and drive with it off. A lot of flex. The C4 suspension itself is very good so much so it finds its way onto virtually every other non-Corvette custom restoration. Even the old solid axle and midyear Corvette guys who loathe C4s use C4 suspensions on their cars.
Independent rear is good but for a street car, a solid rear is great too, so donāt let that keep you away from a 3rd gen budget F body or some other car with a solid rear. C4s are dirt cheap now but you get what you pay for. Itās not too hard to find a mild 383 C4 someone else already built for $6000 or a little more. If you donāt mind driving stick, focus on finding a manual trans C4, they come with overbuilt goodies. They come with the D44 rearend which you canāt break unless you are really trying.
The 84-88 model year 4+3 manual trans C4s are great cars but avoid them if you find one without records of proper maintenance on the transmission. I like the 4+3 transmission but the automatic gearbox attached to the four speed is known to fail if not maintained properly. 4 speed side gets manual gear oil, the OD auto side gets ATF fluidā¦gaskets and seals have been known to fail and allow the two fluids to mix. If the Overdrive box fails, you only have the 4 manual gears, which you go through quick on an on ramp and without an overdrive, the car is screaming at interstate speeds. Also if the auto section isnāt engaged properly you can smoke the clutches inside and it needs to be rebuilt.
1992-1996 has the LT1 which focuses more on top end performance running up to 5500 rpm versus the 1985-1991 cars which focused on low to mid range torque which was all done by 4200 rpm. The LT1 cars are dirt cheap right now as well. 1996 also had the LT4 engine which made 330 hp and revved to 6,200 rpm but sellers want a few thousand more for those. Then you have the best of the best C4, the ZR-1 which in decent condition is still selling over $20,000 for the 1990 models and $30,000 for a decent 1995 model. Hard to argue with 7,000 rpm and 405 hp even today!
My car actually was in running condition back in 2000 when I first got it but every payday it broke down it seemed like. It broke down two weeks before I was heading to college for my first year in 2002 so it sat for years. I finally decided to just tear it apart and rebuild it. At this point itās a labor of love and not common sense. I will try to prep it as best I can before I let someone else paint it. I have 0 experience in that area nor the facilities to paint it. Would be cool to try though!
I guess it depends on what you want out of your project. If itās going to just be a fun street car, look for a TPI equipped C4. In stock form, theyāre all done by 4200 rpm primarily thanks to nearly 16 inches of distance air travels through restrictive runner tubes from the plenum down into the combustion chamber. I think LT1s have a total 5 inches of distance air travels before its in the chamber for reference. But TPI cars make a lot of torque down low in a more street useable rpm band versus say someone wanting a high rpm screamer motor that doesnāt really wake up until after 5500 rpm. And on the street, torque = fun, unless you like to really wind a car out in which case youāll be disappointed.
ah nice to know.
in typical fashion I was going to go with a LS1/Tremec t56 combo.
but thanks for the info, canāt wait to see the finished product.
Thatās not a bad choice but you definitely have to have a plan for the build or youāll emotionally burn out on it/run out of money. Once you have it wired up to work with the LS1, that would make future LS engine installs go a lot smoother. I think if you want a real zippy car, a Miata with an LS motor is pretty crazy.
Figured I would post a few pictures of mocking up drive belt accessories. I quit pretty early today because it is ridiculous out there for humidity and heat. Passenger side pulley is where the AC compressor was because I have decided not to run AC. Sounds crazy, especially for Florida summers, but driving with the windows down and the top off keeps everything ventilated. The fact you shed 100+ pounds of weight off the car after all the AC related stuff leaves isnāt too bad a perk, either.
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/mockup1_zps74844c8a.jpg
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/mockup3_zpsb1efded0.jpg
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/mockup2_zpsd2253afe.jpg
Nice pics
Doesnāt driving with your windows open use more full than the AC does though? Completely depends on how you plan to use your car though.
Mythbusters did an episode on getting the best mpg and driving with the windows down actually did use more gas than windows up and AC on. I will mainly enjoy the weight savings from a performance standpoint and less engine bay clutter. It wonāt be a daily driver and the 383 was built to wind up, so I wonāt experience the peak output until around 6,000 rpm. Saving fuel was an afterthought. But if I want to save gas, I have the sixth gear which is an economy gear so I can lug along at 1500 or so rpm and still pull decent mileage. I drive everywhere with the windows down anyway even in the daily driver with working AC.
Is that going to be a race car, RPD? Sorry, I didnāt read your posts yet, but I want to know what you intend to do with you project. How much power will it have?
Not a race car, just a street car. Itāll make around 470+ horsepower at the crank. I have taken some cues from race car enthusiasts and have put the car on a little diet. Of course, you do that and you sacrifice some comforts if you want to get serious. Only power accessory left in the interior will be the power windows because C4s only came with power windows. Unless I can work out something with lexan which would eliminate the motors and heavy door glass. Stock door panels are pretty weighty once fully dressed out for a complete factory perfect look.
Iāve toyed with the idea of a thin plastic panel screwed in place, which would weigh all of 1 pound versus the 12 or so pounds the stock panel weighs, not including the 5 pounds of metal plate behind and metal rods that go to the door opening assembly, the mechanical piece that unlatches from the striker so you can open the door. Iām thinking because the door register is spring loaded, I will just run a cable from it through the composite panel with a pull strap so it can be opened. If I could pull both of those projects off thatās an easy extra 50 pounds per door shed AFTER gutting of all the other stuff which weighed a bit.
Those are possible projects after the car is running againā¦ The idea is to eventually get it down in the 2800-2900 pound area in full running form. If I can find a way to lexan the door glass and heavy rear hatch glass, I think itās doable.
Is one of your goals to out perform or equal a stock C6 Z06? The final power to weight ratio of your car will be around what a stock C6 Z06 has. Man, your car sounds like itās going to be amazing.
My original goal was to just get the car running but I got a little silly about engine choices. I would be content with just being able to stick to an LS7 Vette in a quick blast.
I would be content with that as well.
@Tekno Virus, how are the breakās holding up?
Alright? I havenāt slammed on my brakes yet, but they feel about the same.
Iām feeling a more āsolidā feel to the brakes. Itās much easier to brake now. It appears the brakes need to ābroken intoā initially.
Yeah they get better over time. Glad you liking them. Also make sure you do the brake in thing by slowing down as fast as possible from 60 to 20. Your package should have more information.
my car and bike
Figured I would share a few more pictures of piddling on the little things in the lovely Florida heat. There are so many little things though and they can add up and burn you out if you try to marathon it through them or you mess something up rushing. I mocked up the headers initially and ran into some problems with the header bolts threading in correctly due to clearance issues from the pipes and holes pre-drilled in the headers. After a few careful dimples on the pipes and light re-drilling of the bolt holes, the headers could be fully bolted on. Felpro gasket with copper gasket compound applied to both sides and everything is bolted up for keeps now. I took a quick cellphone pic of the heads after I took the headers off for their reworking. Gotta love the inner workings of a cylinder head.
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/photo22_zps91ec501d.jpg
Also hung the mufflers and rear exhaust pipe. The mufflers are magnaflow and I had my reservations when I first unpacked them due to how big the tips were over the stock exhaust outlets. But once on the car they look okay, they have a trumpet like flare to them that is hard to see in the pics but no doubt that will let people hear me coming and going for a while.
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/muffler1_zps3834485a.jpg
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/muffler2_zps6482fab1.jpg
And here we are: the home stretch! Fans of Hot Rod TVās āRoadkillā episodes on youtube will recognize the cardboard list method.
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/photo11_zps5dae17ea.jpg
http://i1271.photobucket.com/albums/jj622/jamallhughes/photo23_zps6926b4f7.jpg
Most of the items listed are nickel & dime stuff.
Nice bike! The R6 sits tall, like the Triumphs. If you get sick of tip toeing, maybe look into the GSX Rs, they seem to sit low enough for short people to not having to play a balancing act when stopped. Those bikes seem to shine at the tracks but not so much commuting in city traffic! Razor sharp handling, one of the best besides itās aesthetics.
For me, Iām going -1 for the front in the next couple of weeks so I can get more torque on the low end, Iām sure your R6 would be great if it did a -1 or -1 and +2.
Honda NM4, apparently itās based off the Akira movie, I think itās pretty cool.
