Progress so far.

[ZR1cliff]

Ive more or less finished the V area of the motor,just gotta get familiar with the secondary stuff and install it then its some work on the chain area and when the heads turn up i should be on the home straight.
[pic]http://i4.photobucket.com/albums/y114/LoTu5/2005_0525starter0002.jpg[/pic]

[franv8]

Looks really good Cliff - hope you're back on the road soon - our British Summer rapidly passes!

Are you going to the Nationals?

[ZR1cliff]

Realistically unles the stuff arrives tomorrow i wont be going in my vette although might turn up just to sell of some parts.

[c4koh]

I'm sorry - that makes me cry

When I replaced my starter motor on my ZR1 it certainly wasn't that clean - it was full of crud like you wouldn't believe - leaves and the like...

I'm due to pull the plenum shortly (intermittent secondary actuator problem!!) so maybe I'll clean up down there as good as Cliff has :-) and take a picture.

Cliff - looks like a nice bit of work coming together. As I'm just about to check out my secondary system (I have on order from Kurt White new actuators / reservoir / solenoid / hose kit), if I can help in any way just let me know.

[Gixer]

franv8 said:

Looks really good Cliff - hope you're back on the road soon - our British Summer rapidly passes! Are you going to the Nationals?

Has it started then????


Cliff, when re-fitting the secondaries, carefull not to overtighten those little nuts that retain the plastic levers on to the secondary butterflies. If you remember last year when I had my plenum off I noticed all the secondary butterflies were out of sync. with each other - it was because those nuts had been over-tightened and those cut-outs in the washers are not strong enough to stop them from slipping around with the nut.

[jayk]

just curious ,after following your engine woes and subsequent rebuild.Why you spent so much time and money with a certain person who shall remain anonymous when it looks like you have done a better job yourself

[ZR1cliff]

c4koh said:

I'm sorry - that makes me cry When I replaced my starter motor on my ZR1 it certainly wasn't that clean - it was full of crud like you wouldn't believe - leaves and the like... I'm due to pull the plenum shortly (intermittent secondary actuator problem!!) so maybe I'll clean up down there as good as Cliff has :-) and take a picture. Cliff - looks like a nice bit of work coming together. As I'm just about to check out my secondary system (I have on order from Kurt White new actuators / reservoir / solenoid / hose kit), if I can help in any way just let me know.

Sounds good Steve,the secondary systems looking a bit daunting at the moment so any advice or detail of renewel would be invaluable,thanks for the compliments

[ZR1cliff]

jayk said:

just curious ,after following your engine woes and subsequent rebuild.Why you spent so much time and money with a certain person who shall remain anonymous when it looks like you have done a better job yourself

At the time i didnt have confidence to work on it myself and would have gratefully paid a trustworthy specialist to maintain and uprate my car,but after what happenend to me i decided to takle some of the work myself,not only have i lost £24k with the original builder but its cost me a further 8k-10k to put his work right and i simply havent got the funds to pay for labour now so it was a case of doing it myself and its just come about by chance ide put right some of the simpler bits but have now progressed to even harder jobs and have surprised myself.

[ZR1cliff]

Gixer said:

Cliff, when re-fitting the secondaries, carefull not to overtighten those little nuts that retain the plastic levers on to the secondary butterflies. If you remember last year when I had my plenum off I noticed all the secondary butterflies were out of sync. with each other - it was because those nuts had been over-tightened and those cut-outs in the washers are not strong enough to stop them from slipping around with the nut.

Thanks for the tip Brett i might have to swap the secondaries on to the new heads if mike hasnt done it already ,ile take care.

[franv8]

Good news about these cars, and almost surprisingly that seems to apply to the more specialist ZR1/LT5 is that we can work on these cars - a testament to GM's approach in design (I know it also has it's flaws...) and the support of places like these forums.

Hope, by some miracle Cliff, you get your car along, otherwise we'll see you there at least!

[vetteheadracer]

The C5 is even easier to work on than the C4 as there is a surprisingly large amount of space to get at things in the engine bay (until you put a twin turbo kit in of course).
For example to change C4 battery, as you know you have to remove one of the body panels whereas with a C5 provided the battery still has the lifting strap (mine didn't ) you just lift it out and put the new one in!
As a consequence of no lifting strap on mine I lost most of the skin on the backs of my hands having to wedge them between the battery and the surrounds which are helpfully mounted with sharp scratchy relays etc.

[c4koh]

franv8 said:

Good news about these cars, and almost surprisingly that seems to apply to the more specialist ZR1/LT5 is that we can work on these cars - a testament to GM's approach in design (I know it also has it's flaws...) and the support of places like these forums.

Absoluteley spot on. How many other vehicles, 15 years old, pump out 375hp happily all day long and can be serviced from home?

People often look dis-believingly at me when I tell them that I service my car at home. They look even more dis-believingly when I say I do a lot of the fixes at home, and for the more awkward things - clutch e.g. - I take it to my local garage who charges £20 an hour!!

For all the (unfounded) waffle about fuel economy, I'd be happy to bet that the Corvette is right up there in terms of lowest running cost per horsepower!!

[ZR1forFun]

I'm of the same opinion, once you get beyond all the myth and hype around Vettes and the ZR-1 in particular, it's all pretty straightforward. I'd recommend anyone to get a copy of the GM Service Manual, it is very comprehensive and what's not in there you can pick up from the internet.

A lot of people like to pretend things are complicated, when they're not, I've even learned to do my own ECM calibrations and was surprised how simple it was. I have found that there are a lot of people out there who don't know what they're talking about, but make out they do. Noone on this forum, I'm happy to say.

[Gixer]

Out of interest, as Cliff will know I had a PCV valve come out on my car. Can't get them anywhere so I cleaned up and checked the originals and they look to be ok. What I really could have done with was the rubber pipes that connect to them especially the square block that sits on top as the holes are worn slightly and it no longer fits over the valves as snug as I would like. Just read on ZR1 net that these pipes are rare - rocking horse shit - If you do find the pipe (rubber pipe about 5" long) it sells for $300-the joys of ZR1 ownership!!! I've got around it another way and wont be running around/buying any new pipe.

[ZR1cliff]

ZR1forFun said:

I'm of the same opinion, once you get beyond all the myth and hype around Vettes and the ZR-1 in particular, it's all pretty straightforward. I'd recommend anyone to get a copy of the GM Service Manual, it is very comprehensive and what's not in there you can pick up from the internet. A lot of people like to pretend things are complicated, when they're not, I've even learned to do my own ECM calibrations and was surprised how simple it was. I have found that there are a lot of people out there who don't know what they're talking about, but make out they do. Noone on this forum, I'm happy to say.

i agree and couldnt of put it better myself although calibration for me is a long way off yet,by the way ive ordered a wideband oxygen sensor with the big guage to help with in car calibration Richard.

[vetteheadracer]

:Zr1forFun said:

GM Service Manual, it is very comprehensive

I bought the one for the 2003 and it is 3 telephone directories in size
I have to replace the lower half of the steering column this weekend and the manual is hysterical in it's description of how to do this. Basically it says undo bolt at top, undo bolt at bottom!

[ZR1forFun]

Cliff, good move, the wideband will really help with the tuning. Which one did you go for, I'm thinking about getting either a Zeitronix or a Dynojet W/B monitor.

[ZR1cliff]

ZR1forFun said:

Cliff, good move, the wideband will really help with the tuning. Which one did you go for, I'm thinking about getting either a Zeitronix or a Dynojet W/B monitor.

Mikes got me the Zeitronic,couldnt really afford it but thought it would be good insurance and save money in the long run.

[franv8]

Brett - what does the pipe look like? It's quite easy to make pipes, the most bodgit method is to use copper plumbing bends where the pipes bend sharply, I did it for the pipe under my L98 throttle body as a temporary repair - in truth it could have stayed permanently. Alternatively try someone like Samco - they can do different pipes, preformed bends etc - just use straight couplers to make the combination fir your application.

Even GM now do replacement hoses for older cars using steel tees etc. where the original was a moulded tee - just imagine how happy I was to pay £60 for a lower coolant hose like this....

[te51cle]

Just thought Cliff, don't let anyone tell you to "Keep it shiny side up" 'cos your car'll end up sitting on its roof !