Couple questions on bringing a 94 Coupe back to life

[C4D]

Hello

I'm new and here and I have a couple question on bringing back my mother's 94 Auto Torch Red Coupe back to life and get back on the road. The whole thing is kind of a long story but I will try to explain it as short as possible.

Basically my mother in 94 purchased a torch red automatic coupe brand new from Elco Chevrolet in the summer of 94. She continued to drive it and enjoy it all the way until 05 when she had some health problems and had to quit driving the corvette and instead have my father drive her around in his car so the Corvette ended up just sitting in the garage.

Now fast forward to today and the good news is my mother has overcome her health problems and would like to keep her Corvette and start driving it again but the bad news is that the corvette has been sitting in the garage and has not been driven or even started since 2006!

So thats where I come in... I went over to their house yesterday to get an idea on what we need to do to get the car running again. The car is full of dust and cob webs but you can still tell it has beautiful torch red paint that is ready to be restored with a good buff and some elbow grease. The car only has 57k original miles on so it definitely has plenty of life left in her.

I'm currently having the vette being towed over to my house tomorrow afternoon where I have extra space and a shop to start the work on the vette. This is where I have some questions that I hope your fine community can help me out with

When the car was parked 5 years ago at 57k miles it was currently maintained and running in excellent shape except for it needing new shocks but mechanically it was fine. So when it arrives at my house the first thing I have planned to do is change out the battery with a new replacement, change out the oil and filter and also check and replace the rest of the vital fluids, and also check whatever seems needed to be replaced such as belts and also maybe the opti components.

Now my big concern before I get it ready to start the car is the gas in the tank. The tank has about a 2 bars of fuel left and its the same fuel from 2005. Should I drain the gas out of the tank? Is that possible with a C4?
There was no stabilizer placed in the tank so Im sure the gas is some pretty bad stuff so I wanted to get some opinions before I try to start it.

Also can anyone recommend other things I should check over well before I try to start the car?

Your help is very much appreciated and I would love to see this C4 back on the streets again as they're still my favorite modern corvette generation

Thanks
Mark

PS Photos to come of the revival when it arrives at my garage!

 

[toptechx6]

I would siphon the fuel out of the tank, then dispose of it properly, hopefully your local Waste Authority has provision for hazardous waste disposal. Replace the fuel filter located along the right side frame rail just to the rear of the front wheel, most of the gas in in the lines will drain when the filter is removed, there will be some remaining in the fuel rail and return line but it should be minimal. Use caution whenever handling fuel, keep a fire extinguisher handy.
Add fresh premium grade fuel to the tank and perhaps a can of dry gas and keep your fingers crossed. The rest of the maintenance should be straight forward, best of luck getting Mom back on the road.

 

[C4D]

Thank you for the reply!

The old fuel is definitely my biggest concern as of now and fortunately I have such a place right down the street from me to dump the bad fuel. So I guess my plan of attack is siphon the fuel out of the rear filler neck and then drain and replace the fuel filter and add some fresh 93 and dry gas to the tank.

 

[Hib Halverson]

Thank you for the reply!

The old fuel is definitely my biggest concern as of now and fortunately I have such a place right down the street from me to dump the bad fuel. So I guess my plan of attack is siphon the fuel out of the rear filler neck and then drain and replace the fuel filter and add some fresh 93 and dry gas to the tank.

This may sound stange, but if you only have two bars of fuel in it, I'd leave the old gas there. I'd put 15 gallons (3 trips with a five-gallon can) of fresh gas in the tank and charge the battery. Check all other fluids. Turn the key on then off after the pump quits, 10 times to get fresh fuel up to the injectors then see if it will start.

The problem with sphoning the gas is the filler necks in most cars from the 80s up are very tough to get a siphon tube into unless you permanently destroy the one way valve at the top of the neck.

If you get the engine running, then I'd buy three bottles of Red Line Complete Fuel System Cleaner and run all three bottles through the system, one bottle per tank of gas.

 

[John Robinson]

Removing Fuel

I agree with Hib on this one if you have very little old fuel in the tank you can dilute it with fresh. Now if you have a lot of fuel then I would suggest that you open the return line at the connection by the fuel filter. If the fuel does not run out pressure the line with compressed air back into the tank and be ready to catch the fuel that will come out of the return line. Along with using the cleaner for the injectors I would put a can of octane booster in with the fresh gas. If you get it started be prepared to immediately drive the car for a minimum of 50 miles so that it gets completely brought up to temp. The best thing for this car is to drive it. I have used this technique to resurrect long term storage motorcycles.

 

[Baldie88]

Mark,

Once you do get your car running and you are interested in joining any clubs, there are several in the St. Louis area. My club, the St. Louis Corvette Club, is actually sponsored by Elco. We meet at the Sunset Lakes Golf Course off of Gravois Bluffs. There is also Route 66 in the area and Boone Trail that meets in the St. Charles area. Send me an email at hagenow1@charter.net if I can be of any help.

Ron
"Baldie88"

 

[C4D]

Yesterday around 3pm I met the flatbed driver at my parents house to pick up the Corvette and have it delivered to my shop at my house.

Preparing the car for the flatbed

Now safely parked in my garage and eagerly waiting to be brought back to life!


Thanks everyone for the suggestions, very much appreciated... I did put a new battery in the car last night and was able to see that the gas only has one bar of fuel left and is on reserve. So I think my plan now is to change the fuel filter and then fill the tank full with fresh 93 gas and add a bottle of Redline Fuel Cleaner and hope for some luck when starting it!

Which brings me to another quick question... I'm a big Land Rover/BMW nut and we absolutely love using Seafoam to clean our engines/fuel/intake systems and was wondering if the C4 community has any luck or experience using Seafoam on your Corvettes?

Tonight I'm going to gather a shopping list of things it needs and was hoping you guys can point me in the right directions for sourcing parts. This weekend I plan I starting the work and I will keep guys updated with status and of course I'm sure I will have a couple new questions on the way.

Baldie88 thats sounds fantastic... especially after I get all the kinks worked out and this car running smoothly I will definitely want to put some good long miles on the car and no better way to do it then cruise around with a local Corvette Club. Are you the same group that used to do the Corvette show every year at Chevy's restaurant in Ellisville?

 

[Tuna]

Be prepared for leaks also.
Coolant leaks around the water pump drive shaft and power steering leaks.

Check the belt and all hoses for cracks.

Then replace the old tires once you get it going again.

I've had good results with BG 44K fuel system cleaner also.

 

[John Robinson]

In line fuel filter

A little trick I discovered when I replaced my fuel filter. After you remove the fuel lines under the car then you can pull the filter up past the manifold and take the filter off the fuel lines from the top side.

If I were you I would not be in too big of a hurry to replace the fuel filter just yet. I think you should use the old filter to catch all the crud you may shake loose from the tank when you start the car and drive a couple of tanks of gas through it before replacing the filter.

 

[Baldie88]

I think it was Boone Trail that use to do the car shows at Chevy's. Once you get it running and you want to maybe check out some local clubs, you can Google "St. Louis Corvette Club", "Route 66 Corvette Club", or "Boone Trail Corvette Club" and pick out one that is close to you.

I am one of the few in our club with a C4 so I can always use some company.

Ron
"Baldie88"

 

[C4D]

If I were you I would not be in too big of a hurry to replace the fuel filter just yet. I think you should use the old filter to catch all the crud you may shake loose from the tank when you start the car and drive a couple of tanks of gas through it before replacing the filter.

Excellent point... I was thinking of doing the same with the coolant, get the car started and running with the current coolant and check for any coolant leaks or any other cooling problems before I flush and replace the coolant. Thanks for the tip of the fuel filter!

I am one of the few in our club with a C4 so I can always use some company.

Really?.... is the C4 becoming the lost Corvette generation? I would never imagine so but it seems I don't really see many on the road anymore, its a damn shame!

Ron I will keep you updating when I get things running smooth and maybe meet up at one of the Corvette meets this summer.

 

[Ugolino]

I don't know if this was mentioned already, but I would consider flushing the brake fluid and coolant as well.

 

[Toms007]

I'm glad that Tuna suggested new tires. The ones on there must be getting really old. Welcome to CAC, as you already can tell there are lots of knowledgeable people here to help.

 

[C4D]

Little update on the car.

Friday night changed the oil and filter and added a new pvc valve, new air filter and added some fuel injector cleaner to the new fresh 93 gas added to the tank and decided to see if she would start. I primed the fuel system a couple of times and then went ahead and tried starting the engine and she fired right up with no problems!

The engine ran just kinda rough for about 5 seconds and then she smoothed right out like butter. I then let the car idle up to operating temperature and checked under the hood for any coolant leaks or any other problems that might arise. Everything seemed to be running smooth and no coolant leaks or other weird noises were detected except for the usual LT1 sewing machine noise so decided to give it a drive around the block to see how she drives and shifts.

I drove the car for about 5 miles and the tranny shifted nice and smooth, the brakes still felt good and everything else seems to be operating normally and no strange nosies coming from the engine or drivetrain so I parked it back in the garage and let it idle a little longer to check things over and things look good.

Sunday morning I cleaned the car up and decided to take it for another drive and drove it a long distance about a 50 mile trip and she drove very smooth and nice except for the old tires are bit out of balance. I parked it back in the garage and opened the hood while the car was idling and I noticed a little smoke coming from the back of the top of the engine, it seems to be coming from between the rear of the engine by the fire wall and it is definitely oil burning. Now I'm just not sure if it was old oil and gunk from the car sitting or is it some seal back there leaking oil slowly on a hot exhaust section. Any ideas of common LT1 oil leaks at the rear of the engine?

Other then that I am very happy to see how well the car runs for sitting over 5 years. I ordered four new tires this morning along with four new KYB shocks as my research concluded that they might give a better and softer ride for my Mom... I will install some Koni yellows on the vette whenever I inherit the car!

Tonight I'm going to change and flush the coolant and also change the fuel filter as I think the 50 miles I have put on the car should have gotten all the bad stuff in the fuel filter by now. Also going to start a light restore of the body and exterior as of now I need:

- Cig lighter assembly
- Drive side seat rear adjustment bezle
- Rear gas tank Corvette emblem
- Left and right front splitter spoiler
- Trip and rest dash buttons
- New center console and new radio bezle

Oh and the passenger side window is not working so any tips on what should I check first.. is it the switch or regulator that usually goes out on the C4's?

Thanks everyone for all your help!
Mark

 

[Rex S]

On the oil leak/smoke, check the rear of the intake manifold. 'Bout the right miles to start a light leak. You may need to pull the intake and reseal it. Why always the R/H side I have no idea. Does the R/H window work from the R/H side switch and not from the driver's side switch or is it totally dead.

Don't forget to flush the brakes too! Much overlooked item. Follow the service manual and DO NOT pump the brakes like we did in the "old days"! Step on the pedal hard once, let it go to the floor and repeat until clean.

 

[C4D]

. Why always the R/H side I have no idea. Does the R/H window work from the R/H side switch and not from the driver's side switch or is it totally dead.

I believe it is totally dead... the driver side switch does not make it work as well as the switch on the passenger door, it makes no noise at all so I guess its a good chance that the regulator might be bad.

Good call on the brakes... I also ordered the 94 Corvette FSM this morning and should be here in the next couple of days to make sure I'm following the correct procedures such as bleeding the brakes.

Will also take a good look for the source of the oil leak to see if anything might be loose or if needed to be tighten down.

 

[Toms007]

Glad to hear things are working out well! I loved my 94, and if I could have afforded to do so, I'd have kept it.

 

[Schrade]

Get FSM today YUp uH hUH.

... and we absolutely love using Seafoam to clean our engines/fuel/intake systems and was wondering if the C4 community has any luck or experience using Seafoam on your Corvettes? ...

Save your $$.

You want a better burn, and more squeeze in all 8 holes, unload some Extenz-Oderm-Zyte in the tank:

 

[C4D]

no no no no.... this is the brand Snake Oil I prefer

I'm from the Ozarks and its all about the Banjo Salve

 

[Tuna]

Little update on the car.

Oh and the passenger side window is not working so any tips on what should I check first.. is it the switch or regulator that usually goes out on the C4's?

Mark

Lack of use. My '92 did this once and my 'fix' was to remove the door panel and spray the window motor with electric contact cleaner. I checked the circuit first to make sure that power was getting to the motor also. Then I worked the window switch back and forth while pushing down or pulling up on the window as appropriate for the switch to try and 'help' the motor. Presto, the window when down. After a little exercise, the window was working fine. After that, I reminded myself to exercise the window regularly.