I was told to stay away from 86 vettes

[Striker 85]

Hope I dont jinx myself. I have an 85 and except for a new exhust, it runs great with 58K on it. No probs with the 4+3. Great cars and if you want to put the money in, you can easily get them looking showroom.

 

[Heavy Duty]

I couldn't agree more with Mad-Mac and Stricker 85. However let me clarify my previous statement about my '86. When I bought it, it had a little over 41,000 miles on the car (it now has 43,126 on it). I knew what I was getting into before I bought. The computer problems can be a nightmare, but for the most part the components are plug-and-play items. The engine had no leaks, was clean. Same for the tranny. The front and rear were way out of alignment. Who ever did that job had no clue as to what they where doing. Yes it does have the cast Iron heads, and even with the problems I had I'd do it over again. Other than the issues I had at the start, this car is great. It will out run and out perform my '99 Mustang GT. I know cause I've tried it. Before I bought the '86, I was looking for a good C-5. Found a few that I was highly interested in but I just cannot get over an all Alum. engine. I guess you can call me ole fashion but I still think that cast iron can out last any alloy block out there. I know that cast iron can take a lot of heat and abuse before it starts going south. What do you guys think. Am I realllly tooo ole fashion? Climbing into my '86 is almost like climbing into the cockpit of an F-16, you don't get into it you strap it on. It is a rush driving.

 

[tdr1919]

Thanks Guys,
I bought the car! It seems OK, I know what it is, 18 year old car, needs TLC, but it's
sill a Vette! and one day i'm going to give to my son so he will have a real classic.
I will get to drive it tonite, i just got the plates this afternoon, and show it to my wife who doesnt know about it.
Tom R.

 

[brimis]

Quite a few vette owners will say stay away from the 84's. I own an 84 with 166,000 miles and it stay runs strong. The motor is bone stock and runs 15.19 @ 90 MPH. Any car pushing 20 plus years will eventually have problems, but then you are dealing with 20 year old technology therefore most repairs can be done yourself.

 

[Striker 85]

tdr...Glad you bought it. Early C4's are the best value if you put the time and some money back in. Let us know how it goes

 

[RedVetteMan]

Congrats, tdr. Is this your first vette? I've had my 84 since May, 2002 and haven't regretted it one bit. It's been pretty reliable (except for a bout with a misbehaving ignition module, that $70 helped to fix). I put Flo-Thru's on it shortly after I bought it. Other than that, the car hasn't cost a lot...much to my wife's relief. She wasn't real keen on the purchase, but now enjoys a spin with the top off. Hope your wife enjoys it too. Keep us posted.

Paul

 

[tdr1919]

Yep! this is my first... so i'm really excited. I cant get my 12 year old son out of it!
Tom R

 

[tdr1919]

87callaway any pics of your CF interior?

Owned an '86 before buying my '87 TT. It had over 80K miles and I used as a daily driver, never had a problem. Ran great and was very reliable.

Like other's have said, it's not so much the year as how well previous owners maintained and took care of it that really matters. Don't take the advice of none-C4 owners, listen to the folks here and have the car checked out by a good mechanic (one familiar with C4s).

Interested in what your CF interior looks like and if not asking too much,
what did it cost?
Tom

 

[tdr1919]

I bought it - I love it - but it needs alot of TLC!

Guys,
It's week # 2, I love driving this car, I brought it in to a local suspension guy
(recommended by other local Vette guys) everything is original, the ball joints are OK but the boots are ripped and wont hold grease, the rear needs all the rubber bushings and joints, the U joints in the rear are worn.
The car was beat pretty good, it almost looks like the dash and almost every piece of the interior has been ripped out and sloppily re-installed, cracks, screws missing. The tranny - well, I called one of the places I found on this board, when I described the "sounds" and when they occured, they diagnosed the problem to be the front bearing on the OD unit (250.00) and I believe he said the casing would need to be changed (650.00) of course, the popping out of 2nd is definately the syncro's - so I guess were looking at least 2 grand + , not including labor and the suspension is at least another grand. BUT the engine is solid and runs great!
no matter what, I love this car and am real glad my wife didn't throw me out of the house for getting it.
Tom

 

[Dcalebaugh]

Congrats on your 86. I bought an 86 coupe two years ago and didn't tell my wife. When I brought her out to the garage she thought I bought it for her!! Talk about a touchy situation. My interior looked like it was disassembled also, and every piece of plastic was broken. I replaced all of it. My 86 has 76k on it and other than cosmetics, I needed to replace the waterpump, starter, battery, rear exhaust form cat back, Bose radio relay, antenna relay, power window switch, most weatherstripping, and the digital dash cluster, which I fixed myself. Not really bad for a car of this age.

 

[tdr1919]

Decalebugh, tell me about the Bose radio and antenna relays, My radio doesnt work, but the cassette does. I can hear a click in the amp when I turn it on but no station display. The antenna is in the up position and does not retract is this maybe something you can shed some light on?
Thanks,
Tom

 

[geekinavette]

The crossfires are the more troublsome ones, but dont say that to them.

Mart

Well that's because it's an ignorant statement. My '84 has 170K miles on it and I wouldn't hesitate to hop in it and drive cross-country this very minute. Granted a lot of things have been repaired/replaced, but geez that will be the case with ANY year with 170K miles.

There is not a reliability issue with the crossfire, the problem is the lack of people that know how to fix them when something does go wrong...and things will go wrong with ANY year.

 

[geekinavette]

Oops completely forgot...

Congrats on your 86 Tom!

Bill

 

[tdr1919]

Thanks Bill!

Oops completely forgot...

Congrats on your 86 Tom!

Bill

Thanks Bill, I just read your reply to my bushing post - who did you get your bushing set from?
thanks,
Tom

 

[Eightysix]

Congrats on your 86!

Anyone who advises to stay away from early C4s has not driven an pristine example of one, they're great cars. These cars were a radical departure from the late model C3 Corvette and breathed new life into the Corvette. Quite frankly the late seventies and early eighties were dark years for Corvette. While these were nice looking cars, horsepower was at an all time low. Don't get me wrong I like any year Corvette, but aside from early C3s I think the early C4 was one of the best looking designs ever.

Of course any used car that's 15 or 20 years old is going to need some work. If a person is not willing to do their own repairs (or have deep pockets) they have no business buying any year Corvette.

My 86 has 47k and has been very reliable. It is tight and rattle free. When I purchased it I did so knowing that the overdrive was intermittently not working, however when it did work it shifted perfectly. The owner said he brought it to a mechanic that could not pinpoint the problem. I knew this could potentially be an expensive repair but felt confident that it was an electrical issue. The owner was willing to take thousands off his asking price because his disclosure of the problem scared away many potential buyers. The problem turned out to be a frayed wire at the overdive button and a bad transmission relay. Total cost was $18 and a weekend of my time. While I was at it I changed the overdrive filter and fluid along with the manual gearbox oil as well. I can only imagine what a shop would have told me, probably something like " you need a new tranny" I'm sure.

The best money you can spend is on a Helm's service manual. These cars have a myriad of electrical systems and you are screwed without the electrical suppliment. Granted I've had a few minor problems but they were all diagnosed with the help of that manual.

So go ahead buy your favorite year Vette and don't look back!

 

[Dcalebaugh]

Tom,
My power antenna relay would click, located under the package tray, thats the plastic piece that runs around the rear portion of the interior where the release lever for the roof storage panel is, but being an electrician I have seen plenty of relays that click but don't make contact. Once I replaced that the antenna worked. The relay has two connectors that plug into it, one from the radio the other to the antenna. The Bose relay I changed was for the amp. That amp would turn on when I turned on the radio but it would would stay powered when the radio was turned off. That relay was located behind the dash and to the right of the radio. As for your particular radio problem, it sounds like more than a relay issue if the cassette works and the radio does not. There are others here with more exp. on the internals of the radio. I bought a used radio off of E-Bay as mine had been removed at some point along with all of the speakers.

Dave

 

[geekinavette]

Thanks Bill, I just read your reply to my bushing post - who did you get your bushing set from?
thanks,
Tom

They are the Prothane bushings, and I bought all of the suspension rebuild stuff from www.vipcorvette.com

There's also a recent post about rear-end "klinking"...might want to read that one http://www.corvetteactioncenter.com/forums/showthread.php?t=53853&page=1&pp=15

Bill

 

[tdr1919]

Eightysix,
Thanks - I bought it i love it - despite all the things that need attention - bought all the manuals (original Helms)
Thanks again,
Tom

 

[zog]

I have an 86 Coupe with 104000 miles...had 92000 when I bought it. The paint was gone and the interior was fair-poor and I spent a lot of $$$ on cosmetics. Also, the regular wear items needed to be replaced (brakes, shocks, bearings, and a rear spring).

Engine and tranny are tight and it is a strong runner. If I would quit trying to make it perfect I could save a lot of $$$$$$$$$...BUT ????

Any older car needs some repairs...the C4 is a solid base but you have to have a few $$$ and be mechanically inclined to do most of the repairs or it will eat you up for sure. I love my C4 and would do it over again in a HEARTBEAT!!!

 

[tdr1919]

Dave,
I went further, the guy I bought the car from cut the wires at the antennae! then unit is frozen in the up position, so the motor just runs so rather than fix it he cut the wires and left them hanging! (just another Vette horror story!)
do you know of a good whip antennae I could replace the power antennae with?
Thanks,
Tom