Aurora40
Well-known member
Well, I'd gotten a lot of PM's about my impression of the car, enough that I figured I may as well re-post it.
I'll go over cosmetics first as that's what I spent the most time inspecting. The car was very bright and glossy and looked very nice from a few feet back. It also will photograph very well. They Dymags looked mint, though they've since had tires mounted again so I can't speak to the current condition.
The paint up close has a lot of swirling and such, probably from the cover on it. That could probably be removed or diminished greatly. However, the bottom half of the car, especially where the body turns under had a lot of small scratching that would probably not be removable. The front bumper had paint cracking and a few largish scratches. You can see them here, though they are more pronounced in person than in the photo. Red has a tendancy to wash out my camera:
Large scratch: http://members.aol.com/corvettezr11990/njb2k/b2k1.jpg
Cracked paint: http://members.aol.com/corvettezr11990/njb2k/b2k2.jpg
Cracking or scratching, can't recall anymore: http://members.aol.com/corvettezr11990/njb2k/b2k3.jpg
There was a decent sized chip from behind the drivers door edge that seemed almost like a small chunk from the car. It was pretty deep, but could have just been paint: http://members.aol.com/corvettezr11990/njb2k/b2k4.jpg
The weatherstripping was in nice shape in that it wasn't rotting or anything. However, there were one or two spots that had cuts in the weatherstripping.
The interior was in nice shape in general. The parking brake handle housing was cracked and missing a chunk of it. There was some wear of the carpet on the driver's side door. Also, there were two small LED's in the vents around the steering wheel (one on either side) for the radar detector. And the center console had a light by the FX3 selector for a no-longer-functional alarm. In the center console bin, there was a hole where a switch used to be, a switch for the alarm, and a knob for the radar detector system.
The engine bay was fairly dusty and dirty, but not terribly so. You can look at the wheel hub area in front, and it was covered with a somewhat thick dirty grime. This could probably be easily cleaned, but it was completely covering that area. The engine had some flaking of the crinkle finish, and some flaking of the IC decals. The intercoolers were slightly stained, which may or may not be easy to clean. Things like heatwrap were showing significant wear and areas of missing foil.
Flaked crinkle, heatwrap, IC decal: http://members.aol.com/corvettezr11990/njb2k/b2k5.jpg
Same: http://members.aol.com/corvettezr11990/njb2k/b2k7.jpg
The ECM was an ACDelco rebuild. The hood still has the original air ducting from before the blisters. There was some wearing/contact of this with the radiator shroud: http://members.aol.com/corvettezr11990/njb2k/b2k6.jpg
The car took what seemed like forever to crank up. It took 7-10 seconds probably. However, it idled fine once started. The car drove very nicely. It accelerated smoothly, shifted smoothly, and sounded great. The brakes didn't pull. I didn't get on it too much, but did floor it on the highway. It pulled nicely, though not crazy strong (I was in 6th once and 4th, though). The sound of the boost building was really cool, and it pulled faster than it felt like as I was suddenly going 90 or so. The car really drove nicely, and the view over the hood is classic C4 cool. The blisters enhance that cool factor significantly. The owner laid down a nice patch of rubber and smoke so I could see if both wheels spun. It seemed to break them loose pretty effortlessly. :eek
The car would be a great aerobody/repaint candidate. And it would be a great car to buy and drive. It seemed to be in fine mechanical shape and was a blast to drive and ride in. The original owner seemed to be very attentive to the mechanical care of the car, and had even taken it back to Callaway on a few occasions.
In my opinion, this is a nice car looking for the right owner. I wasn't that right owner as I'm a big detail freak. I didn't expect to find a mint car, but I wanted one closer to mint that it was. For someone who either wanted a B2K to drive, a B2K on the cheap that would probably not need any work done, or a B2K to eventually aerobody, this would be a steal. It's a lot of car for the money, if it's the kind of car you are searching for.
I'll go over cosmetics first as that's what I spent the most time inspecting. The car was very bright and glossy and looked very nice from a few feet back. It also will photograph very well. They Dymags looked mint, though they've since had tires mounted again so I can't speak to the current condition.
The paint up close has a lot of swirling and such, probably from the cover on it. That could probably be removed or diminished greatly. However, the bottom half of the car, especially where the body turns under had a lot of small scratching that would probably not be removable. The front bumper had paint cracking and a few largish scratches. You can see them here, though they are more pronounced in person than in the photo. Red has a tendancy to wash out my camera:
Large scratch: http://members.aol.com/corvettezr11990/njb2k/b2k1.jpg
Cracked paint: http://members.aol.com/corvettezr11990/njb2k/b2k2.jpg
Cracking or scratching, can't recall anymore: http://members.aol.com/corvettezr11990/njb2k/b2k3.jpg
There was a decent sized chip from behind the drivers door edge that seemed almost like a small chunk from the car. It was pretty deep, but could have just been paint: http://members.aol.com/corvettezr11990/njb2k/b2k4.jpg
The weatherstripping was in nice shape in that it wasn't rotting or anything. However, there were one or two spots that had cuts in the weatherstripping.
The interior was in nice shape in general. The parking brake handle housing was cracked and missing a chunk of it. There was some wear of the carpet on the driver's side door. Also, there were two small LED's in the vents around the steering wheel (one on either side) for the radar detector. And the center console had a light by the FX3 selector for a no-longer-functional alarm. In the center console bin, there was a hole where a switch used to be, a switch for the alarm, and a knob for the radar detector system.
The engine bay was fairly dusty and dirty, but not terribly so. You can look at the wheel hub area in front, and it was covered with a somewhat thick dirty grime. This could probably be easily cleaned, but it was completely covering that area. The engine had some flaking of the crinkle finish, and some flaking of the IC decals. The intercoolers were slightly stained, which may or may not be easy to clean. Things like heatwrap were showing significant wear and areas of missing foil.
Flaked crinkle, heatwrap, IC decal: http://members.aol.com/corvettezr11990/njb2k/b2k5.jpg
Same: http://members.aol.com/corvettezr11990/njb2k/b2k7.jpg
The ECM was an ACDelco rebuild. The hood still has the original air ducting from before the blisters. There was some wearing/contact of this with the radiator shroud: http://members.aol.com/corvettezr11990/njb2k/b2k6.jpg
The car took what seemed like forever to crank up. It took 7-10 seconds probably. However, it idled fine once started. The car drove very nicely. It accelerated smoothly, shifted smoothly, and sounded great. The brakes didn't pull. I didn't get on it too much, but did floor it on the highway. It pulled nicely, though not crazy strong (I was in 6th once and 4th, though). The sound of the boost building was really cool, and it pulled faster than it felt like as I was suddenly going 90 or so. The car really drove nicely, and the view over the hood is classic C4 cool. The blisters enhance that cool factor significantly. The owner laid down a nice patch of rubber and smoke so I could see if both wheels spun. It seemed to break them loose pretty effortlessly. :eek
The car would be a great aerobody/repaint candidate. And it would be a great car to buy and drive. It seemed to be in fine mechanical shape and was a blast to drive and ride in. The original owner seemed to be very attentive to the mechanical care of the car, and had even taken it back to Callaway on a few occasions.
In my opinion, this is a nice car looking for the right owner. I wasn't that right owner as I'm a big detail freak. I didn't expect to find a mint car, but I wanted one closer to mint that it was. For someone who either wanted a B2K to drive, a B2K on the cheap that would probably not need any work done, or a B2K to eventually aerobody, this would be a steal. It's a lot of car for the money, if it's the kind of car you are searching for.
