New guy

[Ridman]

Hi all,

Just thought I would say " Hey " I just joined. I recently got a 1987 convertible white in color from my father in law. This is my 1st vette but have been in love with them since my parents bought a 1977 new when I was 6. A little history on my car. My father in law bought the car in 1999 from the original owner. He only put 1800 miles on it. He told me it has never seen the rain. It now has 44000 miles on it. I will put up some pic of when it arrived(these are the only ones I have so far). It hadn't been driven in 3 years. He had it in his poll barn up on blocks with the cover on it. He knew how much I liked vettes and offered it to me so cheap I couldn't pass it up. Now I am in the process of running the bugs out of her. Jim trailered the car down here to Florida from Indiana just a couple of weeks ago. When it got here she fired right up( with gas that has been in it for god knows how long) very little though. 1st thing I did (after reading some post here) was take it to the Shell station and fill it up with the V power gas. In hopes it will help clean her out and stablize the small amount of gas that was left in it. Then I decided to try and drive out the bugs. Well it didn't take long for them to show up. 1st after driving it for a hour or so (which it drove great, no problems at all) I took it home and parked it. Later that day I went to take it for another drive and it would not idol. The only way to keep it running is to keep my foot on the gas. It also will stall on deceleration every once in awhile. The idol will do fine for awhile also. Then the next thing was the power antenna decided to stay up with the motor running...lol I stopped the motor and have left the antenna up for now. I read here and thought it might just be the old gas and was determined to run 3 tanks of V power through it before I take it in to be checked. (I am no mechanic) So I have been driving it for about a week when I decided to play with the heat and defrost. Well they worked fine for awhile then I stared smelling antifreeze when the defrost ran. When I got home I check and was able to see a antifreeze puddle up under a box that sets on the firewall on the passenger side (under the hood). I am guessing this is the heater core? So that is were I am now. I don't want to drive it any more with a leaking heater core. So I am trying to find a Good mechanic around here that I can trust to work on it. I figure for what I payed for her I can afford to put a little $ into her. I also figured I would have some problems right a first since it hasn't been dirven much in the past 10 yr's. Anyway sorry for being so long winded. Any advise on what to do with it would be much apperciated. Or if any of you are in the Pan handle (destin,ft walton beach ) area of Florida and know someone who I can trust to take it to that would be cool. Thanks Rid

 

[Red Vette]

Welcome to the CAC. If you use the search function, you will find a lot of info on how to correct your vette's problems. Since you said you are no mechanic, don't give up on repairing your car, just follow the advice you will be getting. You can do a lot of things yourself, which is part of the fun of owning the corvette. Don't forget the wave now that you are part of our community. Again, welcome to the site.
Barrett

 

[Toms007]

Welcome aboard. Working on these cars isn't as tough as one might think. Although I'm no expert (even less so on L98 engines) you will receive lots of help here.

I can't imagine that your issues are too serious, sounds like lack of driving time might have creped up on it. Taking it out and driving it might be just the answer.

 

[jrose7004]

Welcome to the CAC!

 

[XLR8]

Hi Rid! Welcome to the !!

Congrats on finally acquiring your piece of the dream. That's a very nice looking '87 too! Lots of great C4 folks here - friendly and always willing to share their experience.

Here are a few links you may find interesting and helpful:

CAC Tech Center

CAC Model Center

CAC 1987 Model webpage

Enjoy!
Jane Ann

 

[DaleD]

Hi, from a 87 white coupe owner!
You have your hands full. I bought my 87 from a dealer last year, so I didn't have the advantage of getting it for a great price like you did. My car had been neglected. Looked good, but someone didn't care about it. I can do minor mechanicals, and that's saved me a few bucks, you should do the same. My car currently runs pretty well, but it was a battle. I'm not a mechanic either, but here's my advice, based on my experience:

Find a good mechanic, someone you can trust.

Next, buy a haynes manual so you have pictures and simple instructions, and a factory service manual, fsm, from helms, for detailed information.

Heater core - major bummer. The part is relatively cheap, but it's been said these cars were built around the heater core. Changing that puppy out is going to cost some serious money, sorry to say. You'll need that good mechanic. If you just want it to work now, you can take the 2 hoses out of the heater core on the engine side and tie them together, basically bypass the core. You won't have heat, but you won't have a leak.

Change the fluids, oil, transmission, axle, coolant (heater core will take care of that), maybe even brake and steering fluid. Also get the air filter, fuel filter and pcv valve.

Seafoam. Once you change the fuel filter, get a can of this stuff and put it in a full tank of gas. You can also suck 1/2 can of this stuff into the intake through the brake vacuum port. It really helps.

The antenna isn't an expensive part, but kind of a pain to do. It will take some troubleshooting, but the likely candidate is the motor, (not sensing the stop).

Your tires are most likely dry rotted. I went with new 17" rims and tires. That's about $1000 on ebay.

Tune up parts are cheap, you should throw a tune up onto it.

A lower priority, but recommended, new shocks. I just did them myself and it makes a big difference. But, you need it to run before you can worry about the ride.

You're looking at $3k - $4k, depending on what you do yourself, to get it running to where it's fun. But it is fun. I really enjoy mine.
Good luck.

 

[Ridman]

Thanks for the info I have had all the fluids changed. I didn't change the fuel filter. a lot of service stuff was done before it was parked last. The tires are actually in great shape. The ride is very nice. As someone before said I truely feel it just needs driven. I will try the seafoam and a new fuell filter I am sure not draining the little bit of old gas was a mistake. I read here on this site on how to remove the antenna (I think) it doesn't sound to tough....lol (it always sounds easy...lol) My father in law would only take 1/2 of what I owed him and told me to " get her fixed up" and I could take it off the other 1/2. He really loves this car. I ordered a service manual and it should be here by friday.Thanks again ...Rid

 

[DaleD]

Sounds like you have it under control, but a bit of advice on the FSM, get a Haynes too. The FSM is correct, and detailed but it's written for people who are GM mechanics. There are assumptions in the FSM that you know where things are, etc. The Haynes is vague, and general, and many times incomplete, but it has pictures and it's written for non mechanics. Think of it as "C4's for dummies". You can get one on ebay for about $20.

 

[Toms007]

Actually, there is info posted on "another forum" about a quick R & R for the heater core, works on 88 and prior Vettes (IIRC). If interested, I'll look it up and post a link.

 

[DaleD]

Actually, there is info posted on "another forum" about a quick R & R for the heater core, works on 88 and prior Vettes (IIRC). If interested, I'll look it up and post a link.

They have decent info there, but some interesting moderation. I'm permanently banned from that place.

The OP said he's not a mechanic, not sure that's a job he wants to tackle. I've seen write ups, it looks pretty tedious.

 

[Toms007]

They have decent info there, but some interesting moderation. I'm permanently banned from that place.

The OP said he's not a mechanic, not sure that's a job he wants to tackle. I've seen write ups, it looks pretty tedious.

I thought I recognized you from the "other forum". Yes, my visits there have been reduced to a trickle, due to the "moderation". I'm still not banned from there, but I haven't posted much since the blood-letting.

 

[DaleD]

I thought I recognized you from the "other forum". Yes, my visits there have been reduced to a trickle, due to the "moderation". I'm still not banned from there, but I haven't posted much since the blood-letting.

Yeah, I guess I'm just an excitable sort!
Actually, I had a stalker, and I let him get under my skin. I even tried to report the guy, no luck, perma ban. And they're wise guys about it.

No problem though. With that type of moderation, I wouldn't go back if I was allowed.

Actually, one of the attractions of the other place was the high volume of traffic. That's not the case anymore. They've managed to reduce their traffice to no more than most other sites. You'll see me more here, and on a couple of other C4 sites.

 

[Ridman]

That would be great if you could the link would be good. Thanks is the chilton manuals crap? I think that might be what I ordered. So I should get a factory service manual and a haynes and no chilton?

 

[DaleD]

That would be great if you could the link would be good. Thanks is the chilton manuals crap? I think that might be what I ordered. So I should get a factory service manual and a haynes and no chilton?

I'm not an expert, but I think Haynes and Chilton are very similar. If you have a Chilton, you're fine. I'd run with that.

 

[Toms007]

The Haynes and Chilton are geared more toward the novice. Not that that is bad, they serve a purpose and they are a bit more "user friendly". But the FSM (Helms service manual) is the "Bible". Not user friendly, but it has it all.

You need the FSM!

 

[DaleD]

The Haynes and Chilton are geared more toward the novice. Not that that is bad, they serve a purpose and they are a bit more "user friendly". But the FSM (Helms service manual) is the "Bible". Not user friendly, but it has it all.

You need the FSM!

We covered that earlier. The OP stated he has an FSM and a Chiltons, wondered if he needed a Haynes as well.

My recommendation is FSM + Haynes or Chiltons. When I had the FSM alone I felt like a retard. The theory stuff in the FSM is great, but they assume you know things that I didn't know. Heck, even changing out the MAF relays was a challenge because I couldn't find them. A C4 for dummies book, (Haynes or Chiltons), helps a lot.

 

[Toms007]

We covered that earlier. The OP stated he has an FSM and a Chiltons, wondered if he needed a Haynes as well.

My recommendation is FSM + Haynes or Chiltons. When I had the FSM alone I felt like a retard. The theory stuff in the FSM is great, but they assume you know things that I didn't know. Heck, even changing out the MAF relays was a challenge because I couldn't find them. A C4 for dummies book, (Haynes or Chiltons), helps a lot.

ooops! I guess I missed that part. But you are correct.