Rehab. Engine and surround on 1996 C4- Anyone been there and come back alive?

[Rain]

Figured I would start here before searching the forum and finding folks who have gone inside the engine compartment and PMing them.

Essentially I want to be able to lift the hood at the shows. (I don't ask for alot, do I?)

Vac. hoses and other rubberized hoses/lines are showing signs of dry rot and wear.
So I know I need to alot of replacing in there.
The only detailing the engine has ever been given was by me, a few rags, and an airline.
(and only on the surface)

I have lots of grease and oil on the inner wheel wells/a arms/control etc that needs cleaning off.

Pretty sure Im going to find hidden stores of sand in places I never knew existed in there too. (Sound familiar to some of you?)

Knowing little to some about the connections and having a general knowlege of the tools I have in the garage, (and not wanting to pay too much for a true Vette Mechanic), will I be able to get thru this project with the aid of someone who knows much more about engines and mechanics than myself?

(translation: I have a buddy with a shade tree garage who was trained by the military to work on vehicles and has tons of out of service experience. Is it in my best interest to have him do this along side me?)

Thanks for each and every piece of advice you guys can give me.
I don't want to buy parts twice or make it more work than it has to be.

Again, not wanting the flashy car show engine bay but would more like it to return to a stock with modern technology improvements. Am sure they have better parts today than they had back in 96.

Any pics and stories and ideas will be greatly appreciated!
Thanks everyone (sorry for the ramble)

Rain

 

[Rain]

also, not planning on doing this till late Oct. or November.
Possible that its a winter project as Susan might be pulling some strings to get me a heated and cooled single bay garage space.


http://www.rainontheinternet.com/adaturing/june03vetteshow/

 

[Rain]

of course Im open to suggestions..

If this were your Corvette.
357 made in this finish
109 were automatic
Not a fuelie or split window by any means but would like to get this Vette back to tip top shape.

 

[Rain]

Watching IVAN - The Vette will have to stay in the garage and weather the storm best she can - Fingers crossed!

 

[Rain]

Being patient but figured I'd hear SOMETHING to the tune of 'DONT DO IT" or pic requests before I hear the "war stories" of this task..

Try to find time this week to consult my local vette friends

Rain(cleaning up after Hurricane IVAN first)

 

[Grizzly]

I went to Nashville last year and heard the NCRS guys talk about resurecting what they think maybe the first Vette built. They used waterless hand cleaner. Cuts grease, easy on the hands, no water for the optispark. I'm thinking about starting on my 92 this winter. I have a friend that does his in WD-40, but I don't know if I like the shine.

I've already done the wheel wells/suspension with water, bought dust shields from MAD and just shoved rags in the holes left to keep water out of the engine compartment. Used Orange Blaster for this.

Just takes time and a fair amout could be done easier from below. I have a 4 post lift so that is not a problem.

 

[Rain]

Thanks for the "vote of confidence".

So some folks use that GOJO handcleaner stuff? Had really not thought of that.
And WD-40 - cuts grease and displaces water.

Appreciate your input
Rain

 

[lone73]

Rain,

I copied an old post from another forum from a long time ago that had some info that might help. This was a guy's post after attending a class on how to maintain a C4 vette. I recopied the item with cleaning info below so you don't have to hunt for it .

13. Clean your engine and engine bay by spraying on Westley's Clear Majic (after you have put plastic bags over any sensitive electronics). Let it soak for a good while and then rinse off with a hose sprayer set on "mist". Do NOT blast the stuff off!

I DO blast off my built up gunk at the car wash, no problems. I also have a very thoroughly sealed (with RTV) opti though. I still don't spray directly at the opti, computer or the alternator. If it were mine, I'd hose it down at the car wash and knock off all the big chunks, then detail it at home with the Westley's stuff.
I didn't save the author's name unfortunately but here is the rest of the info I copied...

Hope this helps
.
.
.
lone73



1. Keep your weatherstriping from splitting by applying dialectric grease and wiping it clean after each wash or every 30 days.
2. Drill a drain hole in the rubber around your gas cap as rain can get sucked into your gas tank as you drive. There is a drain tube there already but the hole is very small and plugs easily.
3. Trust the GM engineers and do not install an air foil. The instructors have seen them carbon up on rare occasions.
4. Installing a chip on a stock setup is shoveling $ down the drain (racing is another matter).
5. Do not cut your aircleaner lid as you risk sucking in water.
6. Make sure you do not overtighten your aircleaner lid as you will distort it and let unfiltered air be sucked in.
7. Do a complete drain of your auto trans, replace the filter, and refill with synthetic tranny fluid. You car will shift better.
8. Put a capful of Lucas power steering treatment in your power steering pump and it will help preserve the seals in your rack.
9. If you have an automatic, reset your TV cable from time-to-time, Most are out of adjustment. (I think there is a thread in the tech section on this).
10. Clean your throttle body from time-to-time. Many folks with crappy idle need to do this.
11. Have soemone test your O2 sensor or better yet, just replace it.
12. If you can, find a shop with a laser temp reader. They can point it at each injector as the motor runs and find if one is running hotter than the others. Proper flowing injectors run cooler because of the cooling effect of the fuel flow. The shop can also check the temps in front of and in behind the cat converter. If there is a difference then you have a plugged cat.
13. Clean your engine and engine bay by spraying on Westley's Clear Majic (after you have put plastic bags over any sensitive electronics). Let it soak for a good while and then rinse off with a hose sprayer set on "mist". Do NOT blast the stuff off!
14. If your C4 has glass headlight bulbs then replace them with plastic ones - they are much lighter and will save your headlight gears. NAPA part# HP6054.
15. If you are doing any wiring then go to a computer supply company and invest in some metal connectors and crimp them with a roll crimper (available from SnapOn or PackardDelphi). Then heat shrink. These will be very strong and will not corrode like the cheap plastic over metal connectors.
16. Use liquid antisieze (as used for o2 sensors) when replacing spark plugs.
17. Use a suction gun to drain your rear end and refill with synthetic gear fluid and two (2) bottles of GM positraction additive.

 

[Rain]

Amazing information!!!!!

Being the first owner to really clean this Corvette up is going to be an adventure -
Keep yall posted -
Rain

 

[Rain]

had the first meeting with my Vette Specialist. He was very very positive and made it sound like this was going to be a painless event.

Showed me the vac lines to replace.

Talked a bit about what we were pulling out and what was getting pressure washed.
Should be a completely different looking car when Im done.

Good quote on repairing some body panels and re painting.

Not sure my rims can be revived. Deep curb rash on 3 of em.
He suggested a bigger tire if I was getting new rims..

So re-reading the C4 section tonight looking for ideas.

 

[Mart]

Rain, here are a couple of shots of the mess I had to deal with, and it looks even better now.

It might give you some inspiration to get going... HA HA
Before

After

 

[Striker 85]

For the inner wheels and arms, I used a watered down version of Simple Green, followed by a wet rag wipe, then a dry rag, and followed up with a rub with 00 Steel Wool (Metal Polish). Complete with a blast( away from the car) with an air hose. Worked great and cut the grease and gunk like a hot knife through butter. 00. For all the metal lines, 00 Steel wool works great, but watch out for the steel wool dust bunnies. I am still working to get my Intake maifold clean, lots of staining, so looking for ideas for that. I replaced all my wire loom with this company. Was easier then I thought. Good price and you can color match to your car if you want. I know, I have to get some pics out,,


http://cableorganizer.com/wire-loom/colored.html

 

[Rain]

WOW!

Mine isnt that powdery, but I hope it is that nice when finished.

 

[tomtom72]

My 0.02 cents

Hi all, I don't have one yet, looking at C3's and C4's. I just would like to offer these thoughts on cleaning up the road gunk and engine gunk. I worked in a boat yard to offset the cost of my addiction. Becareful of steel wool, a better choice would be bronze or stainless steel wool. Any marine supply store sells it. You also might consider those scotch brite synthetic pads. On boats there is much aluminium & S/S parts, and we would use WD-40 on tough stuff and Navel jelley on stubborn stuff. The WD leaves a film that will re-collect gunk, so we would use a ph neutral liquid spray cleaner on a rag to do the final. Also the WD would work on the fiberglass without harming it. I don't know about painted fiberglass, cause on a boat the color was either gel-coat(pigmented catalyzed resin) or one of the catalyzed urethanes like "imron". We used WD to clean the stains in the engine compartments and then used Bilge cleaner(any marine store) to get rid of the WD. I don't know about navel jelley on car aluminium parts, on good boats aluminium is T-6 grade or better and S/S is "marine grade". On a good boat most of the aluminium is on the engine, exhaust headers and pumps and brackets but these are usually powder coated. Bare aluminium is usually the canvas top structure and rub rails. If you have a marine supply store near you might check out some of the cleaning stuff cause it might help on the road gunk. Tom

 

[Striker 85]

Mart, What did you use on all your rubber and plasics to get them soo black???

 

[Rain]

Wish I had a BEFORE pic for this one - Took this one last June when I had an afternoon off. Wiped the engine down, compressed air, wiped again, and air again.
Then used a product called Trim & Shine made by L&C Enterprises in Poplarville, MS 1800-795-5970 on the rubber parts. Really brightened em up!
Of course that was the last can of it too. Gotta find a source for more if they wont sell me a couple at a time.