barchetta1

Hi,

Ive been on the hunt for a vette. Ive been watching for a very nice body in the right colors and getting impatient. Ive only given it about a month but Ive been looking hard coast to coast.. Currently Im about to go look at a one owner 88 with 90k on it. Is at a dealer so not sure how they can say one owner so Im hopefull a one owner car means someone really loved the car. Miles on it would indicate a summer weekend car.

Anyway.. this is a sunny day weekend car for me... important to note... so a blend of race fuel is absolutely an option and we dont have testing of any sort here.

Engine goals:
Id like to have enough power to spin the tires with a limited slip. (will the 88 come with ls?) All I really care about is low RPM torque. I want to go fast from 10-60mph. anything more than that gets me in trouble and Ive seen enough trouble for the rest of my life.

I want a very nice sounding idle and exhaust note.. the kind that only long tube headers and a nicely tuned cam will get you. Basically, a nasty v8.

Needs to be street drive able comfortably and has to be automatic trans.

So, with an 88 how do I get there, best bang for the buck? I figure it might be a combo of engine and rear end?

Cost? Id like to keep it under $5k and I probably wont be doing the work. Pipe dream?

Would I be better off spending more on a 93-96?

thanks in advance for any advice.

bjankuski

Your dreams are possible, but you may be money ahead starting with a 1992 to 1996 LT1 auto and just change the gears and a tune for similar performance. No it won't have the nasty cam sound but you could add that latter.

Don't get me wrong, you can get there with the 1988 but I am not sure if changing the cam and adding a tune and adding headers can be done for less then $5000 if you are paying for the labor and parts.

barchetta1

Kind of what I was thinking. To get a 2 owner or less car that hasnt over 120k on the clock is hard to do in my part of the us but will keep looking,

QCVette

For low cost, try the muffler eliminators with the rest of the stock exhaust on an LT1 car. I did that on my '94 and thought it was the best sounding car at idle. It had a very deep rumble like many of the older musclecars.

If you are wanting a cam that has a lope to the idle, you are looking at a cam that is more set up for higher rpm. That does not match your low rpm goals.

Good luck.

383vett

If you want sounds and grunt, gears and mufflers are what you need. Don't tear into the motor to change the cam for sound. That'll decrease your low rpm torque you are looking for.

Cjunkie

My stone stock 86 will light up the tires anytime at will (don’t know if it’s because it has the 3.07 gear set/ performance diff).
0-60 pretty much any C4 will run that fairly hard.
What gets you moving off the line-torque
By todays standards what does a C4 have- torque
What doesn’t A C4 have- horsepower.
With that being said you can still fry the tires anytime you want if thats your thing and you can pretty much double almost any posted speed limit in the US without a single modification.

81c3

Now that I have 315's out back, its a little harder to lite em up, but they will still spin. The sound can be changed with exhaust mods.... a $5000. car will need some work... Spend a little more and finding a car that has everything done is possible.... Check this one out...

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...200-miles.html

barchetta1

the sound you are referring to is not what I believe I am after. But will listen some more..

biggiefl

"What doesn’t A C4 have- horsepower."


Not true if you own a ZR1

barchetta1

Not sure I could "handle" carb.. those arent really my era.. Im 52 not 62

barchetta1

Im not totally up on rear end ratios but your post seems counter what Ive read.. that a l98 does not need a ratio change.. interesting.

Admittngly, Ive only driven 2 c4s. a 90 and a 96. the 90 had 54k on it and wouldnt barely light up the tires. It had a lot of torque down low and fell off abruptly. the 96 I couldnt mess with, the roads were wet. But did seem to have gobs more power.

Cjunkie

My L98 never had a gear ratio change. There were 2 available for an automatic Vette from Chevrolet a 2.59 AND a 3.07. Mine has the 3.07 from the factory.

barchetta1

Yes .. I thought I read the 307 was rare and not recommened for the l98.. but maybe I have it backwards or just flat our wrong.. will need to review what I read last night on here.. somewhere...

Cjunkie

Interesting the 3.07 is not recommended for the L98. Especially since the 3.07 was an option for EVERY Auto L98 ever made.
Mine has been working fine for 31 years. Must not be to bad?

barchetta1

I said I THOUGHT I read it was rare.. and went on to say perhaps I was mistaken. So Im not sure why you are asserting it is not recommended.

What I read is that it doesnt nearly respond to a gear change like the lt1's do.

81c3

Whatever man.... I.m 50... I have no problem "handling" a carb.... why would you? Thats a damn nice ride for the money.... and Im sure you could barter it a little more in your favor.... but alas... go buy yourself a high mile EFI car that youll need to pour $5000. more dollars into... after the initial $5000. you spend to buy it.... Your money pal.

Cjunkie

I’m 45 and wouldn’t touch a carb anymore unless it was an old 50s-70s classic or a total strip *****.
I’d pass and get an EFI car.

barchetta1

If the car were complete Id consider.. but looking close at photos, its needs some more attention. I dont have the interest to tinker to that degree any more. been there, done that, sold my scissors lift a few years back and my back cant take leaning over a vette.

ddahlgren

I get the feeling the poster is looking for a 8000 example for 3500 so he can put 1500 in and have a 5000 car. I have one I will probably sell for health reasons and will no doubt not meet the expectations of some and others will see it as a good driver for 6k or so and everything works well with 73k on the clock. I have no idea if 3 people owned it or 30 it makes no difference as long as well taken care of. Mine is a 91 that I have had for 10 years so 27 years old of course there is some wear. At the end of the day you get what you pay for and 5k does not buy much.

barchetta1

Not really. the reality is that the c4 is not a desirable car. I say this because you can see 92-96 models all over the place with less than 70k miles in near showroom condition (exaggeration.. excellent condition) other than seat bolster wear and worn tires for an advertised $9-12k. That sort of sets the bar. Dont believe me? there is one on here. Keep in mind these are advertised prices and I dont see them taken off autotrader, craigslist, carguru, etc.. they just arent moving. These are for the MOST desirable lt1 cars.. Subtract 1-2k for l98's roughly.

Personally I dont care about trashed interior, but I want a near perfect garaged body. thats not hard to find actually.. and Id like to either need an engine with so many miles it needs a rebuild now or one that I can massage as is.

the ones in-between say 90-145k miles are not of interest to me because the price isnt right for ME.

I want one because Ive never owned a muscle car that was also a sports car.. always BMWs VW's, etc. I just made the mistake of moving from a 6cyl bmw to 4cyl turbo thanks to all the environment regs.. now I want something fun for the weekends and occasional Fridays drive into work.

If yours has a nice original paint job but a trashed interior.. and its not torch red, PM me. Paint is crazy money to do right.

I appreciate all the advice here and continue to listen.. this is my dream toy car and I am very excited. Age really is wasted on the youth. its true.