1998 C5 Roadster

Update your progress on your various car projects.

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wxo
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by wxo »

I know that I've gone far enough when I can beat Maverick. :lol:
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Maverick
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by Maverick »

wxo wrote:I know that I've gone far enough when I can beat Maverick. :lol:
OK, that's it!!! Those shock towers are coming out for a Mustang II suspendsion and a 408 Windsor stroker. Just as soon as I convince my wife the Sprint needs a FOURTH engine. :lol:
Maverick
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oldvettedad
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by oldvettedad »

Maverick wrote:
wxo wrote:I know that I've gone far enough when I can beat Maverick. :lol:
OK, that's it!!! Those shock towers are coming out for a Mustang II suspendsion and a 408 Windsor stroker. Just as soon as I convince my wife the Sprint needs a FOURTH engine. :lol:
Maybe Dyno Don's Maverick Pro Stock is still for sale on EBAY...I think they were asking around 250 K :mrgreen:
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TireSmoker
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by TireSmoker »

Maverick wrote:
When is a car really fast enough?
Probably when you're faster than other Tiresmokers. :mrgreen:
Works for me. :-)
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GMJohnny
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by GMJohnny »

I think it was Parnelli Jones who said " If your still in control, you're not going fast enough. "
Unfortunately, I was still in control. Darn.......

GM
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GMJohnny
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by GMJohnny »

The weather (for you non-northeast Ohioans ) has been so nice lately. Way too nice to
have your car in storage. 70 degrees and sun in March is cause for taking the car out of
storage. I called my landlord ( Fred32v ) and told him that my winter lease ( freebie ) was
going to end a month short. He was good with it, so to his house I went. Suprisingly, the
Vette was clean underneath the cover. Apparently Fred didn't work too much in the garage
this winter!! It was so nice to drive it again. Wow! I purchased a new camera over the
winter and decided to try it out on something other than craigslist stuff......
Image

Image

GM
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GMJohnny
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by GMJohnny »

This has been a bit of a rough year for the Vette. I've been having a bit of a shifting issue, which dates back to last year. We can't seem to get a consistent shift, particularly on the 2-3 shift. I tried putting having a new valve body installed in the trans. No help. At the advice of a mechanic friend, I had an ignition switch installed after the car would completely stall before hitting 6,000 rpm in first gear. The other day on a trip to Barberton ( about 50 miles from home ), the dashboard tells me my transmission is overheating. Sweet. I took the car back to the shop to have the fluid level rechecked. Upon inspection, my fluid, which had only about 300 miles on it, was looking baked, and the amount of steel shavings in the trans pan looked like someone had been drilling inside the trans housing and didn't clean up the mess. To make an extremely long story short, the trans is shot at 40,500 miles. I just saw the car in a million pieces yesterday, and the pump was what was causing all the shavings. The clutches were in ok shape, but still warn. My trans guy says he's going to rebuild the 4l60e with a street/strip rebuild that should make it the rest of the life of the car. Better 5 dear planetary, and upgraded clutches will also help. I told him that at max I'd be adding another 50 - 75 horsepower and he said that wouldn't affect the life of the trans. This is not a cheap venture, and one I can't believe I have to do at 40,000 miles. Bummer. Hopefully, when the trans is in, I can get it to the track and get a good pull through the whole quarter mile to get a 12.1x. The best thing about the trans job will be knowing that the car won't fail going to Carlisle.....

GM
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MostMint
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by MostMint »

Apparently the stock trans can't really handle mid 12's horsepower on a regular basis. The tranny in my Impala is notoriously weak so I'm just glad it has made it this far.
[quote="Basement Paul"]Is that a mint rocketship on the hood?? :shock:
-BP[/quote]
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Basement Paul
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by Basement Paul »

There's a jinx if I've ever heard one...

-BP
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MostMint
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by MostMint »

I guess I'd consider it a jinx if the Impala ran 12's. Time will tell.
[quote="Basement Paul"]Is that a mint rocketship on the hood?? :shock:
-BP[/quote]
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GMJohnny
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by GMJohnny »

I've been a bit of a slacker with updates to the Vette's fiel,file but here's the latest news, although it may be a bit old. The trans was rebuilt after the overheating issue. I took it on the road and drove it a very short distance ( less than 80 miles ) and the trans was overheating, AGAIN!!! Ugh! So I call Merv the trans guy and tell him. He sounds a bit bummed, but offers a "Hey, bring it in. It shouldn't overheat like that. We'll look at it and make it right." to me. I'm all about making it right, so I did. I got a call from him about 4 hours into the day I had dropped it off. Merv says "it has to come out." Obviously, the trans comes out, gets rebuilt again, and this time a trans cooler is installed....Mind you, I've never ever watched the trans temp gauge until the sucker baked. Now I drive half the time looking at it. Long story short, I'm writing this post in New Jersey, with the Vette in my buddy's front yard. It made it the trip. Hooray!!! The trans temp maxed out at 151 degrees, which was way less than the 170 - 190 temps I was seeing before it overcooked itself. It should be noted that the max temp was attained when it was 102 degrees outside, after driving it solid ( only one 15 minute pit stop ) for over 7 hours. In my mind, problem solved!!! Today, I leave Jersey for Carlisle..... I'm averaging over 25 miles per gallon in this trip, and the trunk was packed with golf clubs, suitcase, sleeping gear and a couple of tv mounts I had to shuttle to Jersey for my friend's house.... It's good to be back to normal!!!!

GM
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GMJohnny
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by GMJohnny »

Ugh!! Transmission is starting to fail. I called the trans guy yesterday and he said to bring it in.
So Fred32V and I make a plan to take it to the trans shop, cause it's still propelling itself, but
seems weak. We made it about an eighth of a mile and it failed all together. You haven't lived
until you've towed your Vette home behind your 2000 Regal with a tow rope! The trans shop
was going to try to look to see what the deal was today in a cursory glance, but my guess is
the gearbox has to come out again.....ugh!! So after towing the Vette home, Fred and I did a
brake job on the Regal because the right rear break shoe had cracked and pieces were stuck
between the caliper and the rotor..... My house is like the Bermuda triangle of car repair lately......
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TireSmoker
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by TireSmoker »

It might be worth having a quick talk with both Hutter and the trans guy to verify that there is nothing that might've been changed in the computer that could affect the trans, as I think things like line pressure are somewhat adjustable with the 4L60E. You're a low-12 second car, there's no rocket science or cutting edge stuff here that should be so fragile.

-Dave
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GMJohnny
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by GMJohnny »

So, hopefully, the third time's a charm. The Vette went ( a couple of weeks ago now )
into the shop for the third time. This time the torque converter let go. The trans guy said
that you could hear the guts rattling around when you shook it. They rebuilt it again ( new pump,
converter and complete flush of valve body and trans cooler ).... It seems to be performing
well, and has quite a snap to the shift, especially under high rpm shifts....This will test the
Bridgestones! All seems well now, and since I just sold the Regal today, it is the only mode
of transportation that I now have...Crossing my fingers!!!

It should also be noted that, when the converter was failing, the car ran like crap. I thought
that I had a vacuum leak by the way it would hardly idle. I'm assuming that the converter
being out of sorts created this problem, because when the car came back from the trans shop,
it was running sweet.

GM
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Basement Paul
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Re: 1998 C5 Roadster

Post by Basement Paul »

Now be nice to it for a couple weeks until your new(ish) car is here.

BTW, there was a guy at the track last night with a 2.5RS sedan that was dialed 16.0. Same combo that you have. I don't think his was completely stock though.

-BP
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