racerxrick

I finally accepted that i was living on borrowed time. Though only slightly more than 20k since the last timing belt it has been nearly seven years according to the PO receipts. Plus the car is sorely needing a reseal.

Local Rennlister and racer "Phlip" will do the work (trust me it's best).

I'm really looking forward to that extra level of confidence...and maybe keeping a little more of the oil in the engine as opposed to the catch tray under it in my garage

I went ahead and picked up a Kevlar belt as the extra $$ seemed like buying a little insurance. I also bought all new rollers, balance shaft belt, all new seals, thermostat and water pump.

I drove the car last night after driving a 6spd C5 Vette for the past week (buying for my son to drive his senior year at high school!). I've enjoyed the Vette and have pushed it a bit here and there...the main difference between the two? The Vette feels like driving a fairly powerful street car (stock other than Corsa axle back exhaust)...but the 951 feels like driving a race car on the street...it pulls harder on boost, has better "feel" when pushed in a corner and I like the drivers position much better.

Still...having said all that I would thoroughly enjoy owning a C5 zo6, just sayin'

joemis

If you haven't already done so, now would be a good time to reseal the oil cooler housing. Once you take the water pump off and remove the lower balance shaft seal housing you will have lots of room to get at it and it will make your job easier. I recently did this on my 944S2.

Joe M.
1989 944S2

racerxrick

thanks for the suggestion Joe...I'll talk with Phlip about that!

zerMATT951

And if your oil cooler lines are leaking badly like mine were, you might give Lart a holler to see if he's made up any more braided oil cooler lines.

racerxrick

thanks...will know more after tear down and inspection I'm sure.

How's your build coming??!

Lex_GTX

So hold on ... you're buying your high school aged son a Corvette?

Scott H

Nice buy on the Vette, there really isn't anything else on the used market right now than can touch its bang for the buck. Granted, I'm bias, my DD is a 2000 C5 6spd as well. I've done all the "regular" maintenance on mine and it is stupid easy to work on, and much, much cheaper than the Porsche. I don't think I've looked at the instructions on how to do any of the work on the car, it's all really straight forward and intuitive. Just make sure you look up the proper jacking procedures for the car otherwise you run the risk of cracking the subframes.

Annnnnd

racerxrick

yes I did...and thanks. He has always been trustworthy, responsible AND humble. Sometimes the good guys win. He is NOT the typical "Richie Rich" kid who gets to drive a Vette to school. He deserves it and didn't ask for it!

On the practical side...I sell cars and traded for this one. Mechanically the car is in excellent condition and the only thing I could find was that it needed front brake pads (ceramics were $48..LOL!).

For the money I paid for the car I could have bought a older Trailblazer, maybe a Cobalt or 70k Jetta. Drive those to 120k+ and they'll be worth nothing and potentially much higher maintenance. The Vette is a very solid build and like Scott said maintenance is a breeze. Cosmetically the car has enough scuffs and touch up I'm not worried about it in the school parking lot.

Insurance is less than the 07' Volvo S40 he has been driving!

I work for a GM dealer so labor is CHEAP...heck for what it cost I paid them to flush fluids front to back. The tires were all 80% and everything works. I noticed the A/C took a little bit to cool down. Wasn't hard to figure out the radiator acts like a snow shovel...pulled the air intake and top radiator shroud yesterday and put my son to work. Now that it's all washed out the thing cools right away.

Other than tires this shouldn't be an expensive vehicle to maintain.

Only problem...damn I like driving it! The Corsa exhaust makes for great stereo

blown 944

I have no problem giving a responsible hs kid a car like that. 2 of my kids have been extremely well behaved and very responsible. If I had the means they would have driven whatever they wanted. Instead they get hondas and now my youngest is getting an eagle talon. That should be pretty fun modding with him. I swear I've never been in a more stable car in weather (nice bonus)

Good find on the vette

racerxrick

yeah you will have fun modding the Eagle Talon with him. I had him pull the radiator shroud with me and he got to rinse, wash and repeat probaby longer than needed Then he got to lube all the rubber seals with silicone grease. The oil life monitor hadn't been reset so he got to search the internet for the procedure (even though I had the manual). Now he's asking about discussion forums.

I've also pointed out that if he continues with school and works hard he "should" be able to continue having cool cars! The Vette will easily get 27mpg+ on the highway so he may get to take it to college..

Ya' know I told him if someone from school wants to race him...fine, we can do that (Saturday night at the local dragstrip!). The PO of my 951 is a long time friend and does a lot of Autocross and Time Trials. I'll make sure he gets to learn and play some!

racerxrick

I posted pics of our two toys in the pic thread..

docwyte

Wow, that's a lot of car for a high school kid.

racerxrick

ALWAYS been a great kid...very kind and humble. I couldn't be more proud. He grew up around the dragstrip (I announced for years at The Texas Motorplex)

...plus, single parent and not married (I can spoil him just a little)

tkrtape12

Man I remember having a smile like that...I got an 88 Mustang GT..congrats I'm sure he appreciates it..my daughters 8 and I'm already looking at what would be a neat car 10 yrs from now..lol
For me it was great learning and working on it with my dad...

racerxrick

love hearing that!