The Las Vegas Baked C4 build.
- Thread starter louis_white
- Start date
louis_white
Well-known user
Thanks buddy, means a lot.
Believe it or not, it actually cleaned up ok but I’m still going to pull it and re-bore it etc.
Here’s a sneak peek of it cleaned
louis_white
Well-known user
Could be possible, I had a friend of mine look at it who rebuilds classic engines and he recons the heads went and it just sat for a long time like it.
The bottom end actually seems in good condition thankfully, the cam looks like new still but the pistons will need swapping out and the bores re-honing at the least I recon. There’s some minor corrosion staining and pitting.
louis_white
Well-known user
Oh thanks mate, that would be awesome. I’m sure I’m going to need all the help and advice I can get.
I was toying with the idea of just building the top end and getting her to fire up first but now I’m this far in I think I may as well pull the block and learn more
louis_white
Well-known user
Thanks buddy, means a lot. I sometimes thing ‘geez I had the car 12 months and still not fired her up’ but engine aside I think she’s had a fair bit done over the past 12 months. Saving for a new house didn’t help
but I’ll upload some interior build pictures later so you can all see how far I went with that.here’s a taster
Oneball
CCCUK Member
Oh thanks mate, that would be awesome. I’m sure I’m going to need all the help and advice I can get.
I was toying with the idea of just building the top end and getting her to fire up first but now I’m this far in I think I may as well pull the block and learn more
Looking at the the photos with that much rust the piston rings will probably struggle to seal. Both because of any roughness of the cylinder wall and also the piston rings themselves will have corroded.
I’d get the block out and do the whole thing.
louis_white
Well-known user
Definitely will do, I’ve no plans to ever sell this car if anything one day pass it down to my boys. So more the reason to do it properly
louis_white
Well-known user
So after the discovery of the state of the block I sent the heads of for cleaning and skimming while I cleaned and inspected the lower block
More bad news came back from the machine shop the heads had badly failed a pressure test! So unfortunately the car had its wicked way with my wallet again! a £260 bill to have the heads cleaned and pressure tested! Just to become a new set of door stops!
They looked great too….
but below you will see the areas it failed and tricky spots to repair too unfortunately!
More bad news came back from the machine shop the heads had badly failed a pressure test! So unfortunately the car had its wicked way with my wallet again! a £260 bill to have the heads cleaned and pressure tested! Just to become a new set of door stops!
They looked great too….
but below you will see the areas it failed and tricky spots to repair too unfortunately!
louis_white
Well-known user
The lower block was cleaning up pretty good though! And didn’t look half as bad as I expected it too. Some miner pitting from corrosion on the piston heads and bore surfaces so the block will need pulling but it’s repairable, which is great news because I wanted to keep the original engine.
I now started to strip out the cooling system, the radiator and anything else in the way so I could get to the timing chain and cam which both looked great! I’ll be swapping these out for something with a little more power anyway but it was still good to see damage had not gotten to far into the block.
But not everything was going so smoothly, removing the pulley my crank shaft bolt snapped clean off! One of them famous 2 minuet jobs that become a 2 week job!
for days I had to go at this bolt with drill bits until finally it spun out!
That feeling!!!
Well at this point and for now I’ve gone as far as my funds and skills learnt, will take me with the engine! She’s was put on the back burner for the rest of 2021.
However I still had plenty on the car I could crack on with….
I now started to strip out the cooling system, the radiator and anything else in the way so I could get to the timing chain and cam which both looked great! I’ll be swapping these out for something with a little more power anyway but it was still good to see damage had not gotten to far into the block.
But not everything was going so smoothly, removing the pulley my crank shaft bolt snapped clean off! One of them famous 2 minuet jobs that become a 2 week job!
for days I had to go at this bolt with drill bits until finally it spun out!
That feeling!!!
Well at this point and for now I’ve gone as far as my funds and skills learnt, will take me with the engine! She’s was put on the back burner for the rest of 2021.
However I still had plenty on the car I could crack on with….
Attachments
louis_white
Well-known user
I hear the fuel pump is a common issue on these cars so as I bought the old girl to learn I thought I may as well swap that out even if it was good or not.
I went to work on removing the old one which was ‘to no surprise’ in a pretty bad way and then I started removing all the old rotten gas out the tank! Man did it stink and was like black tar! Luckily though the tank itself after a good clean looked great, it had a black lining inside that appeared to protect it from any corrosion.
The fuel filler neck needed swapping out too…
I went to work on removing the old one which was ‘to no surprise’ in a pretty bad way and then I started removing all the old rotten gas out the tank! Man did it stink and was like black tar! Luckily though the tank itself after a good clean looked great, it had a black lining inside that appeared to protect it from any corrosion.
The fuel filler neck needed swapping out too…
louis_white
Well-known user
I then went into replace all the gas struts, my rear hatch wouldn’t hold its self up and my hood felt like I was trying to lift the titanic off the ocean floor!
Man these new struts made a huge difference!
www.instagram.com
Man these new struts made a huge difference!
The_Vegas_C4 on Instagram: "New Hatch lift supports installed #corvette #corvettec4 #projectcar #survivorcar #thevegasc4"
68 likes, 7 comments - the_vegas_c4 on June 26, 2021: "New Hatch lift supports installed #corvette #corvettec4 #projectcar #survivorcar #thevegasc4".
www.instagram.com
louis_white
Well-known user
I didn’t find one sadly, I had a good look for it but nothing. I hoped there was going to be one gutted, would of been awesome to find one and frame it. I’m going to order a build sheet from the museum soon.
louis_white
Well-known user
Really, good to know. I’ll check it out and hopefully it’s there
teamzr1
Supporting vendor
There is 2 build sheets in C4
Top of gas tank,
Take off rear license plate
Remove pass side back-up light
Use flashlight to look to the right to top back corner of gas tank.
IF your build sheet is visible, remove via pass side tail light.
If need be
Anchor tank strap firmly with vise-grips, or it will twist like a pretzel.
Go under car and carefully loosen tank strap with socket and ratchet until you can slip build sheet out from under
Or look at the backside of the front cross member under the power steering reservoir for a small hole (quarter size).
If you can see the build sheet, it can be removed by twisting round and round with tweezers until it comes out.
Top of gas tank,
Take off rear license plate
Remove pass side back-up light
Use flashlight to look to the right to top back corner of gas tank.
IF your build sheet is visible, remove via pass side tail light.
If need be
Anchor tank strap firmly with vise-grips, or it will twist like a pretzel.
Go under car and carefully loosen tank strap with socket and ratchet until you can slip build sheet out from under
Or look at the backside of the front cross member under the power steering reservoir for a small hole (quarter size).
If you can see the build sheet, it can be removed by twisting round and round with tweezers until it comes out.