I found some LT5 pics...

I found some new LT5 pics...

Transmission leak...

I noticed some oil leaks on the garage floor coming from the middle of the car. 

Upon inspection, I noticed a small drip coming from the back of the transmission.  

Stay tuned...

Transmission leak...

I noticed some oil leaks on the garage floor coming from the middle of the car. Upon inspection, I noticed a small drip coming from the back of the transmission.

Clutch throw out bearing (release bearing) noise

The sound of a dying release bearing is akin to running over a full grown chupacabra and her pups (don't ask me how I know what running over a chupacabra sounds like.. it's noisy, a mess, and smells like an old mink farm). Intermittent and extremely  frightening to little old Lady's driving along side, the noise only gets worse, louder and more embarrassing.

If you are young and single, driving a ZR-1 in this condition will not attract girls any more than driving a convertible Sibring.  If you are old and single, good hell don't drive it!  You are screwed in so many other ways you don't need to add this to the list.  If you are married, well that's another story.

After a few weeks enduring the "shrieking" throw out bearing I finally coughed up the money to get it fixed.
Not wanting to cough really hard, I let the mechanic re-surface the old dual mass fly wheel by hand.  My mechanic Rich, did an exceptional job of doing what most say can't be done.  Using a long board, he sanded off the high spots, put in a new Spec clutch along with a new release bearing (not the bushing that comes with the clutch) and put it back together.  Although a bit jerky initially, after about 200 miles the clutch settled down and is now quite drivable.  Spec clutches do make some engagement chatter but that has calmed down a bit too.

In hind-sight I would have just put in a new bearing and called it good.  My ZR-1 only has about 28k on it and the old clutch was only about half gone.  That would have lasted for at least another15k miles.  When this clutch fails (probably prematurely) I will step into the world of a single mass flywheel.  Probably aluminum and weighing only 10 pounds.  I will then put on a sprung clutch to help the idle chatter that is sure to appear.

In conclusion, ZR-1's are magnificent cars, albeit a bit spendy to fix.
D

Oil Cooler Hose Failure

What started out as a drip is now a stream! The nefarious oil cooler hoses have now failed fully as evidenced by the pools of fresh oil adorning the garage floor, driveway and various parking lots!   I have ordered the new hose ensemble from Jerrys Gaskets.  The cost with shipping was $179.00.  The hoses were shipped very quickly and arrived today.   Four days from OK to ID, not bad! The hose assembly fit perfectly and is designed very close to original. I give Jerry's Gaskets an A+. They also have a growing LT5 parts catalog. As our C4 ZR1's get a little more broken in, it's good to have parts!

For more information on Jerry's ZR-1/ LT-5 parts you can contact:

Jerrys Gaskets

3900 Sea Ray Channel

Edmond OK 73013-8762

The replacement of the oil cooling hoses is very simple and takes about 20 minutes to complete.After you are done, run the engine for a few minutes to make sure there are no leaks.I had a minor leak from the bottom hose but torqued it a bit more and that fixed the problem. 

Old oil cooling hose assembly removed.

Attempted fix with rubber tape and hose clamps.

This meager atempt to salvage bad hoses does not work, at all.

And I am embarrassed to even show it...  I've always tried

to get every second of service life out of parts. 

Sometimes not a good idea however.

Radiator side of hoses. The new assembly comes with new O-rings.

Take care when attaching the radiator side to make sure the O-rings

stay in place.  You don't want a new leak with a new hose!

Note: This is the old hose assembly.

One bolt holds the assembly to the radiator.  Place a shop rag underneath

the fitting when removing the bolt because oil will leak once removed.

Of course it is not under pressure so the leak will stop quickly, unless

you kept the engine running...

When removing the old hoses from the engine. place a shop rag underneath

the hoses to soak up the oil that leaks out.  Avoid getting oil

on the belt which is in close proximity to the hose attachments.

When attaching the engine side hoses, you will need to install the

bottom first because there is not enough room to fit the wrench with

the top hose attached.  Yes I know, that's pretty obvious....  :)

My Corvettes- 1988, 1995 and 1991 ZR-1

1988 Corvette 4+3 Transmission L98-245hp
Not an over-powered car but the automatic down-shift
of the 4+3 transmission makes good use of torque.

1995 Corvette Convertable Automatic LT1-300hp.  With dark purple
metallic paint, black convertable top and automatic transmission, this
beauty screams of female mid-life crisis!  Driving this car always made
me feel as though I was a "kept" man, sort of a dandy as well.  Sort of made
me feel like taking the top off, throwing on a scarf and over sized
sunglasses and driving around town, really slow...



1991 ZR-1 Corvette ZF6 Transmission LT5-375-405hp

Male mid-life crisis exudes from this car every bit as much as

shaving the male pattern baldness off your head!  This is no

ordinary crisis car, its design specifically addresses the need for

speed, style and performance that is absent from its owner.  When

the 20 something rice burner driver flashes his pinky finger, I just

down shift and engage the secondaries with WOT.   Works every time!  



The 1991 ZR-1 is four inches wider than the base C4 in the rear to fit the

wide 315 tires.  This car handles like it's on rails and accelerates like a new

base model Corvette.  Not bad for being 20 years old!  This car has 27K

miles on it and drives like I drove it off the show room floor yesterday.

The 1991 ZR-1 engine is the LT5.  Extremely complex in its design, GM out-sourced

the manufacturing to Mercury Marine.  Mercury was probably the best choice because

of their expertise in all aluminum engine manufacturing.  GM co-designed the LT5 with

Lotus. To date, the LT5 is, if not the best,  is one of the best engines ever built.  If properly

maintained, this engine can live well beyond 200k miles!  Always remember to change the

10 quarts of oil every 3k miles or every 6 months! This car still holds the endurance record.

(Hence the King of the Hill classification)   A stock model was driven at 170MPH+ for 24

straight hours while covering over 4000 miles.  I'd like to see that from an obscenely

oversized-single-piped ricer! Ha!

Another view of the LT5 engine. For some reason I can open the hood and stare at this 

thing for a good ten minutes before I feel the need to start cleaning something.  Specialized 

Racing Products LLC http://www.zr1products.com makes a super charger that fits the LT5.   

That should up the hp to over 500 I would think.  I would always worry about blowing it

up.  And at $20,000 to replace or at least $10,000 to rebuild I would have to think long and

hard about it.