My little "Give me a Ticket Red" 1985 Corvette

I finally managed to get a Corvette! I've always wanted one. I saw a 1985 on sale for $10K. I had been saving for a new car and had ~$4K in cash. Dipping slightly into my house savings I bought this one on September 12, 1998 for $8879.27.

One could say that I've had my share of problems with this car but what do you want for a vehicle that's 14 years old! Since getting the car I have:

Date Item Cost

September 15, 1998 Installed a CD player and alarm
$756.57

October 13, 1998 Replaced rear wheel bearings and U joints
$1062.38

October 23, 1998 Replaced torque converter, installed upgrade for transmission (better gears and other parts for better lubrication) and shift kit
$2117.63

December 13, 1998 Corvette license plate frame
$34.04

<Unknown> New wiper blades
$15.95

January 6, 1999 Replaced dashboard light
$20.92

January 7, 1999 Replaced headlights
$41.11

January 8, 1999 Replaced rear view mirror
$54.95

January 12,1999 Replaced battery
$49.99

January 13, 1999 Replaced oil sending unit and oil
$155.79

February 12, 1999 Repaired hood and bumper, paintjob
$628.92

April 8, 1999 Replaced altenator and belt
$408.87

May 13, 1999 Replaced fan motor and relay, IAC motor, cleaned throttle body, installed HyperTech computer chip
$925.54

June 8, 1999 Break job (front): New rotors & pads
$371.65

June 26, 1999 Woodgrain Kit
$86.55

November 2, 1999 Wipers - motor/arm/etc
$672.20

December 7, 1999 Radiator flush, heavy duty fan switch connector, flush power steering fluid, air foil performance modification, modify air filter lid, cleaned K&N air filter
$473.98

February 23, 2000 Targa Top
$947.19

Total so far:
$8821.23

You could say I've been busy with this! Somethings were just bad luck and an old car, like the torque converter blowing out, the need for wheel bearings and U joints, headlights and the battery. Others were things that wear out that on other cars you might delay or not repair them like, wiper blades, dashboard light, rear view mirror, oil sending unit and altenator. And others are just things that one does to improve a car probably only because one really likes the car they have like CD player and alarm, upgrading the transmission, shift kit, license plate frame.

The Fender Bender

On Thanksgiving day, while heading out to Las Vegas for my yearly pilgrimage I stopped into Jack in the Box for some hamburgers for the road. I was preoccupied trying to determine if the drive through would but selling hamburgers at this early hour when a lady pulled out of her parking stall in front of me. I didn't see her at all nor she me and I hit her without even applying my brakes. Here's the damage! Argh! What a way to start my Vegas trip with my new Vette! (Vegas was not very good to me this year!).

Anyway the lady's husband came out and we started exchanging information. He asked his wife several times if she was OK, once saying "Are you sure you don't have whiplash or something?". I just rolled my eyes. I don't have comp & collision insurance so I figured I was in for a big repair bill. This guy was relucant to give me his insurance info saying "Why do you need that? You hit us?" and I had to follow him to his house to get the information.

Come to find out later that this guy had the nerve to claim injury to my insurance company. My insurance company, Nationwide, saw through this jerk's lies and had him sign a release form and gave him $50. Later we find out that this nimrod didn't even have insurance on the day of the accident but renewed it a few days later! Some people!

Anyway this allowed my damages to be paid for by my insurance under my uninsured motorist insurance. I had to pay 20% however. So I got everything fixed and ended up paying ~$800 for a $4000 repair job! Pictures forth coming. The car looks better than ever!

Meantime I took a posting to alt.autos.corvette made by Bart Lane and HTML'ized it for publication to the Santa Clara Corvette Club's Newsletter. Read Getting the Most Out of Your Gears.

The Crash

Recently I got side swiped by an industrial garbage truck. Totally ruined the car. So far the estimate is $8200! Luckily the front bumper and hood have not be damaged. Remember those were replaced after The Fender Bender. The car appears to have held up internally, but ever other piece of the exterior body has been damaged and needs to be replaced! :-(. Details and pictures are here.