Blue Interiors

"Axial" (axial) 04/05/2015 at 22:04 • Filed to: BLUE, interiors, so 90s

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I was browsing C4s, which I always do because I'm a total nerd for them, and I stumbled !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! :

!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!

Steel blue is a very hard color to come by. Even harder to come by, though, is the indigo interior that sometimes comes with it. Feast your eyes upon its magnificence:

It's the perfect shade. It's actually a bit darker than the photos make it out to be (damn you, sun!), but I'd really like it if cars started coming out with these sorts of colored interiors again. Automakers, you want my attention? Do shit like this.

Post some of your favorite blue interiors!

Axial > Axial 04/05/2015 at 22:06

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Also, as a bonus, an $8000 ZR1 in CA . Pictures are total butts, but for $8000 it might be worth taking a look?

Alfalfa Romeo > Axial 04/05/2015 at 22:09

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I do love me a good C4. Especially the earlier models with the wonderfully 80's digital dash.

Axial > Alfalfa Romeo 04/05/2015 at 22:11

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It's so electric!

DrJohannVegas > Axial 04/05/2015 at 22:26

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That has to be a scam. Bad photos, mis-posted info (lists it as "base"), kinda makes me nervous...

Tuned-Port-Injected-Rage > Axial 04/05/2015 at 23:07

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Mmmm, yes. I've always loved Steel Blue Metallic. Such a subtle color that really helps to bring out the C4's lines. And that's one of the cleanest '90 'Vettes I've ever seen.

Axial > DrJohannVegas 04/05/2015 at 23:30

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Most of the ZR-1s on Cars For Sale are listed as "base," though. Actually, most of the C4s are listed as "base." The bad photos are the real red flag, but eh. I've seen an actual one go for $8000. Was in really nice shape, just had a salvage mark on it from 1992.

Axial > Tuned-Port-Injected-Rage 04/05/2015 at 23:32

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About a week after I brought home the ZR-1 from NC, a Steel Blue 1990 ZR-1 popped up in the DC area not too far from where I live for $16,000, about $2000 more than mine was. There are only 11 Steel Blue 1990 ZR-1s in existence. D:

Tuned-Port-Injected-Rage > Axial 04/05/2015 at 23:40

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Damn, seriously? That sucks :/ Hell, you still got a ZR1, though.

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Axial 04/14/2015 at 20:49

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Better to look at it as almost having made a 1/11 mistake (according to John Heinricy).

Axial > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 04/14/2015 at 21:05

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I'm actually okay with that mistake. I had to have a red one; there could be no substitute.

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Axial 04/14/2015 at 21:19

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I meant you didn't make the mistake!

"All Corvettes are red. The rest are mistakes."

My front bumper and hood are starting to look a bit less red now, though. Any updates on the ZR-1?

Axial > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 04/14/2015 at 21:59

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I took it out over the weekend for its first drive in over a month. It has grindy brakes (it's still wearing 25-year-old OEM rotors), which will get addressed because it needed a brake job anyway. The oil leak seems to be from the oil pressure sensor mount, so not a huge deal to fix. Coolant drip is confirmed as just old hose fittings.

Diagnosis: old car is old. Still intoxicating to drive, despite its current state. Soon, precious, soon:

The '96 also needs some attention. It's about 2,000 miles overdue for an oil change and all of its brakes are out of passable range. Pads are in the mail, should arrive Thursday or Friday. Gonna just spend an afternoon doing all the things.

I always forget about that "all Corvettes are red" quote. T_T

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Axial 04/17/2015 at 17:31

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Awesome, good to hear that the issues are simple. Hopefully the ZR1 will be ready to get on the road soon!

Just to vent... my ‘85 is an absolute nightmare right now. I hit a large a month ago (unavoidable, thanks VA infrastructure) and broke a window regulator as a result. I then ordered the wrong side, waited weeks to get the new one, the car sat so I installed diff drain plug in the meantime, then got out to drive finally without the door guts and realized that the new clutch was slipping massively (I shrugged off the strange RPM jumps beforehand). On the drive I discovered that the pot hole had messed up the alignment significantly. I changed valve cover gaskets after returning the LT1 ones that shipped, and then it turned out that the 8-month-old transmission gear oil was really dirty so I changed that.

The correct regulator got here and I couldn’t remember how to put it all back together again, so I decided to see if a mechanic I knew could figure it out in a reasonable amount of time. After dropping it off, I had the untimely idea of getting the instructions from Zip Corvette who makes a kit; by the time I received them, I’d shelled out the money for a regulator job. The window’s out of alignment now and the clutch/flywheel probably aren’t too happy. I have some sort of subtle grinding sound when I’m braking/rolling as well but I have new pads and the suspension sounds like it’s held together with duct tape and string.

On the plus side, my oil temp sensor fixed itself!

Axial > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 04/18/2015 at 21:01

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That’s rough, man...

I do know what you mean about the potholes. Every morning, on New Braddock Road, I have to avoid this series of deep potholes to turn left onto Ox Road to get to GMU. I’ve missed the gaps a couple of times and holy shit, was that jarring.

Fairfax County: we’re rich as fuck, but fuck you if you think we’re gonna spend anything on infrastructure!

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Axial 04/18/2015 at 22:51

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I was out by GMU the other day and know exactly what you mean. Going in to Fairfax is still a relief, though, because Alexandria has hardly started on the roadwork. Once I get the clutch worked out and broken in I’m thinking about doing an HPDE at Summit Point after some small repairs, and while it would be very ill-advised to go before the suspension is properly sorted (thinking about doing Z51 steering rack/Corvette Central full sport suspension system), I’d like to have some sort of benchmark and a way to stay interested in the car.

Axial > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 04/19/2015 at 13:25

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If you want to do HPDE, one of the best things you can do is swap out the current springs for independently adjustable coil-overs. That said, I wouldn’t make such an upgrade unless I planned on doing HPDE with the car regularly, and at that I would probably use a ratty C4 as a stripped-out race car instead. Cheap car, ain’t care about what happens!

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Axial 04/20/2015 at 10:56

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It would just be an occasional thing at most probably, but an ‘84 Z51 with some kind of junkyard LS swap would be tons of fun! To add to the saga, I went down to the parking garage this morning to find that the car was not where I had parked it last night, so now I’m going to pick it up at the towing lot this evening because the visitor’s pass was “not visible.” I just hope nothing was further damaged because of my idiocy. I have no idea how they would have hooked it up from the back.

Axial > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 04/20/2015 at 11:19

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I think I’d have to keep the old-school iron block in the race C4 to keep the old-fashioned firing order, just build the shit out of it. Go for shorter stroke, wider bore, high-RPM, not-for-street nonsense with a 400 WHP target at >7,000 RPM. Maybe carb it, though maintaining EFI is preferable. Gonna need some short intake runners with a larger cross-section. Perhaps trumpets as on some of those old Ferraris? Long tube headers connecting to straight pipes.

And on the outside, faired in skirts and splitters a la F50 GT. Might be nifty to knock out a scale model of the car and run it in a home-made wind tunnel.

Damn, I wish I had money to take on this project. Probably wouldn’t be the fastest car on the track, but it would sound bloody amazing and still go like stink.

I hope your towing bill isn’t too steep.

JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 > Axial 04/20/2015 at 19:49

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That’s probably a good plan. On my ‘85, AFR heads alone would yield 80 hp at the crank! Then there’s the Edelbrock miniram, plenty of cam options, and some other stuff. I’m running with some sort of hotter cam and the awful, restrictive airbox switched out with a K&N and I haven’t done any testing to compare with other cars. Some long tube headers should complete the package and no need to worry about forged pistons! That’s a long way away, though. For now I need some fresh spark plug wires because the two that replaced brand new OEM wires were burned away on the manifolds. I like your idea of the F50 inspired aero, even though this is probably my favorite looking C4 race car

The car was fine other than tons of pollen, and I got to try out the rally stage that is the Henry’s towing yard (a pretty wild ride even at 2mph)... after they extorted $200 out of me ($50 extra because I was 20 minutes late for the first 24 hours. I was not informed of this and even asked if I should come earlier). The visitor parking pass fell onto the floor—some great luck I have with this car. How often do you change the oil on the LT4, by the way?

Axial > JayZAyEighty thinks C4+3=C7 04/20/2015 at 21:08

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The LT4 is getting abused a bit. I try to change it every 7,500-8,000 miles or so, but right now it’s going on 10,000. So much to do, so little time. But, hey, that’s why we use full synthetic, no? That blows on the towing charge. I swear to butts, towing is borderline illegal. Much like repossession.

The good news with the ‘85 is that it’s the fastest of the L98 C4s even stock. For whatever reason, every subsequent year was slower. My guess is an increase in weight first, suspension changes second. So you have a theoretically good car if you can get the issues sorted out.

I’m also partial to this car:

...despite its ugly front:

I would want to make the aero smooth and seamless. OEM-like. Would be one hell of an exercise in bodywork, but holy jengus, the results would be worth it. This is also a good look, I think:

Shiftright > Axial 05/10/2015 at 13:14

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I love C4s. They are a beautifully proportioned and resolved design, and made quite a splash in ‘84. Under appreciated now, but undoubtedly not so in the near future.