July 16, 2020
It wasn’t long after the car was sitting in my driveway that I gave it it’s first official cleaning, though the car appeared immaculate inside and out, it was holding a lot of secrets, good and bad.
One of the first questions I asked the original owner of the car was “”what extras come with the car and also what is not factory stock on this car?”” The changes and inclusions that he said were:
- A Holley air intake
- A C6 shifter
- “Some” LED lights
- The original GM Service manuals
The things that I found that were not stock were:
- A $500US CALLAWAY Honker high performance intake
- A complete original C6 shifter mechanism and knob
- LED rear backup lights
- LED footwell lights inside
- An iPod adapter that disables the factory CD
- Cheap HID low beams (that did not work properly)
- Cheap HID high beams (that died practically right away)
- Clear lens daytime running lights with LEDs at the front
- Aftermarket brake rotors on all 4 corners
- A 9″ radio antenna
- A 30.5″ radio antenna
- A “stubby” short antenna connector cover
- Three mysterious aluminum screws oddly placed in the right side trunk cargo area
- The car has been lowered from factory height
- An interior compartment noise separator (an OK one, I suppose)
- An electrical Skip-shift kit connected to the transmission
- A C5 steering column lock bypass kit
- GM high performance red spark plug wires
- A missing round cover on the driver side headlight bezel surround
- The lug socket that is hidden under the carpet in the back is missing
- Tinted rear and side windows
I also found out that the car was not very clean in the places I normally kept clean (though it was well maintained and cleaned in the visible places)… like under the mats, under the seats and in slightly harder to reach areas like the door hinges and lots of areas under the hood.
I found all sorts of interesting things, like a good amount of change in US currency, a ton of old dirt, in between the car seat and the side transmission tunnel and more dirt and even candy bar wrappers, and a final small surprise, the Air Miles card of the owner’s wife on the floor … under the driver’s side. I’d love to know how that got there!
On the passenger footwell side, under the protective cover, is a factory fuse box. The cover from this fuse box was sitting upside down and not screwed in, so it was held in place with a 10″ piece of black electrical tape. I tossed the tape, installed the cover properly and screwed it in. That is when I found the wiring for the column lock by-pass kit.
In the trunk he had an aftermarket car bra and car cover. The bra, in it’s bag, conveniently hid the mysterious 3 hardware screws and the car cover in it’s bag, conveniently hid the minor carpet damage in the deepest cargo area in the middle of the trunk. On the left cargo area of the trunk was a 2″ X 2″ spot of some kind of blue paint that did not clean or wash out… actually it has the colour and consistency of blue Loctite.
Speaking of the trunk, that is where I found the original C5 shifter mechanism, the factory coloured front plate cover, a clear front plate cover, and factory front light bezels with the original bulbs.
It seems that everything that I do to with this car is an adventure, and even the “not so good” stuff an interesting and fun mystery to discover and if needed, resolve!
I am loving on my ‘Vette!!