aaronc7's C5 Z06 Build - Page 2

EdgeAutosport.com

Have always had a soft spot in my heart for the c5 zo6... Beautiful car and so much fun to drive!

I've helped install headers on a couple and my first experience was kind of horrible. Couldn't get the car up high enough so we had to roll it out onto the dirt driveway where we dug a deep hole and then jacked the car up and was able to get the driver side in. Still easier to work on than a speed 6... lol!

aaronc7 · 01:22 PM

Originally Posted by obijack

@aaronC5Z; I am think about trading my MSM in for this
Cars for Sale: 2001 Chevrolet Corvette Z06 Coupe in Sanford, FL 32771: Coupe Details - 375107803 - AutoTrader.com

What would you recommend that I should look for when checking it out?

One thing to keep in mind is that while C5Zs are 01-04, in 02 they improved quite a few things. Really no huge differences, but enough that made me look at only 02-04s.

This is the C5 Z06 FAQ, a lot of good info, general issues or things to look out for, and 01 vs 02-04 differences: C5 Z06 Frequently Asked Questions(FAQ) - Corvette Forum

This has a nice "common C5 issues" section: One of the Best Threads ever posted (repost). Newbies must read - Corvette Forum

Big takeaway is 01s made less power due to a smaller cam, majority of 01s had potential oil burning issues due to the type of piston rings they used for about a year (mainly is an issue if you have the revs at 4k+ for extended periods...think track day). HUD became standard as well... a few other things detailed in the Z06 FAQ.

Nothing really out of the ordinary to look for I don't think. You can see current/old CELs by holding the "Options" button while pressing the "Fuel" button 4 times on the DIC (driver information center), just beside the gauge cluster. I would check for any codes and look them up... some expensive fix ones can be traction control/ABS related from what I've read.

I think there was a TSB for the 2001 piston oil rings... but it probably wasn't done/wasn't an issue, since most vette owners are older men.

That seems like a pretty good price. If you find the right car at the right price, I wouldn't be swayed against the 2001 model year, but it probably would still not be my first choice. KBB wise I don't think the 2001 is significantly less. You may be able to use the 2002+ improvements as a way to talk them down on a 2001 though. 2001 was also the only year they came in white... looks great IMO!

Anything else, just let me know.

Originally Posted by EdgeAutosport.com

Have always had a soft spot in my heart for the c5 zo6... Beautiful car and so much fun to drive!

I've helped install headers on a couple and my first experience was kind of horrible. Couldn't get the car up high enough so we had to roll it out onto the dirt driveway where we dug a deep hole and then jacked the car up and was able to get the driver side in. Still easier to work on than a speed 6... lol!

LOL, that's crazy. The Kooks headers that I have used to be horrible to install apparently. They redesigned them about a year ago and all of them just slip in now. I was afraid of what I was going to do if I didn't have enough ground clearance. Probably slip a few more 2 x 6s between the car and jack stands, but things were going to get sketchy for sure.

rodrigo

go on...

obijack

@aaronC5Z; Awesome man thank you for taking the time to help me out. I think I will search for 02-04 exclusively now.

Karmat

Originally Posted by obijack

@aaronC5Z; Awesome man thank you for taking the time to help me out. I think I will search for 02-04 exclusively now.

Mid and late 02s and early 03s are at risk of catastrophic valve spring failure.

04s are the absolute best but are generally pretty expensive.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Yousuf

Damn your vette's sexy as hell, can we get some pics of the interior with the new seats?

aaronc7

Originally Posted by Karmat

Mid and late 02s and early 03s are at risk of catastrophic valve spring failure.

04s are the absolute best but are generally pretty expensive.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

I didn't stress over the valvespring thing too much, but yes... there is a certain period in the build dates that seem to have a spike in valve spring failures. There's a sticky in the C5 Z06 section on corvette forum. Good thing is, a set of replacement springs isn't too hard or expensive. Sometime during the 2003 run, they also changed the fuel system to a returnless style and got a stronger, steel 3-4 shift fork. These carried over into the 2004, which also got revalved shocks (not sure if the late 03s got them). I didn't stress over the stuff above too much, none was a deal breaker IMO. Turns out I got a late 2003 with returnless fuel system, etc (also outside of the valve spring "danger zone"). Also, a bunch of the 04s have that dumbtarded commemorative paint scheme...ugh.

Originally Posted by Yousuf

Damn your vette's sexy as hell, can we get some pics of the interior with the new seats?

Don't have any at the moment, I'll try to grab some soon.

Karmat

@aaronC5Z;

I saw you're selling your vararam. You have issues with it or something? I was looking on getting one down the road as everyone makes it seem like the bees knees.

aaronc7 · 12:25 PM

Originally Posted by Karmat

@aaronC5Z;

I saw you're selling your vararam. You have issues with it or something? I was looking on getting one down the road as everyone makes it seem like the bees knees.

Yeah I too got one based on all the positive reviews, etc. I was well aware that it wasn't going to be the highest quality piece, as far as construction etc, but I didn't have a huge issue with that as long as it performed half as well as everyone was claiming.

Install was a bit of a pain, but everything lined up just fine, no issues there. Almost right away I noticed that at low load/low RPM conditions (holding constant speed at about any speed, below 2k rpm or so) the car would stutter or hesitate a bit. Nothing huge but it never happened before the intake. My tuner got my fuel trims and such in check but we were never able to get rid of the issue above. I believed it was turbulent flow across the MAF- MAF signal looked a bit "noisy" in datalogs, but I had no stock intake logs to compare to and there's really not a whole lot of in the weeds tuning discussion type stuff on the domestics forums.

So that always bugged me, but it wasn't enough to make me go and change stuff up. Then the other day I got caught outside in the rain in the car and there was quite a bit of standing water etc and it kinda scared me. Normally I don't drive the car if it's even forecasted to rain, but around here a storm can pop up quick and you can get stuck out in it. Combination of all the issues/concerns above, so I decided to get a more simple design intake..... I went with Airaid. Thing has really awesome quality and I got a huge dry flow filter for it.

I did get some Vararam vs Airaid datalogs this time around. I just did a quick 20-30 second datalog on a cold startup for each to compare how "noisey" the MAF signals were for each setup. The datalog confirmed that the Vararam caused a good bit of turbulence across the MAF and was the source of my driveability issues all along. Car drives much smoother now overall too.. it was kinda nice to prove it wasn't all in my head lol! In the pic below, Airaid on top, Vararam on bottom. The Vararam does do a great job pulling in cold air, but it's just not worth it IMO if it's going to cause driveability issues due to shitty design, plus the quality is very meh.

bmylez

Sick bro.

Karmat

Originally Posted by aaronC5Z

Yeah I too got one based on all the positive reviews, etc. I was well aware that it wasn't going to be the highest quality piece, as far as construction etc, but I didn't have a huge issue with that as long as it performed half as well as everyone was claiming.

Install was a bit of a pain, but everything lined up just fine, no issues there. Almost right away I noticed that at low load/low RPM conditions (holding constant speed at about any speed, below 2k rpm or so) the car would stutter or hesitate a bit. Nothing huge but it never happened before the intake. My tuner got my fuel trims and such in check but we were never able to get rid of the issue above. I believed it was turbulent flow across the MAF- MAF signal looked a bit "noisy" in datalogs, but I had no stock intake logs to compare to and there's really not a whole lot of in the weeds tuning discussion type stuff on the domestics forums.

So that always bugged me, but it wasn't enough to make me go and change stuff up. Then the other day I got caught outside in the rain in the car and there was quite a bit of standing water etc and it kinda scared me. Normally I don't drive the car if it's even forecasted to rain, but around here a storm can pop up quick and you can get stuck out in it. Combination of all the issues/concerns above, so I decided to get a more simple design intake..... I went with Airaid. Thing has really awesome quality and I got a huge dry flow filter for it.

I did get some Vararam vs Airaid datalogs this time around. I just did a quick 20-30 second datalog on a cold startup for each to compare how "noisey" the MAF signals were for each setup. The datalog confirmed that the Vararam caused a good bit of turbulence across the MAF and was the source of my driveability issues all along. Car drives much smoother now overall too.. it was kinda nice to prove it wasn't all in my head lol! In the pic below, Airaid on top, Vararam on bottom. The Vararam does do a great job pulling in cold air, but it's just not worth it IMO if it's going to cause driveability issues due to shitty design, plus the quality is very meh.

Yeah I've had my doubts about the Vararam as people seem to complain about the construction of it. And I can see how the design may cause some drivability issues. Thanks for the review I'll look into the Airaid. Blackwing seems to be another name that pops up all the time and seems to have an identical design to the Airaid.

aaronc7 · 12:21 PM

Originally Posted by Karmat

Yeah I've had my doubts about the Vararam as people seem to complain about the construction of it. And I can see how the design may cause some drivability issues. Thanks for the review I'll look into the Airaid. Blackwing seems to be another name that pops up all the time and seems to have an identical design to the Airaid.

I was OK with overall quality as far as fitment and such. I was skeptical putting it on, but it all came together nicely in the end. I think you just get two separate air streams that converge quickly right before the MAF that causes issues.

Airiad makes a full air intake now. What you probably saw is just a big filter, just like the blackwing. I went with it because it offered dry flow filter option, has mounting points on both the end of the filter, and on the airbridge (secures to top of radiator shroud). Some intakes literally just hang off the TB...meh. Quality/construction is very nice, OEM like fitment. On the Z06, the mesh front screens offer a way for cool air to enter the engine bay and get cool air to the intake and the filter sits right there. I'm guessing it will heatsoak a little if you sit/idle for a long time, but whatevz.

In my pic you'll notice the airbridge mounting tab is missing... I had to reacquire some studs/grommets for the shroud, they are on the way now. Still very secure though.

Originally Posted by Yousuf

Damn your vette's sexy as hell, can we get some pics of the interior with the new seats?

Better late than never. The pic turned out horrible though.... lighting was bad I guess and my phone didn't like it. You get the idea though. Lots of other install pics on the net as well:

aaronc7

Going to a 1/8th drag strip tomorrow with the MSF/Nator crew. 0% chance of rain, 100% chance of fail.

Also, signed up for this:

duffman04

NOLA Motorsports Park is a great track. You'll have a lot of fun there. I instructed at a couple of the NASA events last summer. Haven't had time to go this year unfortunately. Nice clean Z06 by the way!

aaronc7 · 12:26 PM

1/8th mile trip went pretty well (Mobile Dragway). More than anything there was a lot of track fail. First 1.5 hours or so they were fixing their clock/timer whatever so we all just stood around. Once it opened back up I was able to get 5 runs in (only 4 slips....first run they gave me wrong slip). All runs were within around 0.1s and +/- 1 MPH.

Best ET: 7.79
Best MPH: 88

Also on the topic of track fail-- pretty sure this track is a little short of 1/8 mile. My ET and trap were both lower than expected. Did some searching around for guys with similar 60' and 330' times and similar mods to compare to. I think I "should" be 8.1-8.3 @ 90-92 mph based on other slips I saw and some of my own 3rd gear datalog runs, etc.

Definitely have some room for improvement on the launches/60' times, but I accomplished my goal, which was to have fun.

Also, with a big tunnel you have to do one of these:

YouTube Short

aaronc7

Did some googling and multiple sources confirm that Mobile Dragway is indeed 60' short....awesome. Doing a bit of math approximations these are my "corrected" times. Pretty much what I was expecting heading out the door...still need to work on the launch:

8.29 @ 92.0
8.25 @ 90.5
8.34 @ 90.7
8.35 @ 90.0

Around 2000' DA

Karmat

That's some nice consistent runs. I was all over the place when I went. Air down the tires and do a burnout to try and get the 60' down?

I wonder if the 2000' DA hurt you a bit. I'm looking at my slips from when I went to the track back in May. On my best run I managed to do the 1/8th in 8.563 at 89.19 with a 2.3 60' on the awful and old F1 SC. I would have thought the headers and intake would give you a bit more MPH.

aaronc7

With my "track correction factor" lol, I was trapping 90-92... we'll say 91 MPH average. I think with a 2000' DA that's about right where I should be.

280whp (recent dyno) speed was trapping 79-80 (corrected lol) for comparison

rodrigo

This thread needs some v.dyno runs to go along with the unicorn runs ....

aaronc7

No V-dynos but I did get a new Sony Action Cam in prep for upcoming track day. Tested a few different spots to compare video and audio quality etc. Outside of the car is definitely best point of view and picture quality, but wind noise is terrible of course. I guess I need to look into a remote mic if I want something decent there. Inside the car isn't too bad...all around decent and is very convenient to have it within arms reach etc.

Also I had to get a quick exhaust video

MAH00035 1 - YouTube

MAH00028 1 - YouTube

MAH00034 1 - YouTube

beachshoer

Air brakes on the third run slowed u down.

stefan

lol i just realized now you have your own thread as well. nice car!

maybe i should open my own thread after all?!

Neverlift

The wind noise in vid 2 is awful. What is up with that?

aaronc7

Cam directly in wind. What would you expect.? It has external Mic port but you can't access it with the case on. For track day I will just mount it inside the car

aaronc7

Pretty much ready for the track day in less than 3 weeks. All new fresh fluids, brake pads have 75-80% life on them. First time out so not going to overthink it too much as far as stuff to do with the car etc.

Planning on digging into the car after the track day for ported heads/cam swap. Ordered the custom cam yesterday from EPS w/ following specs: 226/230 .604"/.04" 113 LSA +3 advance.

Pu Manchu

Originally Posted by aaronC5Z

It has external Mic port but you can't access it with the case on.

that's what drills were invented for.

aaronc7

Track day @ NOLA was cancelled. Going to try to make the next NASA event in November, hopefully it pans out.

Not sure if I am going to push back the ported heads/cam until after that potential track day or try to squeeze it in before (and allow for time to sort out any issues etc).

aaronc7

Beautiful weather this weekend, drove the car around a bit.

I lowered the car on stock bolts. Letting it settle a bit, but I am ready to get an alignment now, probably sometime next week.

Took another exhaust video for shits and gigs, this time with the case off, for better audio.

November track day is on the table now. Have to double check I won't be gone for work though.... hope to find out soon.

Custom cam should be shipping next week. Install along with heads will probably come later in the winter, still.

2003 C5 Z06 Exhaust Rev Pulls - YouTube

rodrigo

is the car officially retired from 600ft drag racing ???

aaronc7

Originally Posted by rodrigo

is the car officially retired from 600ft drag racing ???

absolutely not... how else am i going to run 7s in the 1/8th??

rodrigo

1/8.8th ***

aaronc7 · 12:27 PM

Cam has arrived. As stated above, going to wait to do cam install until I pull the heads and have them worked.

slaughterhaus

Love the build so far! I was looking for a clean Z06 but the girlfriend didn't like having just two seats. I did sneak around that argument and get a 09 cts-v. Nice thing about the vettes though is they don't heat soak like a bastard like the V. All motor and easy to play with! Looking forward to hearing how the cams and heads turn out. That's next on my list as well!!

aaronc7

Swapped over to a catless X-pipe and installed the new Innovate LC-2 wideband.

Going to get the car dyno'd on Friday to serve as a baseline for comparo to heads/cam powa coming up here in the upcoming months.

Taking guesses for powa and torques!

rodrigo

looks like if i dont post this thread is dead

lets see..... baseline on the new set up ...

393 powah and 407tq SAE

beachshoer

Less than your old Miata.

Karmat

Originally Posted by rodrigo

looks like if i dont post this thread is dead

lets see..... baseline on the new set up ...

393 powah and 407tq SAE

I'm gonna guess 390rwhp and 395rwtq.

After the cam and ported 243 heads 455rwhp and 435rwtq provided you don't throw an intake manifold and throttle body on there.

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aaronc7

Originally Posted by Karmat

I'm gonna guess 390rwhp and 395rwtq.

After the cam and ported 243 heads 455rwhp and 435rwtq provided you don't throw an intake manifold and throttle body on there.

Sent from my DROID RAZR using Tapatalk 2

Pretty much in line with my hopes/prediction as well.

I've only had my miata dynoed here, so I don't have any idea if it generally reads high or low. In ground dynojet though.

802MS3

500bhps

sundaydriver

I'm gonna guess 375/370. What are the specs on the new cam and what heads are you thinking of. I have a LS1, so always interested.

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