1989 C4 Functional Restoration

[mountie]

Thanks, I have poured a lot of blood and sweat into this car and not much money, which was the goal.

I always liked them, well, almost always, I wasn't a fan when the 84 came out. In almost every way the C5 is a better car but it lacks the raw feel the C4 has and I prefer to sit in a C4, it just fits around your body and holds you in. I had been wanting to restore one for a long time, this one was the perfect candidate for that. In stock form it was an absolute beast on the track, dominating every showroom stock class car in the world in the mid to late 80's. It set the standard for what Corvettes would be in the future. It was the first Vette that the emphasis was on handling and not straight line acceleration and the nailed it.

Dick is an absolute legend!

He is... ..also as a race driver !! When he moved his original shop ( Jefferson Blvd. / "Guldstrand Sport Suspension" ) , to Burbank, ( closer to his home / ( Guldstrand Motorsports" ).... He called me to assist on the move, then I worked for him for about 6 months !
He has great stories !!
( Dick gave me one of his personal sweaters )
( PM me your mailing address..... I'll send you an original decal....)

 

[SirReal63]

Not a lot has happened to the car in the past few weeks, life is keeping me busy elsewhere.

I did manage a little more work on the stereo, I picked up a pair of Polk DB522 5.25 marine co-ax drivers for the rear. I built a box for them as a test and while they sound fantastic in the way too large box, it was was a compromise between sound fidelity and space. In the end it was a failure, the sound is great for a 5.25" speaker but the space it took up was too large. The large(ish) enclosure allowed the mid bass to come through which it always tough for 5.25 drivers. I am going to cut it all way down on the next attempt, I have a design in mind that will give me back the space I lost but at the expense of most of the mid bass, it is a compromise I think I can live with that as the vocal region is what is mostly lacking at top down speed from just the front stage, the rear fills it in nicely and takes some pressure off the fronts.

Being built...carpeted with the original carpet on the massive box that was in it. I pretty much slapped this together and it shows.

Installed...in reality it did not cost more floor space than the canted old Rockford amp took up but the goal was to increase space, not keep it the same.

Here is an interesting look at how the Sun plays with the appearance of the car. Light and shadows greatly affect how the paint looks. In photos it always looks like the bottom half is darker than the top half or vice versa but when your eye looks at it the difference is not so stark. The lighter bumpers and hood also changes depending on the direction of the light. I am not ready to paint the hood and bumpers yet but I see the absolute need in doing it.

Taken around noon...the Sun is mostly on the drivers side.

Taken in the afternoon...the Sun is shining from the front of the car.

Taken in the evening...the Sun is mostly on the front passenger side.

I am going to end up replacing the head unit, while sitting it is somewhat easy to maneuver around in but while driving it is really tough to select anything on the screen and navigating the music folders is down right dangerous as you cannot really see the writing on the folders. I did not want to squeeze a double din in there but I see the importance of the extra half an inch.

 

[mountie]

Not a lot has happened to the car in the past few weeks, life is keeping me busy elsewhere.

I did manage a little more work on the stereo, I picked up a pair of Polk DB522 5.25 marine co-ax drivers for the rear. I built a box for them as a test and while they sound fantastic in the way too large box, it was was a compromise between sound fidelity and space. In the end it was a failure, the sound is great for a 5.25" speaker but the space it took up was too large. The large(ish) enclosure allowed the mid bass to come through which it always tough for 5.25 drivers. I am going to cut it all way down on the next attempt, I have a design in mind that will give me back the space I lost but at the expense of most of the mid bass, it is a compromise I think I can live with that as the vocal region is what is mostly lacking at top down speed from just the front stage, the rear fills it in nicely and takes some pressure off the fronts.

Being built...carpeted with the original carpet on the massive box that was in it. I pretty much slapped this together and it shows.

View attachment 457239


View attachment 457240


View attachment 457241

Installed...in reality it did not cost more floor space than the canted old Rockford amp took up but the goal was to increase space, not keep it the same.

View attachment 457242


View attachment 457243


View attachment 457244

Here is an interesting look at how the Sun plays with the appearance of the car. Light and shadows greatly affect how the paint looks. In photos it always looks like the bottom half is darker than the top half or vice versa but when your eye looks at it the difference is not so stark. The lighter bumpers and hood also changes depending on the direction of the light. I am not ready to paint the hood and bumpers yet but I see the absolute need in doing it.

Taken around noon...the Sun is mostly on the drivers side.

View attachment 457245

Taken in the afternoon...the Sun is shining from the front of the car.

View attachment 457246

Taken in the evening...the Sun is mostly on the front passenger side.

View attachment 457247

I am going to end up replacing the head unit, while sitting it is somewhat easy to maneuver around in but while driving it is really tough to select anything on the screen and navigating the music folders is down right dangerous as you cannot really see the writing on the folders. I did not want to squeeze a double din in there but I see the importance of the extra half an inch.

I got busy.... almost forgot..... Did you receive the Guldstrand decal?

 

[SirReal63]

I got busy.... almost forgot..... Did you receive the Guldstrand decal?

Maybe, we haven't been to the post office in a while. I will be sure and let you know when I do.

 

[mountie]

Maybe, we haven't been to the post office in a while. I will be sure and let you know when I do.

No sweat..... It has a long shelf life.....

 

[SirReal63]

We only go when we remember, just about everything is electronically delivered to us and our post office is in the opposite direction of where we shop. I will make sure the Boss stops by on her next feed run.

 

[mountie]

When I worked for Dick Guldstrand, he still had his 'Vette, that broke the word 'closed course' speed record, run at Talladega.
It had a Trico engine.
( Opps.. spelling..... 'Traco' engine )

 

[Tonyrodz]

but I see the importance of the extra half an inch.

That's what she said.




Sorry--couldn't help myself. Always gotta go for the "That's what she said" joke.