Sad thread, but a positive twist to it...

[95z28man]

I am looking into buying a 98-02 Vette in the near future. Sadly, I will most likely have to sell my 383 LT1 to do this. I know there are quite a few members here with the LSX cars and I'm looking for any info about these cars to maybe use against the dealers as far as price. Most around here at 16.5K+ I don't want to spend more than 15K sticker price. This site has always been the best by far regardless of LT or LS motors and I will always be a part of it because of that. But after my last inspection bill I have realized my old LT1 is going to be start becoming more a maintenance project than a fun car to drive. Not to mention I have been craving a 6 speed since I had to sell my Cummins for a Suburban last year due to a growing family. Anyone have anything to look for while test driving these Vettes?

I have toyed with the idea of a manual trans swap with LT but it seems to be too involved and not cost efficient at all. Plus they have almost no option out there for a twin screw supercharger design which has been a long term goal of mine, where as kits are available to the Vette of that year...

[Sahara54]

Fastbird just got his C5 back. A 6 spd swap with the proper parts is a cakewalk. It was one of the easiest things I've done to the car.

[Fastbird]

Six speed swaps are easy on these if you know how to go about it. I am selling the M6 pedal set from my car FYI.......

As for the C5......you are either going to have to go high mileage with some issues, or get lucky and find a good one right at 15k. Watch the C5's For Sale section over on Corvette forum. They like posting links to "budget" C5's from craigslist and the like. One on there for $7500 Just a couple days ago.

[mattgw86]

I agree with everyone here that the T56 swap is easy. I did the whole swap on jackstands in my carport. It was a lot of work, but not difficult at all and they're really not too expensive if you shop around.

[Revolutions]

Just thought you might find this interesting.
http://washingtondc.craigslist.org/mld/cto/5027849374.html
http://newjersey.craigslist.org/cto/5022506498.html

just in case you are not aware of this search engine that searches all craigslist
http://www.searchtempest.com/

[MrAngry]

I see them all the time under 100k miles for 10-14k. Just shop aroind, and stay out of dealerships.

[Fastbird]

Also, stick with a 99 or newer. FAR better PCM to work with for......future.......stuffs........

[popo8]

High miles but VERY cheap.


2000 Corvette FRC - $10000
http://reading.craigslist.org/cto/5011800928.html

[Fastbird]

Dang. May pick myself up another C5 if they're getting that cheap.

[Neil350]

Check out CF, there are some killer deals out there. It may be worth spending more on a cleaner car though. I have seen some older C5s people picked up as deals and they were really rough around the edges. Imagine $15K would buy a pretty nice C5 coupe.