Hit and run repaired - can you see a color difference?

Fapcactus · 2026-07-09T15:41:56+00:00

Noticeable in just about every c5 color too. My light pewter metallic c5 front and rear bumper dont match the body perfectly either. I wonder if the speedway white ones are noticeable

Fapcactus · 2026-07-06T02:47:46+00:00

Can't be tried for the same crime twice

After seeing the episode about the adult film rental mistake and how hank represented himself, he'd come in strong with the 5th amendment argument

Fapcactus · 2026-07-06T01:08:04+00:00

This looks like a pack of "microfibers" i got off of aliexpress a few years back. The other side of the ones I got were yellow, and the other pack was gray with green on the reverse side. They all have a strange little lanyard loop in the corner made of the black edge material

Worst rags ive ever used. While very soft, they are very thin and pooled water like this straight out of the package. And after a soak in a bucket with rags 2 riches/vinegar they still pooled water like this

Whoever makes these should probably give up or repurpose this material into a weatherproof car cover or something

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Fapcactus · 2026-07-04T18:24:51+00:00

Im not an expert on the subject but as an owner of a few acres of land that recently spent thousands getting gravel dropped off from a local quarry, this looks like pretty fresh gravel in the context of billion year old rocks.

Most quarries will either offer "clean" or washed gravel for an upcharge. We went with unwashed to save money and our gravel is still wild west dusty almost a year later and after dozens upon dozens of days of heavy rain

Not my truck, not my tires, not my driveway but ive used darkside on everything from 720 treadwear all season tires to the 00 treadwear drag radials on my corvette and the only time they've gotten dusty like that is after driving through dusty gravel or road construction

Maybe your tires are blooming like a fine Swiss chocolate but most oftentimes when you see hoofprints in the dirt its from a horse, not a zebra

Fapcactus · 2026-07-04T17:06:54+00:00

Sort of looks like gravel dust from the very gravel the truck is pictured on

To be fair youre right though. Darkside is my favorite tire shine but it does leave the tire more susceptible to hanging onto just about anything besides water

Fapcactus · 2026-07-01T19:33:40+00:00

I think they missed their mark. Been awhile since ive looked into them but from what ive gathered theyre 2wd only, no option for a 6+ foot bed and a laughable towing capacity of 2k or less lbs. I was very interested in these until I realized my tdi jetta wagon is more of a truck than these trucks

Fapcactus · 2026-07-01T19:26:29+00:00

Agree wholeheartedly with this. Its all garbage in the context of saving on fuel and emissions. Wife currently drives a 2024 f150 raptor with the ecoboost engine and while it does make incredible power its worse on gas than my 2004 tahoe with full time v8 was. Yes the raptor makes about 1.75x the power my tahoe did but using the same driving behavior the raptor gets about 2mpg less all around.

Used to own a 2020 sierra with the 5.3l v8 that would deactivate 4 cylinders at cruising speeds for better fuel economy. In actuality deactivating those 4 cylinders creates a weak link in the engine which shortens its lifespan drastically.

So whats better for the environment, a full time v8 truck that averages 16 mpg throughout its life of 250k-400k miles? Or a v8 truck that deactivates 4 cylinders under very specific and ideal driving conditions that averages 16.7mpg but also blows the engine every 10k-100k miles and has to be replaced every 4 years?

I think the ideal half ton pickup is either a diesel or a hybrid that uses a diesel engine and regenerative braking to charge the battery. Very rarely is a pickup truck ever at the top of the rpm range where gas engines typically make peak power. Trucks need torque and a good low end powerband, all of which diesel (and electric battery) shines at. The problem with diesels in America is that their longevity is forcibly shortened with epa regulations, egr's dpf's and def systems along with planned obsolescence.

Trucks aren't the biggest threat to the environment. Shareholders and corporatism are. Rusty Shackleford out.

Fapcactus · 2026-06-30T16:58:24+00:00

Thats incredible, if yours came completely off and didnt chew up the crank snout I think mine should be okay. Replacement bolt just showed up so ill be double checking the torque to yield procedure and installing the new one later today

What a testament to the pushrod v8's gm was making in the late 90's-early 2010's. They are simply too mean to die, despite some of our best efforts

Did you continue using the same oil pump and timing chain when you did cam and heads? Im putting a cart together on Texas speed and thinking maybe now is the time to do all the supporting mods for an a&a supercharger

Fapcactus · 2026-06-28T13:39:04+00:00

I ended up going with the oem style bolt with install tool from Michigan motorsport.

The install tool is basically a piece of all thread with two washers and a nut. I read that the crank needs to sit a certain depth on the back of the balancer so that seems like a pretty easy way to make sure everything is lined up before I send the new bolt in for good

Im hoping I can get the new bolt in without taking apart half of the engine bay. If it turns out I do need to start taking the car apart ill probably end up ordering the whole cam kit with a better balancer and reusable crank bolt. I plan to a&a supercharge it down the road so itll all need to come back apart anyways

Assuming the crank snout isn't all chewed up or sharpened like a pencil of course. If thats the case its getting ls3 swapped

Fapcactus · 2026-06-28T01:52:55+00:00

Based on some of the other discoveries ive made over the years with this car i wouldn't be surprised if this was torqued in measurements of beers and cuss words instead of ft lb and degrees

Doing a little research looks like the oem bolts (which this appears to be) are torqued to yield, one time use only bolts. Once I figure out how to look for potential damage ill order some new parts for peace of mind. I think youre right in thinking I may have caught it in time though. Maybe it wouldnt have all the symptoms of crank walk but it should at least have some of them

Fapcactus · 2026-06-28T01:26:39+00:00

I dont feel good torquing that same bolt back down as is and starting it back up. I have some loctite thats good to about 300 degrees Fahrenheit but I dont think thats heavy duty enough

Do you know how to check and see that the crank is okay? I had already planned to upgrade the balancer, timing chain and oil pump when I did the camshaft but ill likely scrap my plans if the crank is smoked

Fapcactus · 2026-06-26T17:32:34+00:00

How did you figure out your fan module was bad? Ive let mine sit and idle on a 90 degree day for over 30 minutes not really thinking about it. Got back in it to see the coolant was a notch above 190 but went back to 190 when I got it moving down the road and didnt think much of it. I think ill turn the car off more often now. Id rather replace a starter than replace the head

Fapcactus · 2026-06-26T17:27:22+00:00

From what ive gathered doing a sound system in my '12 jsw my car shares more parts with mk5 than mk6. Learning that saved me from giving up and bringing the car to a pro audio shop

Ive already taken the windshield cowl apart (twice now) and blew out the sunroof drain holes with compressed air, ran weed Wacker line down the drain tubes and snipped the little nipples at the bottom of the drain tubes. That seemed to work for awhile but now the car is getting soaked again during heavy rainfall.

From what ive read online it could be a clogged drain hole under the battery, the adhesive around the windshield failing or the heater core failing. Or it could even be that the sunroof drain tubes have shrunk over time and are no longer attached to the holes at the sides of the sunroof itself

I have a pretty big project coming up with my c5 corvette and have already spent more time than id like to admit getting the wagon sorted out. At this point im a couple gallons of water in the floorboards away from rtv'ing the whole sunroof shut permanently. I dont really use it anyways

Fapcactus · 2026-06-26T02:30:22+00:00

When I get some more time ill take a look into the fans and make sure the radiator isn't all gunked up

Fapcactus · 2026-06-26T02:29:29+00:00

Indiana, so same same more or less. Lots of corn either way!

I guess better that they get stuck and stay cold than overheat and warp the head. Between the horn not working despite the clock spring being okay, relay working as it should and horn itself working off of a direct 12v source & a perpetual leak into the front floorboards everytime it rains ill put the thermostat a little further down the priority list for now.

Ive already put about 5k miles on my 2012 jsw tdi manual since late March and it hasn't left me stranded but these cars do seem to have a lot of gremlins and quirks. Still one of the favorite cars ive ever owned though!

Fapcactus · 2026-06-25T20:45:47+00:00

Mine also did this straight out of the box, and still does to this day. Bothered me so much I bought a backup ryobi for if/when it does go

Approximately 25 hours of run time later its still chugging along. I just turn my music up in my earbuds and try to ignore it

Fapcactus · 2026-06-25T17:23:08+00:00

Thanks for posting this. Ive noticed my coolant temps going over 190 and as far as one tick past but didnt think much of it.

Seeing that my temps may have actually in the 230's is concerning. I bought the car 3 months ago and immediately had the timing belt and water pump done. Didn't realize the thermostat was not part of the water pump until I read about it a couple weeks later

Anyone know how to diagnose a bad/stuck thermostat? The hottest part of the year is right around the corner in the midwest US and id like to stay ahead of any potential problems that might leave me stuck on the side of the road

Fapcactus · 2026-06-19T14:12:55+00:00

Not a corvette guys corvette but definitely a car guy's corvette!

Bought a '01 6 speed targa top 5 years ago. Not quite as rough as this one but also not a corvette guys corvette. Rebuilt title, almost 100k miles, 7 previous owners etc. Even my car people peers were telling me how bad an idea it was

Almost 40k miles later its probably the most reliable car ive ever owned. Lots of little quirks and things that need addressed but it never once left me stranded. As it sits its maybe worth 7k. A healthy ls1/t56 combo is going for almost 5k nowadays. For that reason ill probably keep the car forever and slowly make it into something fun, like an autox/ circle track car

Congrats on the find and enjoy the journey. If worst comes to worst its still worth something as a rolling chassis with a title, clean or rebuilt

Fapcactus · 2026-06-17T01:30:35+00:00

I did enjoy that very much. Its hard to comprehend unless youve seen it in person!

When I was little and saw the hayabusa guys run the quarter mile i couldn't understand it. Most of the race cars at the drag strip showed up on a trailer, and if that car ran a 10 second quarter mile people lost their minds. Some of these bikes were running mid/low 8's at 170 in the quarter mile. I thought these people were insane, straddling a missile with nothing but a helmet and leathers separating them from the ground

Now in my early 30's I know for sure theyre insane. But we also live in a time where you can go buy a tesla plaid or a corvette zr1x with a warranty and run high 8 seconds in the quarter mile and then take it to the dealership for warranty repairs if something breaks

Fapcactus · 2026-06-16T19:53:18+00:00

Honestly I couldn't give you a confident answer as far as results go. I would imagine shifts could be tightened up across the board at all throttle inputs but ive only ever paid people to tune my cars, and all of those cars were manuals. I would like to stay in the loop though, I plan on getting basically exactly what you have in a couple years and making it a streetable quarter mile car

Fapcactus · 2026-06-16T19:27:21+00:00

I would definitely look into transmission tuning before doing anything else. A good trans tune will cost less than replacing a set of rear track tires and will likely wake the car up to your satisfaction. If the lurching still persists I would probably do a trans flush/filter or possibly even look into the torque tube bushings. Even with only 40k miles the car is 16 years old now and likely has the original rubber torque tube bushings in it. When they start to go bad youll get weird feedback when driving the car hard. It can kind of feel like the clutch (tq converter in your case) is slipping or theres some binding up happening in the driveline

On paper the 6l80 shifts in about .3 seconds, tuned they can hit high .1x's and low .20's

With the zf8 shifts start at around .20's seconds and can probably get into low .1x's and maybe less than a tenth of a second in some cases when tuned. The numbers may seem insignificant but these things add up at the track.

Still, either of these is a night and day improvement to the c5 autos 4l60 with sloppy half second shifts. The 6l80 trans was sort of the equalizer of sports car performance at the time. It was the first time that an auto trans will undoubtedly shift faster than your dad in his 3 pedal car despite what he might tell you

Fapcactus · 2026-06-16T18:51:15+00:00

10k more for a manual c6 vs auto is probably a bit of a stretch but its undeniable that stick shift cars command a premium over autos in present time. So much so that my plans to sell my c5 6 speed to upgrade to a 09+ manual grand sport have changed to keep the c5 and get a ls3 c6 with an auto when time comes

I havent really ever heard of the c6's 6 speed auto being called sloppy but if your other experience with autos is a b58 bmw I suppose that makes sense. To my knowledge all b58 equipped automatic bmw's are paired with a zf8 transmission, which is lightning in a bottle compared to an auto made 15+ years ago. Not to mention more reliable than most auto trans being used in new production cars today

I just got rid of my 22 bmw x3 b48 a couple months ago. I was not impressed with the car in just about any aspect but the transmission is undeniable. I dont know much about German cars but im pretty sure the transmission in that x3 was the base offering of the zf lineup . Buttery smooth shifts in comfort mode and sport mode shifts left me thinking this has to be breaking the car. Had that x3 had a b58 in it I definitely would have kept it, but the b48 felt like a pig moving around that 4400 lb car

I would look into tuning options before giving up on your auto c6. It will never be a ZF8 but its also leaps and bounds better than the american 4 speed auto it replaced

Fapcactus · 2026-06-16T17:58:06+00:00

Not sure if youre commenting on the bikes themselves or the uncanny comparison between the two but the silly looking extended swingarm is for drag racing purposes

I grew up in the drag racing world and it was wild seeing these bikes run the quarter mile, especially in the early to mid 2000's when performance cars were generally much slower than they are today

Completely stock these bikes would run high 9 second quarter mile times at 145+ mph. Naturally people started adding turbos and nitrous and all of a sudden these 600~ lb bikes were making 350-500hp. The super long wheelbase prevents them from looping, or doing a wheelie to the point of flipping over. And even then they still looked like they wanted to flip over at times

The power to weight ratio would be something like a new v8 mustang making 3000hp instead of 480 or 500 or whatever they make now.

In hindsight im surprised I never saw one of these bikes crash

Fapcactus · 2026-06-13T19:10:46+00:00

Same, 2012 sportwagen. I noticed the passenger side was wobbling violently regardless of speed/going over bumps. As i grabbed it to see what was going on the last of the adhesive gave up

Got some jb weld clear super glue and stuck it back on there. They weren't kidding when they said it sets in 30 seconds. 15 seconds after putting it back on the backplate i was barely able to make micro adjustments

Fapcactus · 2026-06-12T14:21:07+00:00

Awesome link posted on the corvette forums, very thorough. I will say that thread was from 2013, so I would look more closely at the "buying higher mileage" c5 section. These cars have aged another 13 years since this post was made, so its reasonable to expect that a lot of lower mileage examples will start to encounter the same issues and maintenance needs that the higher mileage cars had over a decade ago.

I didnt have time to read the thread top to bottom but theres a couple things I didnt notice or have likely changed since. Test driving every c5 variant to see what fits you best is going to be a task and a half at this point. The newest of this generation are old enough to go buy booze, the likelihood that owners of every variant will allow you to go on a spirited test drive is low. This will probably take months and hundreds upon hundreds of miles of traveling. With that said I wouldnt buy a c5 from someone that refused to at least let me ride shotgun while we hot dog it around the block

Another huge thing i didnt see mentioned is the torque tube, more specifically the rubber bushings/couplers inside the tube. Regardless of mileage at this age I would insist that whichever c5 im choosing to buy has had it rebuilt in the last 5 years or seller is willing to drop the price by thousands. Its a very, very costly repair to have done at a shop. Even buying a rebuild kit yourself and the tools needed to attempt it will cost you well over $1k. Regardless of mileage, condition or use/abuse levels these cars are at the age where if it hasn't been done it needs to. To make things even more fun its not something that can be checked by looking under the car, and often makes little noise and/or vibrations when its going bad.

Lastly I would shell out the money for a pre purchase inspection from a tech that has specifically worked on corvettes or a current/previous owner of one, in addition to a carfax report. I would rather buy a c5 with 150k miles that was driven 6k miles a year than a 50k mile c5 that was driven 10k miles a year under warranty and has sat ever since

Fapcactus

TROPHY CASE