How accurate are labor guides on older Corvettes? 

I know, right? I keep thinking the same thing!

Yes 💯 Stock corvettes seem to be the exception rather than the rule. Owners love to "customize" ... for better or worse 😢

Mostly I do too, HOWEVER, some stock parts are particularly bogus. The interior lights in my C6, for example. Ick. They were all orangish glows. I replaced them with LEDs. Bright white for map lights & cargo area lights, cool blue for the footwells. The interior lighting is both functional and gorgeous. The original owner of the car tinted the windows. I can't see out the rear when backing up at night, SO, I added dual 60 watt LED backup lights. Issue mostly solved. I changed the spark plugs and used the EXACT SAME ONES as stock OEM. Same with erl: Mobile One. So, I vary my approach depending upon the issue. "Fasteners.' I now own two ginormous boxes holding many, different GM connectors.

It is becoming more and more difficult to find an honest and knowledgeable specialty shop. The good news is, once you find one you know your car will be in good hands and the repair bills will be fair. :) Lyle

"Construction electrician?" Ahaahaha!!! Who in their right mind would think someone with high voltage AC experience can do low voltage DC? They ain't the same!!! Sure, they're both electricity. They're both measured using the same terms: voltage, amperage, wattage, resistance, hot, ground, neutral, etc. Past that, AC dudes or dudettes are not DC dude/dudettes.

That is deadly serious! There is NOTHING worse than trying to sort through something that a customer has disassembled.... Lyle

For now... At least with the Corvette, you can usually count on someone in the Corvette Industry to pick up production of a high-use part that has been discontinued by GM! :) Lyle

I used to know a guy who worked customer service for a company that made precision impellers, turbines that spun so fast, they condensed natural gas from a well into Liquid , and also turned a profit of about 250,000 dollars an hour , so people got pretty insistent on the phone when problems developed, and that income stream stopped. The saving grace for him was that his product was unique , so highly precise that most of the turbines failed in testing, just blew apart. At one time only the company president was even able to machine one of the parts successfully, which looked like very much like regular aluminum turbine wheels, save for the grooves for the life edge seals . He said the most common failure was for a gas molecule to slip past the knife edge seal that separated the gas from liquid , and cause the condensing wheel to become unbalanced, which then blows apart.

And I thought WE specialized!!! :) :) :) Lyle

I think sometimes "it fails." I've had 10 minute jobs last 10 minutes. Sometimes even 9 minutes. So, I find that my experience spanning 55 years fixing cars, motorcycles, lawnmowers, wood decks, pergolas, etc. has paid me dividends. I've gotten used to estimating where things might go sideways. Not always, but frequently, my estimation of required time & labor are gosh near exact. It's only when the project is completely foreign to my experience, like, oh, fixing a clay tile roof. I'm not a roofer. It can't be too complex, but my experience being close to zero automatically causes me to quadruple my estimation of the time to perform the repair. If it looks like a 2 hour job, I'll automatically assume it's actually 8 hours, and expect it could go much longer. That's my story & I'm sticking to it.

We will be doing a small discount for the holidays this year, but as we are a small business that doesn't mark everything up way above retail we can't afford to do discounts on the regular. Thank you for watching!! Lyle

In short, I would go with 2009 or newer if it was within my budget. Best engine, and most electronics were firmly sorted out by that point. Lyle

Thank you so much for your time.N Just to let you know I have 50th anniversary C5 .with 12,500 miles.Thank you again.

Sorry to hear that---what year is your car? Maybe I can help? Lyle

Darn I fixed my C3 ebrake myself. 100% Female! RU-vid, Chilton manual and well a few curse words😂. Blessings and Peace my friend.

You won't feel the difference unless you are pushing the car pretty hard--it will feel no different during normal street driving. Lyle

Now in drive its got a little pep . Shift kit ?

Unless you are POSITIVE that the rear main is bad, try this first. I thought my rear main was bad, I decided to replace the oil pan gasket just to be sure, it is not that difficult and can be done in a few hours even if you take the occasional break (i'm 59 so lot's of breaks). After the oil pan gasket replace, no leaks, it's been about a year and I only drive mine about 500 miles per year. If you tackle it, be sure an get an OEM gasket, it matters. Let's hope it's not the rear main.🤞

Rear Main Seals usually fail with age, and your car is 17 years old. Sitting for long periods is bad for any car, especially a Corvette. You really don't want that oil leak to continue, as it can soak many things under the car with oil and cause them to fail prematurely as well. Also, make sure it is the rear main seal and not the oil pan gasket like the other commenter says.... Lyle

@@lewnetoons Thanks Lewnetoon I will try that. From one 59’R to another. I appreciate it. The local guy I use in Crystal River said 3.5 hours for the Pan gasket. 9 hrs for the rear main seal.

@@lewnetoons 500 miles a year? Don't say that! That's a crime against motoring! PLUS, you HAVE to drive Corvettes a bit just to keep them healthy. Oil collects moisture, turns acidic, corrosion sets in on electrical parts, mice eat parts of the engine. Drive it like you LOVE to drive it.

@Salvador Monella this is number 9 over the years, the c3's were fun but a mechanical pain, the c4's were fun and reasonably reliable to put a few thousand miles a year on. My current c5 and c6 live very happy and contented lives in the garage with the occasional cruise. As long as you maintain them, they will be happy and mostly trouble-free for decades. 10 miles a week is 500 a year, that is plenty to enjoy, maintain automotive health, and just as importantly when you are my age and plan on these being your last corvettes, maintaining value.

That isn't crazy, actually. Gaining access to some of the plugs on that car requires a special double jointed tool made for GM only, and even with that tool it can be very time consuming. I'm assuming you chose to do plugs as well? IF not, why? Lyle

No need for fear if you are prepared to fix /replace the things that will fail as you begin to drive the car regularly. Make sure you put aside funds from the get-go so that you can address things as they arise without stress. Great car, by the way! Lyle