Picked up a mint '03 red/tan/tan/6spd 2003 convertible
01-20-2010, 12:37 PM
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Picked up a mint '03 red/tan/tan/6spd 2003 convertible Well after 7 years of driving a very modded Z06 I went and purchased a convertible. The targa Z06 is for sale if anyone is interested. Absolutely nothing wrong with the car, just a bit hardcore for a daily driver and now that I have the Panoz race car I don't need a trackable Corvette.
My old '97 mustang cobra was a red/tan/tan vert and I really loved the color combo. Searched for awhile and found lots of red/black/black and lots of autos. Finally found a red/tan/tan 6-speed vert and went to get it this weekend.... picked it up in Youngwood, PA on Saturday AM.
The car is a 2003 with 43,xxx miles. The car has all options other than having the base suspension. The car is mint... and I'm OCD **** about my cars. I used to be an insurance adjuster and have been around body shops for a long time... I'm familiar with paint and body work and have a picky eye. I was able to tell the rear bumper had been replaced and painted due to the fact that when you pop the trunk you can see the paint peeling around the 5 screws that run along the top of the facia. Whoever painted it failed to prep that area properly... other than that the car is amazing, undercarriage is spotless and the top/interior looks new.
The car will get basic intake/exhaust and some minor cosmetic stuff. The cheesey stickers were the first thing to go.
Eventually when a buddy wants to part with his Fikse FM5s in Z06 sizes I plan on snagging those.... other than that I'm keeping this one on the mild side.
A few pics from the for sale ad -
Going to get it etc -
7am in West Virginia
My charriot aka "thunder thighs" (Truck is a Thunder Road edition)
Windmills.... they look huge in person, never seen one before.
Car checked out... loaded it up...
Some impressions driving it around for a few days...
1. I love the sport seats... way better than the Z06 seats.
2. Being 6'4" the telescoping steering wheel is the best thing ever... I can finally sit all the way back and still have the wheel close enough for performance driving.
3. I thought I'd want to put a Z06 spec suspension, but the base stuff soaks up the roads around here wonderfully. Compared to my Z06 w/ poly bushings it's like riding on air.
4. I acutally like the twilight centinal feature. This is the first time I've had a C5 with it. My '98 didn't have it and my '01 Z doesn't have it. My father used to have a 2004 Z16 and my mother had a '99 mag red/tan vert and neither of those had it. I'm so used to auto-lights on my Canyon that it's nice to have on the vette. Only downside is they will over-use the headlight motors as they want to pop up in the AM when I start the car in the garage. I need to get in the habit of putting the parking brake on one click before I start the car... then undo it when outside in the light.
5. Stock exhaust still sucks... as always. Good thing I have some Corsa Extremes laying in the garage.
6. Nice to have fuel economy back. The cam'd LS6 got 15 in town but still got 26-27 highway. The vert gets 18 in town thus far and DIC shows 29-31 highway.
Brian
My old '97 mustang cobra was a red/tan/tan vert and I really loved the color combo. Searched for awhile and found lots of red/black/black and lots of autos. Finally found a red/tan/tan 6-speed vert and went to get it this weekend.... picked it up in Youngwood, PA on Saturday AM.
The car is a 2003 with 43,xxx miles. The car has all options other than having the base suspension. The car is mint... and I'm OCD **** about my cars. I used to be an insurance adjuster and have been around body shops for a long time... I'm familiar with paint and body work and have a picky eye. I was able to tell the rear bumper had been replaced and painted due to the fact that when you pop the trunk you can see the paint peeling around the 5 screws that run along the top of the facia. Whoever painted it failed to prep that area properly... other than that the car is amazing, undercarriage is spotless and the top/interior looks new.
The car will get basic intake/exhaust and some minor cosmetic stuff. The cheesey stickers were the first thing to go.
Eventually when a buddy wants to part with his Fikse FM5s in Z06 sizes I plan on snagging those.... other than that I'm keeping this one on the mild side.
A few pics from the for sale ad -
Going to get it etc -
7am in West Virginia
My charriot aka "thunder thighs" (Truck is a Thunder Road edition)
Windmills.... they look huge in person, never seen one before.
Car checked out... loaded it up...
Some impressions driving it around for a few days...
1. I love the sport seats... way better than the Z06 seats.
2. Being 6'4" the telescoping steering wheel is the best thing ever... I can finally sit all the way back and still have the wheel close enough for performance driving.
3. I thought I'd want to put a Z06 spec suspension, but the base stuff soaks up the roads around here wonderfully. Compared to my Z06 w/ poly bushings it's like riding on air.
4. I acutally like the twilight centinal feature. This is the first time I've had a C5 with it. My '98 didn't have it and my '01 Z doesn't have it. My father used to have a 2004 Z16 and my mother had a '99 mag red/tan vert and neither of those had it. I'm so used to auto-lights on my Canyon that it's nice to have on the vette. Only downside is they will over-use the headlight motors as they want to pop up in the AM when I start the car in the garage. I need to get in the habit of putting the parking brake on one click before I start the car... then undo it when outside in the light.
5. Stock exhaust still sucks... as always. Good thing I have some Corsa Extremes laying in the garage.
6. Nice to have fuel economy back. The cam'd LS6 got 15 in town but still got 26-27 highway. The vert gets 18 in town thus far and DIC shows 29-31 highway.
Brian
01-20-2010, 08:24 PM
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Very nice looking Vert. If you have concerns about gas mileage you should do the MPG mod, Ewp, UD pully and a tune. My old h/c full bolt on 346 got 34.x mpg on the eway and my 402 gets 27 mpg. Sorry to say these mods won't help city mpg. Those are actual numbers based on a full tank and refill then doing the math, NOT the display which are off (high) by about 9-11% (Based on my numerous fuel economy logs) Gotta get headers bro, you said it yourself you hate the stock exhaust.
Glad to see someone post pictures showing that a tall person can fit in these things comfortably. I too am 6'4" and go 250+ (depends on what time of the year LOL) and have never driven a more comfortable car. I've made 2400 mile round trips to Texas and back, also 1500 mile round trips to Georgia (VENGEANCE RACING !!!) and back to Metro Detroit. I wouldn't want to ride in any other car. Looking forward to my possible drive to Miami to visit a tech friend and do the Standing Mile !!! I post these comments because so many people just don't believe that tall people over 6 feet and over 200 lbs actually fit comfortably in a Corvette. A lot of my friends always ask how can you stand being cramped in that car for 11-17 hrs one way? I say easy, the car fits me like a glove.
*Too bad the c5's didn't come with the seat option that the 96 Gran Sport I drove did. It had these adjustable wings that hugged you and kept you centered in your seat. I delivered it for a friend of a friend that paid me to drive it to Kentucky for a few bucks and air fare home. What a ride.
Glad to see someone post pictures showing that a tall person can fit in these things comfortably. I too am 6'4" and go 250+ (depends on what time of the year LOL) and have never driven a more comfortable car. I've made 2400 mile round trips to Texas and back, also 1500 mile round trips to Georgia (VENGEANCE RACING !!!) and back to Metro Detroit. I wouldn't want to ride in any other car. Looking forward to my possible drive to Miami to visit a tech friend and do the Standing Mile !!! I post these comments because so many people just don't believe that tall people over 6 feet and over 200 lbs actually fit comfortably in a Corvette. A lot of my friends always ask how can you stand being cramped in that car for 11-17 hrs one way? I say easy, the car fits me like a glove.
*Too bad the c5's didn't come with the seat option that the 96 Gran Sport I drove did. It had these adjustable wings that hugged you and kept you centered in your seat. I delivered it for a friend of a friend that paid me to drive it to Kentucky for a few bucks and air fare home. What a ride.
01-20-2010, 08:51 PM
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Sorry to the OP for the Hijack, totally putting the spot light on big guys fitting in these cars vs your great find !!!! My apology.
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01-21-2010, 12:21 PM
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Glad to see someone post pictures showing that a tall person can fit in these things comfortably. I too am 6'4" and go 250+ (depends on what time of the year LOL) and have never driven a more comfortable car.
Corsas go on this weekend... gotta stop wheel shopping
No wheels until the Z06 goes. 
01-21-2010, 08:55 PM
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Tow rig is a buddy's... my DD is a GMC Canyon. I tow to the track w/ it all the time, but for towing up to PA through the mountains I wanted extra firepower just in case the weather got bad.
If you mean the car... yeah it's bone stock other than a windshield banner and dash plate that have both been removed. It also had the rubbery chrome letter inserts that I took out and an exhaust plate that I took off.
My painted front plate surround came in today... ordered from Mid America, but it's from Kewl Auto as suspected.
Also installed the hood seal that came with the Halltech Venom I bought awhile back.
01-27-2010, 09:18 PM
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Last edited by Cobra4B; 01-30-2010 at 10:36 AM.
01-30-2010, 10:36 AM
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It was randomly 65 degrees one day last week so I had the top down for a cruise at lunch... it was great. That's the thing about VA weather... if you don't like it wait 20 minutes because it'll probably change. This weekend it's supposed to be 32-35 w/ wintry mix Sat/Sun. But every now and then you'll get some nice days thrown in
