STLZCAR

Hi All,

I am a new member as of today. I do not currently own a Corvette but am looking forward to being an owner of a C5 Vette in the near future. We are building our new house now and will be ready to move in sometime in May - so once we are settled in I will be looking to purchase a C5 maybe end of this year or possibly next Spring. I know I have a bit of time - but figure since I want to make a good purchase and be knowledgeable when I do purchase I should start joining the right groups now and learn as much as possible about the pros/cons, what to look for, what options I must have vs what can I do without and maybe upgrade after the purchase etc.

I do own a 1991 Nissan 300zx Twin Turbo that was just stripped down and redone cosmetically and some maintenance - still working on motor and rest of needed maintenance. I want to add a C5 Vette to the family to round out the car family lol.

Here is currently what I am looking for in my first vette:

Coupe(I defintely want the Targa and I like the body line of the coupe back glass/hatch)
6spd
Some base mods preferred IF done right/cared for/maintained - but negotiable

Some questions/things to think about:
C6 z06 brakes? or is upgrading the stock brakes to slotted/cross-drilled rotors, better pads, etc a viable option and what HP #'s is it not viable/reliable?
I like the CCW SP551 wheels - any alternatives with a similar look/fitment, etc?
If the vette is not modded when purchased - what are the recommended base mods? heads, cam, long tube vs shorty headers, x-pipe, cat back, tuned etc?
I am in the St. Louis area - are there any good shops/tuners/places to get vette parts/work done that anyone knows about?
Are there any websites/shops/companies that has sort of a "one stop shop" regarding performance upgrades? or where do most of the vette guys/gals get your parts?


I have been reading up on C5 buyers guides, common problems options etc so I will try to refrain from asking newb questions or something that has been asked a million times(minus the questions above lol)

Any advice or suggestions is definitely appreciated and I hope to meet some good folks and look forward to owning my dream C5 smetime in the near future.

Sorry for the long post but thanks for reading

JD_AMG

Welcome!
Drilled rotors are NOT an "upgrade", you will see no benefit in braking performance and only risk having the rotors crack.
Good blank rotors + pads should have plenty of braking performance for you on a street car. If you plan to competitively road race then you can look into doing a big brake swap, otherwise overkill IMO.

Extremely vague question that totally depends on the build.
There are guys that have built reliable ~500rwhp N/A stock cube engines, all the way to 1000+hp FI builds. There is no "unreliable" hp#. Are you asking which stock engine parts have what breaking point?
Check out:
https://ls1tech.com/forums/new-ls1-o...anna-fast.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...-me-first.html
https://ls1tech.com/forums/generatio...cam-guide.html

Fikse FM5s? Not cheap either... Are you looking for a more budget wheel?
Read the stickies I posted. Real quick though the only time you would want to run shorty headers is for either "stock" emissions or clearance reasons. Otherwise LT headers will give a WAY bigger power gain across the whole board vs the shortys.

For parts check the sponsors on the right side of the site >>>>>
For local shops around here that I know about are midcoast performance, Craven performance, and bier brothers. I would highly suggest trying to do most of the work youself, that way you know its done the way you want it and you will save a ton of money.

STLZCAR

Sorry for the vagueness - I meant at what HP #'s would a big brake upgrade be a viable or suggested option vs stock brakes - I dont want to upgrade just to upgrade but want to make sure I have sufficient stopping power - I will definitely read through the links you provided for more info and thank you for the detailed response


The Fikse FM5s do look good - I like the CCW sp551s a little better but the Fikse looks like a good alternative - and budget wise I would like to stay at $5k or below for wheels tires if possible - may look around for wheel/tire guide and cost estimates


I appreciate the stickies/links you provided and will definitely read through them - one question on the shortys vs LT headers - as long as I keep the cats or high flow cats - LT will still allow me to pass emissions to renew plates/registration?


Yea I agree with doing the work myself which I will most likely be doing - am mainly looking for a good place to get parts without having to shop at 18 different places if possible - I wasn't sure if there was a place like that or if I need to shop around by part at the different vendors/manufacturers etc



Overall I am looking to build a reliable street car that may go to the track occasionally/road race - I am more wanting a fun car to drive that is medium fast without breaking the bank and looks good/gets attention driving/cruising - I like a car that can go to a car show, leave and go cruise and maybe hit the track every so often - I know it is kind of "best of both/all worlds" but looking to be as close to that as realistically possible lol

JD_AMG

Ah I see, yes, just quality blank rotors and good pads will do the trick.

Depends on how picky the shop is. There are places that will let you fly without cats as long as there is no check engine light on. Id get some high flow cats anyway just in case plus it will cut down on the raw fuel smell at startup.

Texas speed is great for engine parts.
Stranoparts for suspension/brakes.

Should be easy with a C5. Get to searching and reading up!

STLZCAR

Sweet - thanks man for all the advice and straightup answers - I see you are out in St. Charles - let me know once the weather starts getting better if theres any events/cruises goin on - I am actually having our house built out in O'Fallon/Wentzville area and will be moved in around May - I can at least bring the TTZ until we get the vette lol - then I will of course have to drive the vette

JD_AMG

No prob.
Thats ironic I built a house in wentzville/lake st.louis a couple years ago.
Ive always loved those Z cars too, bring that thing out! Ill let you know when things start picking up. I know there are occasional car meets at sonic in chesterfield on thursday nights, mix of everything but mostly punk kids.
Im going to try and auto-x more this year too if I have the time, local SCCA if you are interested.