04x09 & 04x10 - Corvette C4 (Part 1 & 2)

[bunniefuu]

Welcome to Wheeler
Dealers, the show that puts

tired old classics back
on the road to rude health.

And what have we got for you this time?

Well, it's America's favourite
Playboy motor, the Corvette.

The Wheeler Dealers'
mission is to buy and

restore a car that
will sell on for a profit.

We've got up to £4,000
to turn around our vet.

It really is an uncompromising
motor, from the

size of its wheels to
its low-slung styling.

Everything about it screams
American muscle car.

On the road it feels like a big
car, but in here it's nice and snug.

The digital dials and
switches just add to the effect.

It really is like piloting a rocket ship.

Now we're playing with the big stuff.

The Corvette is one of the most
powerful motors we've tackled on the show.


and that equals superb performance.

I'll be finding a juicy
Corvette, and my grease

monkey Ed China is in
charge of the spanners.

Money might be an issue.

C4s were blindingly popular in their
day, and cost the equivalent of 50 grand.

Finding the cheap one now won't be easy.

Now the Corvette I'm looking for
is called a C4, it's the 80s model.

I could go for an earlier one, but
they seem to be very expensive,

or I could go for a later one,
but they too seem expensive.

The C4 is like an 80s set
of shoulder pads, and it's

not everyone's cup of tea,
but I happen to like them.

Now, I've spent hours
going through the weekly

inklings and the trade
magazines to see if

I can find the right car, but
unfortunately they're not in there.

I've even reverted onto
my web tablet to see if I

can find a car this way,
and a few have popped up.

There's a 1985 one
here that seems to be

all right, but it's five and a half
thousand pounds too much money.

There's another one in metallic purple.

Who wants a purple car?

Only Prince.

Anyway, no good for me either.

So what I'm going to do is
jump over to my favourite

Internet auction site and
see if I can find a car that way.

Buying cars on auction sites used
to be seen as a tricky business.

Now it's commonplace, but remember
this, set a budget and try to stick to it.

Bidding can be addictive.

A quick search around one of my favourite
Internet auction buying sites has revealed

a couple of C4 Corvettes for sale, and
one of them in particular is very exciting.

That's because there's only 39
minutes, 36 seconds left to run.

Now that is exciting
enough, but when you read

the description of
the car, it's brilliant

because it's got the 5.7
litre V8 Chevy engine.

Music to my ears.

But then you read on and it's
all doom and gloom from there

because it says that this
car has got inherent problems.

It's got unfortunately
a nasty interior and it

needs attention,
especially on the door cars.

It also says that it's got electrical
gremlins and a digital dash is playing up.

But the biggest thing
of all, and you wouldn't

believe it from the
picture because the

picture was taken on a
sunny day and it looks nice

and shiny, it says the paintwork is
completely flat and needs going over.

Now the good news is,
is that nobody's bid on it.

There is no reserve on
this car, so I'm just going to

put down £2,000 and
hopefully I can buy it for that.

If I can't, maybe I'll
go a little bit more.

But I reckon for two grand, I'm bang on the
money and you never know, I might own it.

Just when I thought the
play was all mine, somebody

has sneaked in at £2,050
in the last few minutes.

I'm whacking another hundred quid.

But if it needs more than that,
then I'm just going to walk away.

Whoa, it says the auction's
finished and I'm the winner.

It says that I'm the winner.

I bought the Corvette.

Now, I have entered into a formal
agreement with the person who's

selling the car to take
delivery of it if it is as described.

And as the description was fairly accurate,
I have no doubt that when I get there, it.

would be just as it is on the screen.

I can't wait to go and see it.

I can't wait to get behind the wheel.

But most importantly, I
can't wait to hear that engine.

Look at this, the Corvette, a yank tank.

The actual owner isn't around
and has left the keys with a mate.

So I may as well cast my eye over the car
before I knock at the door, because if the

car is significantly worse than described,
then I won't be obliged to buy it.

Now, the first thing I
notice is the paintwork.

It's as flat as a snake's belly.

It looks like somebody's been
washing this car with sandpaper.

We're going to have to address that.

Burns have been using
it as target practice.

It's all a mixture of
colours round the back.

We're going to have to
buff that back together.

And these alloy wheels, although they
look original, they could do a re-firming.

Yeah, this car is cosmetically
tatty, but just look at it.

It looks like it's doing 100
miles an hour just sitting here.

Right, let's get the keys.

You, Piers?

Hello.

Hello, Piers, I'm Mike.

Nice to meet you.

How are you?

Come and see the Corvette.

Yeah.

Looks great.

Now, it's your friend's
car, it's not your car.

You know nothing about it.

So you're not going to be super salesman.

No, no.

You're just going to lead
me to my own devices.

Yeah, certainly.

Fantastic.

All right.

Cup of coffee, black, no sugar.

Okay.

Don't crash it.

I won't.

Right, the interior
door cards are all shot.

One of the first things.

Right, it's a right mess in here.

It looks horrible.

Headlining's disappeared.

We're going to have to
do something about that.

And look at it.

There's a dial and a dash and a
button for absolutely everything.

Typically American.

And typically American,
they usually go wrong.

So that no doubt will be a problem.

But these cars are all
about the noise they make.

Listen to that.

Time to get under the bonnet.

This is what American
muscle car's all about.

A 5.7 litre Chevy V8 crossfire injection.

It's got horsepower, but I can't
even tell you how many it's got.

But I know it's gone a lot.

Just listen to it.

Oh, yes, you can just hear this thing
hoovering up the road in front of it.

It's also going to hoover
up the petrol as well.

So I'll take it on a little test drive.

Now, I haven't driven a yank
tank like this for absolutely years.

And please bear with me if I
can't contain my excitement.

First of all, what's that noise?

It's horrible.

We got a rattling roof.

There must be two skins on the roof
and one's banging against the other.

But that's something that
we're going to have to fix,

because that is going to drive anyone mad.

The brakes are good.

It seems to stop all right, and
it seems to go in a straight line.

But it's the noise, listen to it.

That's your 5.7 litre Chevy V8, that is.

You don't get many of them to the pound.

There's a roundabout coming up, and
this is where they come into their own.

Little squeeze of the accelerator,
and the back dives out straight away.

So you have to get very
quickly on the steering.

You can get oversteer in a car like this.

Remember, you got all that horsepower
just being delivered to the rear wheels.

And Americans don't build cars
that go round corners very well,

so they just have a tendency
to break away at the rear.

It's got this very funky digital dash,

and it's hard to read what it's saying.

It seems very dim.

It could be just fuses or bulbs.

Let me just try some other
bits and pieces while I'm in here.

Pull the lights up, and typically,
American electrics, they don't work.

But there's something
about it that's just, look at me.

It's just making me laugh.

I love this car.

The downsides of this car were
honestly described in the ad,

so I'm legally bound to buy it.

The Wheeler dealer in me wants to
try and chip the price down a bit more.

But that's strictly against the rules.

Go on, I'll have it. Excellent. Thank you.

An affordable vet, I'm as
pleased as American pie.

But will my mechanic, Ed Chyna,
see my C4 as a classic muscle car

or as a flabby old-timer
in need of a workout?

Ed?

Hello, mate.

Now there's a big smile on your face.
You're pleasing, yeah.

I do like these cars.

We've got a proper American muscle car.

It's going to have a big
fat engine in there as well.

Well, you don't know.
It might have a lawnmower engine.

I'll get to that bit in a minute.

The first thing to address, Ed, is
what do you think of the bodywork?

It's really very poor.

I mean, there's loads of stone chips.

It's very flat and lots
of scratches as well.

Yeah, I was kind of
hoping you could get your

old mop thing on it
and Polish it up for us.

One of the things you won't be out of
Polish, Ed, are the mirrors and this roof.

Is that right?

They're really, really bad.

I mean, I think it's probably
pretty standard parts.

I guess they've been
sitting in the sun for ages,

but I'm going to have
to paint them, I think.

What, they would have been
black originally, you think?

Yeah, I think so.

Now, one side of me says I
want to paint the whole car black,

put some lights on the front,
now turn it into Knight Rider.

Or perhaps not.

Or perhaps not, yeah,
you're probably right.

Nothing to worry about
round the back here, Ed,

except for the paintwork is still a bit
flat, but it does make a cracking noise.

It's just thunder, isn't it? It's awesome.

You'll love it.

Rear-wheel drive as well, remember?

Of course.

So what do you think of it in here then?

It's pretty nasty.

Of course, the door cards are shot.

Door cards have perished.

They're going to be hard to find.

Their headlining's missing.

So you'll be back on that sewing
machine again before you know it.

How about electric? Is that any good?

Typically American.

No, they're rubbish.

They fail.

They're a bit hit and miss,
actually, they come on

and off, but the lights
don't work at the front.

They should pop up and they don't.

Right, okay.

And while you're in
here, if you get a bit warm,

put the fan on, because
the air-con don't work either.

Are you joking? That could be a nightmare.

It won't be a nightmare.

It's a little tin of aerosol or something.

You'll fix it.

There you go, Ed.

What do you think of that?

That is a beast.

That's your 5.7 litre
Chevy V8 crossfire injection.

Lots of horsepower.

That's an awesome thing.

I can't tell you how
many, I'd have to k*ll you.

But let me just tell you,

it does sound as sweet
as a nut, this engine.

Cool.

No oil leaks, no nothing.

But when you open the bonnet,
although that is impressive,

it's a little bit disappointing
at the same time, isn't it?

Well, it is a bit,

but I reckon there's
going to be quite a strong

chance of getting a
dress-up kit for this engine.

No way.

I reckon.

What, so you can tidy this up?

I hope so, yeah.

Bits of chrome and stuff.

I reckon.

Right, let's shut the bonnet.

I have to go round the other side.

I'll lift the lever up.

It's quite a heavy thing, this one.

Everything's heavy about
American cars, though.

Right, now, Ed, what do
you think of the wheels?

Well, I actually quite like them
because they came with the car,

but they do need a bit of cleaning up.

Can you do that?

Can you tidy them up?

Of course I can do that.

Oh, you're a top bloke, you are.

Right, so that's about it.

There's our American muscle car.

Don't forget the job's
got the paint work to do.

We've got the roof to paint, the
mirrors, also the interior, the door cards,

also the electrics don't
work, the lights don't pop up,

the wheels need tidying, and if you could
sort out under the bonnet, that'd be great.

Oh, and the air conditioning, of course.

That is a huge list, man.

I hope you don't want
it done really quickly.

Well, no, as quick as you can, because
the sun's coming out, and when we finish,

we'll have a proper vet that me
and you can go and cruise the strip.

Down in Bogner.

Welcome back to Wheeler Dealers.

I bought an American dream machine,

this Corvette C4, for just 2,100 pounds.

That leaves me 1,900
quid to get this 80s

classic restored and
back out on the highway.

Once finished, we're going
to sell our Corvettes on,

hopefully for a big profit.

I had a fantastic time driving
this beast back to the workshop.

It's got an awesome engine,
it's just pure Americana.

I've got quite a few things to do on this,
but there are two major things I must fix

from a safety point
of view, if nothing else.

The headlights don't work properly,
and the speedo doesn't work at all.

Well, here we are, about
to do some nighttime

cruising, want to turn my
lights on, so pull them on.

I can hear the little chime
that says my lights are on,

but there's nothing popping
up, they are pop-up lights,

that's what they're supposed to do.

So I think I'll pop the
bonnet and have a look.

Well, that's kind of good news.

We have headlights, but fantastically,

they're pointing at me rather
than the road, which is not ideal.

But then, luckily, on all
powered pop-up headlight units,

doesn't matter what make a car,
there's always a manual override.

And on these, they're just
here, down at the bottom.

So bear with me while I just
wind these for a couple of hours.

Finally, that is the position the headlights
should be in when they're switched on.

But now, watch what happens
when I turn the headlights off.

They spin themselves back shut.

So to recap, the lights
work, clearly the motors work.

So I reckon it's pretty obvious it's
going to be down to either a dodgy wire,

a dodgy connection, or
perhaps a failing relay.

So that's what I'm going to look next.

Well, I've had a bit of a route around and
I've followed the wires for the lighting

down into the depths
of the engine bay here.

There is a box, and I'm pretty sure
that is where the relays hang out.

And I can't really get to it at the moment,
so I'm going to undo it from the car.

There's two bolts on
the back of the wing here.

Remove that out of the way,
and then I can see what's going on.

People are justifiably scared
of dealing with electrics on cars.

And if you're not confident,

an auto electrician will cost
around 30 pounds an hour.

Ah, now you see, straight away,

there is a cable, a wire
here that's actually broken.

It's obviously been damaged
while it was crimped up.

Should be in there like that.

And now it's broken.

So I think all I have to do is fix that.

But rather than using one
of these crimp connectors,

I'm actually going to solder
it, so it's a much better fix.

I'll probably put some heat
shrink over the top as well.

I think that might be our problem solved.

["The.

Speedo doesn't work"]

Mike mentioned there were quite a few
problems with our electronic dashboard.

Now, if I turn it on,

I do get lots of pretty
lights, but one of the first

things I noticed is that
the Speedo doesn't work.

Now, it's a complicated box of electronics.

I don't want to get involved
with that. So what we've

done is source a recondition unit all the
way from the USA Now I swap these two over

One of the things I've got
to look out for is that this little

window here behind it goes
the odometer or the mile-o-meter

Now I have to swap them
over to keep the cart nice and

legal and also keep the
mileage with the vehicle now

They're quite delicate units. I'm going
to be very careful while I do this job.

Okay

Well, I can see the dashboard part I'm
about to remove it seems to be secured.

By four bolts. We've
got one on each corner at

the top and then two either
side of the column now

I don't think it'd be too hard to
get these out. So I'll carry on.

This is the recondition
unit and this is the one I've

just got off the car and
you can see the odometer is

Just nestling through
here. I've got to take

that off and refit it to
this one. So here we go.

The Corvette had
one of the first digital

dashboards and it's well
known that they go wrong

You don't have to be an expert to change
the unit, but it can be a bit fiddly.

Well, here's our recondition
dashboard with our newly fitted

odometer actually quite chuffed
at how easy that was to put in

So that's rather nice.
I'm just gonna pop it into the dash.

Well now for the moment of truth.

That is quite literally brilliant
and with a working speedo

Mike can see that he actually
drives as slow as my granddad.

This car is over 20 years
old and you can really

begin to tell that it's
just looking old and tired

It needs some TLC. Now. The
first thing you notice is this roof

is very very flat, but a lick
of paint should sort that out.

I'm just giving the paint on
the roof a really good key with

an abrasive pad that way the
new paint will stick beautifully.

The removable target
roof panel has no headlining

so I'll look at that before
I start painting now

There's not a lot of point me doing
a lovely coat of paint on the top

I need to scuff it up again when I do
the roof lining so I'm gonna do this first

Now you can actually buy the real thing
from America, but they're quite expensive

So to save a few quid I'm gonna use
this now it might look like normal carpet

But actually it's acoustic carpet the sort
of thing you find wrapped around speakers

It's quite cool stuff
because it's got a nice hard

side or hardish side
to better put the glue on

but also It's still very
flexible very malleable.

I'm using regular contact adhesive on both
surfaces to fix the fabric It's low tech

But it'll look good on the
car and I'll have saved at least


professional trimmer a new roof lining

Costs around 80 pounds and
would have to be imported from

the States. So this is a
smart job to tackle yourself.

Well, I have to say I'm pretty
impressed with this myself

Actually looks nearly
factory now now I've

done my target roof
lining. I Can flip it over?

And paint the top side.

Painting is 90% preparation.
You've got to clean and key the

surface lay down a couple of coats of
primer before the top coat can go on.

Three coats of cellulose
satin black should do the trick.

And a paint job might have
charged 150 pounds for that.

And while that dries I'm gonna do
the same thing to the door mirrors.

The mirrors are electric
and are a bit fiddly

to take off so I'll
paint them on the car.

Naturally, I'll have to mask the panels
so I don't get black paint on the doors.

Nothing too difficult here same
procedure as the roof really

sand clean primer and then
the topcoat of satin black.

Well, here we go, the
target top is now dry and

let's face it there's only
really one place for it.

In position on the car.

And even if I do say so
myself it's looking pretty special.

These scrappy door cards need
replacing trouble is new they're


but I've got a real Wheeler-dealer plan.

I'm making a card template against
which I'll cut the acoustic carpet.

Masking tape holds it in place and helps
the scissors cut through more cleanly.

Soon I've got a great-looking finish
for a fraction of the price of new parts.

That's a really nice
tidy job. I hope Mike's

gonna be happy with my
progress. I certainly am.

Ed.

Well, yeah, sure you're doing
all right you ain't done nothing

I'm sure this car was cleaner
when I bought him wasn't it

It's awesome. That's
not a minute. You have

been working the roof.
You've done the roof.

Yeah, oh well done a little bit of black
paint so yeah that took you an hour

It took actually a bit
longer than that. But yeah,

I've done other things to
ever look over there. Oh

Wicked yes, you've
done the lights. Well,

that's a big problem
with these big job to do

It was just a wire that was at
fault in the end. Is that what it was?

Oh, well done brilliant job.
And then of course you're

leaning on it battery
ignoring it our door cards

Oh the door cards.
We must have got these in from America.

Well, I say just a whole
load of money there

Actually, what I did is use a bit of
acoustic cloth and did it the work myself

You did it all yourself what
on both sides? Absolutely

both sides and the roof.
Oh, you've done the roof lining

Oh fantastic, cuz that was
boomy. It was noisy. It was

missing. It was horrible, but
it's now lovely took a while

But it's good. It's well worth
the effort. Well done Ed.

I'm gonna save the best
till last check this out. Oh.

Look at that what night right is indeed.
It's pretty special. I'm really chuffed

We did those dodgy
American electrics are gone.

Well done it. So what'd
you do the rest of the day?

You're such a hard task.
I think it's took a long time

I know I've got a lot to do got a chucker
bucket water over it sort out the wheels

But I think we're getting
there. You are getting there

Ed you are close, but still no
cup of tea just yet But well done.

Our challenge is to buy
restore and then sell on a

classic car with a budget of
up to four thousand pounds

Now we're halfway through the
restoration of our ground shakingly

powerful Corvette so far mechanic
Ed has fixed the pop-up lights.

The 40 digital dash has been replaced

The headlining and worn
door cards have been retrimmed

and he's even had time to
paint the roof and mirrors.

Now Ed still got plenty work to do
on our Corvette before I can sell it on

But I'm really keen to get beyond
the wheel of one of these yank tanks

So I'm off to meet a guy
called Terry pasta now

He's lovingly restored his
c4 and hopefully he might

agree to let me take it out for
a bit of a blast I can hardly wait.

This is Terry Terry brought
Danny's fabulous looking Corvette

for me to have a goal pat
and what a beast it is a Terry

Yeah, well, I'm pleased
with it. Thank you

very much. Now. How
did you come by your one?

Well, it was owned
by a friend of mine's

brother who was an
American car spares dealer

And I knew it was
really well maintained.

So it seemed a good
deal to buy and in eight

years and I've owned
it. It's never let me down.

Now, what about parts? Can you
get parts for this? Oh, yeah, no problem

You can get bits for
Corvettes right back to


parts like brake pads.

Etc filters you can buy off the
shelf from dealers in this country.

But then you think more
specialized you more or

less have to import
but it's readily available

Terry that just looks like a work of art.
It's fantastic. That's a


Yeah, what cubic inch

is it? That's 350 cubic
inch 350 cubic inch.



Fantastic makes an awesome
noise. Yeah, really vulgar

sound vulgar sound it says
get out my way this car now

What mechanically should a person look
out for if they're gonna buy one of these?

Well, I'd say from the engine
point of view not really very much

They're fairly bulletproof. Although
obviously once you check for

smoking exhaust and maybe
obviously any very apparent rattles.

But if if the engines running
quite quietly, it's probably fine.

Thank you very much Terry.
Okay. Listen, it's a great car and.

Something about me says
that I'm fine to take it for a ride.

Okay, is there any chance you could let me
be the pilot of this chariot? Yeah, okay.

Do you know what for a moment there?

I thought I'd have to prize
the keys out of Terry to

let me have a go and he's fabulous Corvette
because This car really is a work of art.

Because of that noise
you just want the noise

all the time listen
to it it is awesome.

Now the difference
between Terry's car and the

one that I bought is
as wide as a good old.

Canyon it is miles and miles apart

Terry has been lucky enough to
find a car in lovely condition admittedly

He's had it for eight years
and I've had hours for five

minutes, but he's looked
after it in those eight years

There's really nothing
at all that Terry could

improve on our car is noisier.
It's smellier It's less pretty than this

But underneath I reckon
it's a good solid shed and if

we can get it right and we
don't have to spend too much

Money and we can find
the parts then I think that

we can pull our car up
to near to this condition

I don't think it's ever
going to be as good as this

But I don't think it's going
to be far wrong because the

engine in that car sounds
exactly the same as this it drives

Exactly the same as
this will end up with a

car that me and Ed or a good old
country boy We can be proud of.

Our Corvette has a
magnificent engine

But the engine bay itself is a little
bit more tired and I did promise Mike

I'd have a look and see
if I could make it a bit

more tidy now the cool
thing about American cars.

You can get a fantastic
dress-up kits for them for

this car. I managed to get
well for shiny chrome covers

But you know every
little helps. I will put them

on. I'm sure it'll make
a fantastic difference. I

Found these parts on the web.
They weren't expensive only 40 quid

And they're easy to fit just
peel and push if someone

does take a look at the
engine during the sale

It's certainly going to look a
bit better under the bonnet now.

Something else is wrong
with this engine bay and I do

have to agree with Mike
on this and this kind of like

Aftermarket have-a-go wiring solution
here now these wires are all over the place

They even go into the cab Where there's
a little switch and the reason those

wires are required is because
it seems that the fan here

Well, the fan sensor has
failed and at some point

somebody's trying to bypass
that with that switch now

The fan sensor is going to be
under this lot of engines somewhere

I don't want to get involved with that
So I'm actually going to fix it in fact

replace it with this
which is an aftermarket

Thermostatic switch quite a
clever device. It has a sensor here,

which is inserted into the radiator
but not into the water system

But just actually into
The Matrix and what it

does is change its resistance
with temperature now

There's some electronics in
this box here and another resistor

So I can adjust the moment at which the
fan is switched on and off by that relay

So it's actually quite a
simple thing to fit but before I

can fit it. I need to get
rid of all the rubbish wiring.

Stripping out wiring isn't difficult

But you'll regret pulling out
the wrong ones use a multimeter

to identify the correct
wires before you start work.

The new thermostat mounts
directly onto the chassis

We need to fix this fan
control because an engine

which overheats risk
costly long-term damage.

Crimp the wires and then join
the spade connections together.

Well any moment now we
should have the moment of

truth the engines been running for a
while now So the water is nice and warm

So theoretically that
little sensor should pick up

that heat and then flick
in the ruler. There we go

So that is a real result so
now our new switch works

perfectly so once Mike's
taken it for a bit of a test drive

I'll just tweak that
temperature to make sure that it

kicks in and out when it
should be but that is fantastic.

Welcome back.
We're restoring an American icon a car

That sounds like rolling thunder and
looks fresh off the set of Miami Vice

It's our Corvette c4 which I'm hoping
to sell on later for a profit now remember

We've got up to four grand to
spend and there's money left in a kitty

So it's gonna give that
all-important exhaust a bit of TLC.

American cars like this are all about
brute force and showing off now you

want everyone to know you've got
something pretty serious under the bonnet

And how's anybody behind you gonna
tell with an exhaust system like this?

I mean it's quite lucky that this
box is actually hidden because

it's covered in rust and that
one looks like it came off a tractor

I was put on by a five-year-old
now whatever else I

do. I'm gonna have to
replace both rear silencers.

Well now it seems that
my decision to change

the mufflers didn't
come a moment too soon

First of all if you look
over here on these tailpipes

They've been held on practically
chewing gum somebody's

done a really quick welding
job on that on this side.

The muffler is so rusty. It's actually
burst through just behind the baffle

There's a massive
hole letting out all the

exhaust so we're gonna
have to sort that out

Anyway, now if we just go
a bit further down the system

There's a coupler here, which
I don't know what they're doing

But basically loads and loads of carbon
deposits where exhaust has been escaping

bit further down another really bad welding
job and more exhaust escaping from there

This pipe seems okay, but
unfortunately this one had another

dodgy repair on it now This
should be a catalytic converter

But it's possible this car
is so old that didn't actually

fit it although the car was
designed to have them now.

I'm pretty sure on a new system the
cat will be included onto the secondaries

There's loads of pinholes and rust
and again although I could weld that up

I might as well change the whole thing
because it's only held on with six bolts

So I'm going to be
changing the entire system.

Changing the system is not
as difficult as you might think at

the end of the day It's only
nuts bolts and gaskets to remove

The main problem is getting
the heavy sections off in

one piece and removing bolts that are rusted
on luckily I'm having a clear run at it.

Soasting the parts for any rare
car is always going to be difficult

So how on earth am I going
to find parts for our Corvette?

Well, the first port of call is always
going to be the good old Internet now

I've had a good look around
some websites, and I have found

some specialist UK sites that
will sell me parts for our car now

I'm after a complete exhaust
system with the catalyst converter

and the problem is because
that car is as rare as hen's teeth

These guys they know about it,
and they're willing to charge you

So I've used my brains
and a few days ago

when I logged on I went
to an American company

And I got them to
send me out their parts

catalog it come through
the post this morning.

I'm excited about ripping it open and seeing
what they've got and if I can find an.

Exhaust in here for less
than 500 quid then I'm quits in.

You could probably build
a brand new Corvette from

off-the-shelf spare parts
still available for the c4

But I'm only after a basic steel exhaust
and the prices look pretty reasonable.

Well, I've worked out everything I
need and they'd really do everything

they do the clamps even the
gaskets and when I convert the dollars

Into pounds it works out
about 350 pound delivered so

the best thing to do is I'll
jump back on the Internet

I'm going to send this
company an email and tell them

to deliver these parts
straight to Ed's workshop.

Well Mike has been a busy boy look
what the postman brought me this morning

No idea where it came from
but it doesn't matter because it's

exactly what I ordered a
brand new exhaust system for

the Corvette They'll make
the car look rather lovely

It's gonna be quite tricky to put
this exhaust system onto the car

So I've listed the help of my
friend Paul to give me a hand

Putting the exhaust on is you've
guessed it the reverse of taking it off

Work from the front
to the back do all the

joints up finger tight
and when you're happy

Everything's in the right
position tighten everything up.

Do you hear that that sounds awesome and
it looks great too so I reckon job done.

American cars have been fitted with
air-conditioning systems for donkeys years now

It's a lovely luxury to
have but our Corvette

system doesn't seem
to be working anymore

So I've decided to have
the system checked over and

then charged up and that's
what Bob is doing right now

He's checking the system for leaks
and that's very important because the

gases that are used in a conditioning
system are really rather bad for the

Environment luckily the system is leak free
so next Bob drains it by creating a vacuum

Then he refills it with refrigerant
with the engine running the

special coolant then
circulates this job cost about


be tackled by a specialist.

Okay, Bob you ready yeah, we're fine.

Okay now I'm just gonna
turn on the air conditioning so

that's on to maximum and I'll
turn it on to cold as well of course.

Okay, that's gonna take
about five minutes or so for the

gases to settle the air
conditioning system to sort itself out

Then we can test that final moment
to make sure that she got cold air.

Okay, our Corvettes
been running for a while

now we've got a
temperature probe in place

What kind of temperature
we actually looking for

Bob between four or five
degrees at the fence? Okay.

Well, we have four degrees.
Well done that man. Thank you very much.

These are classic
Corvette wheels, I really love

them, but they have seen quite a few years
now I'm not saying they're so far gone

They need replacing but let's face it a
quick wash and brush up isn't gonna cut it

I'm gonna need to stick
in some serious elbow

grease and give you
a really good Polish.

Working with the
wheels off the car is far

better as you can clean
them more thoroughly.

You can see the years have
taken their toll on ours and

the aluminium has oxidized
leaving a white pitted surface.

I'm gonna fix this the same way
that you would with tired our paint

I'm not actually gonna use
it that much elbow grease

I'm gonna use some mechanical
elbow grease if you like

I'm gonna mop it and in the
same way you would with paint

I'm gonna use some cutting
compound and that's literally gonna

cut through all that grime and
leave us with lovely shiny wheels

Just like Chevy intended.
Normally you would

use a mop to cut
through tired paintwork

But it works just as well with old wheels.
The trick with a mop is to keep it very wet

Otherwise you can cause
damage by burning the surface.

I'm doing two rounds of cutting
compound. It might look awful

right now, but trust me. It'll
look great when I'm finished.

Replacement alloys would be a
hundred pounds a corner even for old ones.

So I've probably saved us four
hundred pounds by doing this myself.

As you can see I've
mopped the worst of the

corrosion away and
looks rather nice and matte

But that's the thing. It is a
bit matte. So now I'm going

over some metal Polish
giving it a really good shine.

Well, that looks awesome
that really does now

You see a bit of spit
and Polish and of course,

I admit a fair chunk of elbow grease
as well And that's what you can do.

Fantastic.

This is a moment to savor at
last the Corvette is complete

After a final wash and brush up our
American muscle car looks superb.

I bought this car through an
Internet auction and paid only.


work to do it was a bargain.

Ed got the headlamps
working and replaced a

dodgy digital dash
with a part from the U.S.

He used some acoustic carpet to
retrim the door cards and roof lining.

And he gave the mirrors and
roof a couple of coats of satin black

It turned out the exhaust
needed replacing. So

we imported a complete
system from the States

The wheels needed a mop with
cutting compounds and with a

thorough clean the Corvette
was ready to face the spotlight.

So How much did we spend
well not too much actually

The exhaust was 315 pounds. The digital
dash was only a couple of hundred quid.

Acoustic carpet was 30 pounds.

painter tenor The engine
dress-up kit was 40 pounds a

thermostat 46 pounds The
air con recharge was 80 quid.

Customs import taxes and couriers from
America were 200 pounds and the car cost.



Ed.

Hello, mate. How are you? I'm doing okay.
Looks like you've been hard at work

Well, I have him but last
time we did the roof and

the wing mirrors and
the electric stuff this time

I've celebrated the engine.
I've done the exhaust system.

Oh fantastic. So it hasn't
got that nasty blow anymore

It's got that perfect v8 sounds superb.
It really does wicked

But also I've been showing
off look at those wheels that

awesome aren't they hard
work an awful lot of elbow grease

But well worth the effort
and the elbow grease didn't

stop there. I can see you
polished the whole car as well

Well, it had to be done properly, but the
difference I think is well worth it again

Well, it certainly looks as good as I
hope it's gonna go ahead well done now

I can't wait to get this car out on the
road to mean you can go and cruise the strip

It's the Blackpool strip.
So I'm gonna go get a

couple of kiss me quick hats. Give
me the keys There you go, mate.

And It's done an amazing
job on this car because

remember when I first
got it it was smelly inside

It was damp. We had those dodgy
door cards and we had no headlining

So it was rattling and it was very noisy.
But now this soaks up the sound

It actually smells nice in
here as well smells like a

new car and I can now see
everything that's going on

But I'm not talking
about the scenery outside

I'm talking about the dashboard
and has fixed those dodgy American

electrics and now all the
indicators work on the dashboard

Telling me things like my miles per hour
what revs I'm at and the oil pressure a

Fantastic job, even
the lights work flip those

up. Oh, I feel like a
bloke a night rider.

Just listen to that bass tone.

Sounds like an opera singer doesn't
it but listen to the car when it's on chat.

Sounds fantastic.

I'll tell you what who needs
a stereo in a car like this.

You don't need a stereo.
You just listen to that all day.

So what have we added to
this car well, I think Ed has

done a remarkable job It
helps to be honest with you

One thing really does let this car down
and that's the paint work to the naked eye

It looks okay if you
stand back about five or

ten foot you barely notice
anything wrong with it

But to the real enthusiast one
who's got a keen eye he would

know that this car really does
need repainting in the future.

So bearing that in mind
I'll ask for grand which

is very cheap for a
Corvette. That's this sorted.

Now advertising a Corvette
was a simple task I went for one

of those magazines that
specializes in classic Americans

I took a picture popped
it in and the phone soon

started to ring, but this
bloke behind me Darren

He was first on the scene
and just look at him. He

looks the part. He's
got the hair. He's got the

glasses He's desperate
for a bit of Americana

He's already had to drive in a car
and loves the way it gets down the road.

I've advertised it for
three double nine five and

I'm trying to get as near
to that as I possibly can.

We need some money. So wish me luck.

You like it Mike I love it
absolutely what do you

think in the interior
I was very nice my

considering Yes, you
know all right for its age.

Actually replace these door cars
they were perished and American

cars have really dodgy electrics
and Ed took the dashboard apart

Repaired it all replaced everything and
now it all lights up like a Christmas tree

You know, it's on the test drive.
Everything was sparkling. So

even these work like you like
that. What's your pop-up line?

We've got the lights working good.
Oh, they're fantastic to American style

Yeah, all in all Mike obviously, I think
it's very nice. But it's just a bit flat

You should see it when we bought it Ed
spent a lot of time polishing this thing up.

You know, I reckon he's done a good job and
it's the best, you know, we can do yeah.

But I think it will last you a
while and maybe you'll want to

change the color in the future
because paint is such a person

He's a personal thing.
Yeah, I'm gonna paint

in the car, but then I
want six grand for it

But you'll be pleased to know that we
have painted the mirrors and we've done.

The roofs come up very nice.
Obviously. Yeah, the mirrors

are quite gleaming obviously,
of course and down the back

We've replaced the exhaust pump.
It's got that proper v8 verbal

Yeah, I did notice that when
I took off in the test drive

It was a lovely sound nice
and straight down the side.

Now these wheels which
mean that I'm always

think I've come up really
nice. It was a hard job

Yeah, well, it was a hard job with Fred.
I just told him what to do.

I'll give him that right

I suppose it's now talking about the
nuts and the bolts of what you want for it

And I want to pay for it.
You really want to buy this car

I think you might to be
honest with you. I've been

very impressed obviously
with the spin right around it

The alloy is obviously
everything I am I'm really

impressed with it and
obviously you want to sell the car

So come on, let's talk about it. You want
for I don't quite want to pay for we spent.

A lot of money on it.
I think it's worth four

thousand pound. What
do you want to offer me?

Well, I mean I'll offer somewhere around
three seven three seven three seven.

Three seven, that's a fair offer

I mean, I'm gonna have to
get it resprayed obviously to my

tasting and there's one or two
obviously tiny little things on it

But nothing major obviously
three thousand seven hundred. I'll

tell you what, I like you and I
think you're gonna like this car

Take three thousand
nine hundred. Yeah, but

you're like anyone you're
gonna get the sale off

But I think we should go we meet
in the middle three eight. Come on.

Okay, we're through a car
you've got an American motor

Three eight that's
almost 800 pounds profit.

It looks like our hard
work has paid off

So overall, it's a very sweet
deal for Ed and for yours truly.

Darren was pleased with that deal when
he got himself the perfect lifestyle choice

He got a giant slice of American pie
But the most important news is me and Ed

and some money and
we get to keep this beast

Back on the road and
hunting the fast Lane

Join us next time on Wheeler
dealers when we go on

the search for some more classic
cars in need of TLC See you soon.

You.