DIY: Battery Change on a C4 (1984-1996) Corvette

I always thought European manufacturers had the market cornered when it came to making simple vehicle chores, like changing the oil or replacing a battery, extremely complicated.  To change the battery on my old Ferrari Mondial Cabriolet, I had to remove the entire front end and one of the fenders.  In fact, every time something has been easy on one of our BMW's, I just assume that some engineer probably got fired for making it that way.

Unfortunately, Chevy decided to follow suit with the old C4 Corvettes.  I needed to change the battery and as I looked at it, it wasn't immediately obvious how to do it so I decided I'd add a post just in case anyone wanted to know.

Our Vette is a 1986 Pace Car, but I believe the process will be the same for any C4.

Here you see the problem.  They have wedged the battery into a small opening behind the left front wheel well.  There's obviously no way it comes out without removing either mechanical items or a body panel.  In this case, the answer is the body panel.

Here is the panel that needs to come out.  It is held in place by 2 bolts and 3 screws.  I'm not sure it matters what order you remove them in.

Here are the three screws holding the panel in place on the inner fender well.  They are Torx screws (or star screws if you prefer), but they aren't particularly tight so you can easily get them out with the correct sized allen wrench.  Tip:  If you turn the wheel all the way to the left before starting it's a little easier to get these out.

This bolt on top is pretty straight forward.  I found it easier to remove with a wrench than with a socket.

The bottom bolt is a little trickier.  If you lay down you can get a wrench on it and slowly loosen it.  Tip:  DO NOT remove the bolt!  This one doesn't need to come out, only be loosened.  If you did remove it you would have a tough time getting it back in.  Be careful when removing the panel - it's fiberglass so pay special attention to the tabs.

Once you get the panel off, removal of the battery is just three bolts away.  There is a tie-down bolt that is best removed by using a socket wrench with the right combination of extensions.  You'll see what I mean, but it has to be taller than the battery but shorter then the throttle cable housing above it.  After that, there are two battery connection points (+ and -) and it will just slide right out sideways.  I have a battery cut off switch attached to our car that you probably won't have so ignore that in the pictures.

Bonus Tip:  It seems like common sense, but make sure when you transport batteries - old or new - always have them in a container just in case.  Battery acid can ruin a trunk if it spills somehow.

 

 

When you put the new battery in, make sure it is well secured with the tie down.  These cars can corner at around 1g, and you don't want a battery banging around.  Also, make sure you don't over-tighten the battery connections.  If you strip one it can create some big problems.
 

When you put the panel back on, put all the screws and bolts in place before you tighten them all.  You have to align the panel perfectly before you crank it down.  I would start by tightening the three fender well screws - that will snug the panel up to the door.  Tighten the two bolts once you have your gaps to your satisfaction.  Make sure you check the door gap by opening it carefully the first time.

That's it.  Pretty simple of a job, although unnecessarily complicated to replace a battery in my opinion.

1998 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro

1998 Audi A4 2.8 Quattro

This '98 Audi A4 was purchased for my girlfriend, at the time, Stephanie in December of 2000 from a high line dealership in Houston.  The car had just been delivered and was sitting in the back so we inquired about it and a few days later it was hers.  This was the culmination of a massive four month effort to get her a car.

Steph had gone from wanting a BMW 3-Series, to wanting a Monte Carlo, to a Lexus, back to a 3-Series, and finally desperate for anything.  She became enamored with the Audi's towards the end I thought it would be a good car for her.

The A4 is a fun car to drive.  It handles much like a 3-Series Bimmer and has a great deal of German style.  To be perfectly honest, I never drove this car too much.  Steph loved it from day one and pretty much stuck to it.

The A4 in '98 came with two engine options:  a four-cylinder turbo and a V6.  The turbo is a little higher strung than the more powerful six, which this car had.  I probably wouldn't have bought the car if it had been a four-cylinder - the six is much smoother and more reliable.

The interior of this car was a very nice black cloth.  It had the Sport Package, which included the completely pointless ability to switch from automatic to manual shifting.

For a smallish car, the interior was roomy and functional.  Audi did a good job appealing to a younger car buyer with an appreciation for performance back then.  Like most German cars, the cup holders are the most ridiculous things you've ever seen, but other than that it was nicely appointed and well though out. 

I remember having high hopes that this little car would serve Steph well for years to come. It did.

 

2000 Ford Excursion XLT 4X4 V10

2000 Ford Excursion XLT 4X4 V10

I'm surprised it's taken this long for the random program to spit out an Excursion.  I've owned nine of them, but this was one of the later ones.  I didn't have it very long, but it taught me a few things.  First of all, I like the XLT package better than the Limited (primarily the cloth seats) and I like the single tone paint better as well.  I bought this truck and sold it rather quickly to one of my project managers at Lockheed who was being transferred to New York and wanted a 4X4 with some size.  The truck was clean and ran great so I told him I'd sell it to him if he wanted.  I decided that if I were going to buy a "permanent" Excursion, I would go with this package - and that's exactly what I did a little later.

  

The Lakes Course - Ruttger's Bay Lake Lodge

The Lakes Course 

Ruttger's Bay Lake Lodge

Deerwood, Minnesota

Branelle and I just spent a week in Minnesota, and in my quest to play every course in the central part of the state I hit Ruttger's Bay Lake Lodge and tried The Lakes Course.  They also have a 2nd course called Alec's Nine, but I'll have to check that one off another time.

Teeing off on #1

The weather was perfect - about 70 degrees and sunny - and I was playing on the same day I would have been playing in my golf league had I been back in Houston where they were undoubtedly dealing with humid temps near 100.  I couldn't resist texting a picture to Barry to ask if he thought I should play with my sweater on or off.

What a mess!  This is what happens when you play baseball/softball & golf.  I'm over-rotating, my elbow is broken, and I'm transferring my weight back.  At least I'm keeping my eye on the ball.

The resort is about 40 minutes east from where Nel's parents live.  The facilities were nice.  We had lunch at the restaurant there before our round.  BTW - They have an appetizer called "Peanut Butter Garlic Cheese Bread".  Don't do it.  My curiosity got the better of me and it was a mistake.

The course is fairly challenging, but not long.  Where they get you here is not length, but positioning.  You really have to pay attention to where you end up for your approach shots.  I hit a few drives that I thought were perfect and ended up blocked on my approach shot.  If you play from the Championship Tees it gets close to 7000 yards, but I stayed with the Men's Tees at around 6300.

 

The temps rose to a blistering 72 degrees - I had to shed the pullover.

A good example of positioning - I hit my tee shot here on #14 down the right side of the fairway and was completely blocked.  The place to be would have been over the hill down the left.

My caddie. 

Branelle had popped her shoulder out of socket trying on a dress in Wichita Falls right before heading up here so she wasn't playing golf.  She decided to caddie though, which gives me a whole list of excuses as to why I shot an 85 in perfect conditions with no wind.  First off, she insisted on driving which is something I always do.  That probably cost me 3 strokes a side.  Next, she also insisted on helping me read my putts, which was really cute but not particularly effective:  "I think it's going to break left."  "My left or your left?"  You get the idea.

I'm kidding, of course.  I didn't hit the ball particularly well, but a real reason I scored so poorly was putting.  Putting isn't usually an issue for me, but I never got a feel for these greens.  I got the speed down, which is what you usually struggle with on new courses, but I kept misreading break. 

Birdie putt on #18 - Missed!  18 Is the Signature hole here and in spite of the course name, one of the few where water is an issue.  It's a 215 yard par 3 and it's really all carry.  I hit a great 5-wood to this spot and was deafened by applause from the massive gallery of at least 10 people sitting on the patio watching folks finish their rounds.  I was also heckled for missing the putt. 

The Lakes Course is a really nice place.  It's in good shape, not particularly expensive, the people were nice - all in all a good time.

     

 

Master Bath Remodel: Part 4

I'm pretty sure there's something productive I'm supposed to be doing, but in the spirit of procrastination I'll put up some pictures of our master bath remodel from the final stages.  I'll leave the chatter out and just make a few comments.

We had the drywall guys come out and close up the ceiling and match that fantastic texture, then we went to work on adding finishing trim and molding.  Trim is very important - if done well it can hide a lot of defects.

The granite guys were next.  Here they have a plywood base cut for the counter ready for a heavy slab of granite.  I tried to talk Nel into letting me keep that original wallpaper that was behind the mirror, but she obviously has no style.

Our granite guys spent all day cutting and finishing this piece from a raw slab and when they were carrying it in they broke it!  They felt horrible, but I felt worse for them because they ended up spending the entire next day doing the same thing and ate the costs.

 

After the granite was in, our painters spent a couple days doing their thing.  Branelle and I decided to use the same accent tile from the shower to sort of frame out the mirror.

Our deal is that I hang the tile and Nel does the grout work.  I certainly get the best end of that deal.  She's really good at it though - legitimately better than the professional tile guys.  It's probably because she cares more....or maybe she's found a trade she can fall back on when she's done playing rocket scientist. 

With that done, all we really had to wait for was shower glass.

While waiting for the glass to be made, I went to work on mounting the mirror.  I decided to mount it so it would be "floating" just over the stone.  I used thin plywood as a base and when it was time to hang the mirror I had Barry come over and give me a hand.  It went up smooth and easy.  I also mounted a light fixture (in this picture it has three different covers because we hadn't decided which to use yet).

Once again, the guys from Delta Glass did a great job.  We went with a thick frame-less glass with a balanced door. 
 

Finished product (sort of - we added towel bars, replaced toilet, etc. since taking these pictures).  It's hard to take shots of a bathroom, but you get the idea.  I think it turned out OK.  We have a much better shower and more storage space and all of our internals are now new and improved.

The dual showers work well.  You don't lose any water pressure if you run them at the same time. 

Master Bath Remodel: Part 3

Tile time!  My usual tile guys were busy so I went with another group and they turned out to be less than stellar.  For starters, they initially told me two, maybe three days.  It took them seven - only six of them working since they showed up one day without the right equipment.  Also, they NEVER showed up on time.  I don't really care when a contractor wants to get started, but if you tell me 8:30 don't show up at 10:00...every single time.  And if something does delay you, just call.  It's fine, just give me a head's up.

  

The first step in a shower is to use some type of cement board.  I chose Hardibacker, but it's probably all the same.  I asked the guys to use RedGuard to seal it, but they only put it on the seams.  It probably doesn't really matter, but it's just another example of these guys not particularly caring - or not knowing what they were doing.

 

When Branelle and I were looking for tile, we found an accent tile that we wanted to use.  It was kind of contemporary and sort of drove the rest of the bathroom design.  I told her (jokingly) that I was going for a sort of German Hotel Room look.  I got it in my head that I wanted a non-symmetrical pattern on the back wall, so the night before they were supposed to start on it Nel and I spent a few hours building the pieces.  What we did was cut the pieces out as we wanted them on the wall and then trace them.  We numbered each section and then numbered the back of the piece.  It was actually much trickier than it looks.

We took the pieces and laid them out on the living room floor so the tile guys could put it back together on the shower wall.  We basically created a puzzle by numbers.   There are 26 separate pieces of tile in the mosaic.

Here's Nel "pondering" the floor as it's going in.  

Slowly - and I mean SLOWLY - it started to take shape.  

I'm not 100% sure what I was going for with the mosaic.  Maybe some kind of "Joshua Tree" type thing. 

 

This shows the area that was created behind the cabinet we added.  It's a seat, but probably will serve more as a "product" storage area.  My hairstyle doesn't just do itself you know.

The floor uses small marble pieces.  They look cracked, but that's just the pattern.  Notice the sill - I told the guys to line up the seams with the 2nd row on the floor, not the one touching the sill.  They blew that, but they made a bigger mistake.  They actually made the grade of the sill AWAY from the shower.  That was idiotic.  When you're building a shower, rule #1 is that EVERYTHING must grade towards the low point drain.  I had to have another tile guy come fix it or it would have leaked water outside the shower something horrible.  

Gracie pointing out the obvious holes still remaining in our plans.

To be continued....  

1998 Mercedes-Benz SL 500

Random Vehicle Blog tonight......

1998 Mercedes-Benz SL 500

This car was kind of a mess.  It looked pretty good but had a lot of miles.  I bought it from the Big H Auto Auction pretty cheap and found out why quickly.  It had a laundry list of problems and I tried to fix most of them before sending it on its way.  To be fair, it ran fine for as long as I owned the car, but all of the minor imperfections drove me crazy.

The interior was in very nice shape.  The scariest problem with the car was the AC, but it turned out to be nothing major (a big surprise).  It needed the rear view mirror replaced, a part that was not only power controlled but contained sensors for the climate system and was going to cost over a grand.  That was the final straw.  I never really warmed to it for some reason.  It was hurt to some degree by the fact that I had owned a red '99 prior to this one that was like a new car.

This one did have the very cool (and VERY heavy) panoramic hard top - basically an all glass roof.  I took a beating on this car, but only because I spent so much trying to make it better.  These older SLs are great vehicles and a LOT of car for the money.  My biggest complaint is that even though it's not a particularly small car, the leg room is tight.