Issues with a potential purchase (RHkit)

I am looking at a running driving RH Kit. Got word back from the vette shop on the car. 88 RH LT1 on a 944 S, with a turbo transaxle, no power brakes, stock brake setup. I plan on using the car for sunday driving and maybe track days if possible. 100k miles. Nice car.

Maintenance issues are solvable with time/money, I won't bore you with them.

Minor issues (or you guys tell me):
Rear axle leaking/cv's cracked (even though all was redone before installed)
Coolant lines routing sucks. So bad there isn't a windshield fluid reservoir.
P/S leaks, assume bushings gross under it, and rack may need rebuild.
Engine oil leaks (although rebuilt) at the intake and either optispark (late) or waterpump
ECM needs reprogramming for loss of evap, 02 sensors, etc. Wiring sucks overall.

Sort of major issues (or you guys tell me):
Steering rack touches the Oil pan - how bad/catastrophic could this be? Is there a fix?
Engine mount bolt missing - could this be mechanic absent minded error or a sign that the mounts have an issue, and work themselves free?
Exhaust manifolds leaking at collector - is there a final answer that doesn't have issues?
Throttle body has stiff spring attached to rad support.

The only other thing (probably not checked by a vette shop in the heat of the winter snow in Canada) is the clutch and driveline. It sounded ok, a bit noisy like a transam car with the gear whine, but it seemed to go away with the clutch in.

Any comments from the experts?

Car price is $10k, estimates are $5k to fix all the myriad of issues. I have 2 kids, so I have to pay someone to do all the work...sucks for me, but my kids and my time are worth more than $5k. Plus, really, I am an idiot mechanic, more damage than good. I can only do brakes and suspension work, the fred flintstone type stuff, that you can't break.

Overall, I am pretty happy with it, unless one of you experts spots something that I am glazing over and not checking into thoroughly enough.

Thoughts/opinions good and bad appreciated.

wow a rh car? i dont know, i dont do things like that but your oild pan problem. i can get that fixed for ya

gamman wrote:I am looking at a running driving RH Kit. Got word back from the vette shop on the car. 88 RH LT1 on a 944 S, with a turbo transaxle, no power brakes, stock brake setup. I plan on using the car for sunday driving and maybe track days if possible. 100k miles. Nice car.

Maintenance issues are solvable with time/money, I won't bore you with them.

Minor issues (or you guys tell me):
Rear axle leaking/cv's cracked (even though all was redone before installed)
Coolant lines routing sucks. So bad there isn't a windshield fluid reservoir.
P/S leaks, assume bushings gross under it, and rack may need rebuild.
Engine oil leaks (although rebuilt) at the intake and either optispark (late) or waterpump
ECM needs reprogramming for loss of evap, 02 sensors, etc. Wiring sucks overall.

Sort of major issues (or you guys tell me):
Steering rack touches the Oil pan - how bad/catastrophic could this be? Is there a fix?
Engine mount bolt missing - could this be mechanic absent minded error or a sign that the mounts have an issue, and work themselves free?
Exhaust manifolds leaking at collector - is there a final answer that doesn't have issues?
Throttle body has stiff spring attached to rad support.

The only other thing (probably not checked by a vette shop in the heat of the winter snow in Canada) is the clutch and driveline. It sounded ok, a bit noisy like a transam car with the gear whine, but it seemed to go away with the clutch in.

Shocking, LT1 seal kits are about $40 from Kragens. Easy job to do but water pump must come off, as well as pulley (the crank hub does not however), and Opti. I've never seen a crank seal leak, but it's possible. The waterpump seal is a bitch to get on, because it's tight.

PS rack probably leaking (big shock).

Pan touching (shocked again mine did too) I bought a set of Poly motor mounts and replaced the rubber junk. problem fixed ~$40 summit racing.

Headers, mine did too, I bought a set of pacesetter headers from summitracing (95 Corvette), some cutting and welding will be needed.

The throttle body may be an aftermarket that wont close all the way under idle (mine didn't) I had to buy another one ~200 ebay 54mm.

Gear whine is not good.

Any track/street duty the brakes need to be corrected, either by adding power brakes or a good manual setup.

$5000 sound like a lot just for repairs
I don't see that much work in the repairs to justify that kind of cost. I install these for a living and can surely fix your car for a lot less, Just send it to me

Hell I'll sell you mine for 10k. No issues to speak of......

Minor issues (or you guys tell me):

Rear axle leaking/cv's cracked (even though all was redone before installed)

You mean the stub axles are leaking? Easy fix.

Coolant lines routing sucks. So bad there isn't a windshield fluid reservoir.

Another easy fix depending on what radiator is in there.

P/S leaks, assume bushings gross under it, and rack may need rebuild.

Its rare to find a PS rack that doesnt. Theres always a "bit" of PS grime around that area.

Engine oil leaks (although rebuilt) at the intake and either optispark (late) or waterpump

LT1 engines had a recall on intake seals specifically at the front and rear. Just pull it and replace the seals and RTV the front and rear. I had to do this. No biggie.

ECM needs reprogramming for loss of evap, 02 sensors, etc. Wiring sucks overall.

Meh. I had RH do this when I first ordered the kit. You can send the ECM off to have this done rather cheap.

Steering rack touches the Oil pan - how bad/catastrophic could this be? Is there a fix?

Now this is a rather big issue. Lends me to believe your motor mount isolators are degraded and the engine is sagging. Simply buy new mounts or those urethane mounts from energy suspension. Should have atleast 1/4" clearance between the pan and crossmember.

Engine mount bolt missing - could this be mechanic absent minded error or a sign that the mounts have an issue, and work themselves free?

Replace it and use loktite when replacing motor mount isolators. However, these bolts sometimes are broken off in the block. Grab a flashlighter and see if this is what happened. I had 2 broken off. I believe these are torque to yield bolts from GM and are, as well, loktited in from the factory. So its easy to break them when removing. The head may have broken off and PO didnt bother with extracting it. Easy to get out though.

Exhaust manifolds leaking at collector - is there a final answer that doesn't have issues?

This is VERY common with our conversions with RH headers. Specifically the shorties manufactured by Sanderson Headers. Have them re-welded or buy a set DIRECTLY from sanderson that havent been tampered with by RH.

Throttle body has stiff spring attached to rad support.

If the spring on the side of the TB is broken or weak and the cam is not completely closing, check that the cam does NOT interfere with the underside of the hood when closed. PO may have added the spring because the cam scrapes against the hood when closed and needs extra help! If not, just buy another TB or have it rebuilt.

The only other thing (probably not checked by a vette shop in the heat of the winter snow in Canada) is the clutch and driveline. It sounded ok, a bit noisy like a transam car with the gear whine, but it seemed to go away with the clutch in.

You may have a weak or degraded transmission mount and the noise/vibration of the transmission is being transferred/translated into the cabin. It may ALSO be a failed/galled pilot bearing!! RH used needle bearings that tore up the tip of the torque tubes driveshaft tip. First check the transmissions mount for cracked and degraded rubber. If its suspect, replace it and see how it sounds then.

Car price is $10k, estimates are $5k to fix all the myriad of issues. I have 2 kids, so I have to pay someone to do all the work...sucks for me, but my kids and my time are worth more than $5k. Plus, really, I am an idiot mechanic, more damage than good. I can only do brakes and suspension work, the fred flintstone type stuff, that you can't break.

Great price on the car Id say. but..... $5K?!!?!?!?! You could strip the car and start over for that price! This is not right. Who gave you this estimate? All these things you can do yourself. Its simply a matter of unbolting and bolting. Nothing special.

well, I bought it. Its too late, I will update with pics later. thanks for the heads up on the items.

Basically, I will need to get a new rad and lines. I can do that myself.
Little stuff, I may do. $105/hr is such a lot of $.

Will look into the mounts for the tranny and engine.

Sucks about the bearing and TT. Will look into as well.

How much is ECM reprogramming? I bet I am getting ripped as well.

Dont jump to any conclusions yet. The problems youve listed are quite common and have been seen by just about everyone with an LT1. The good thing is that we know just how to deal with each one and so theres no guessing or wasting money trying to fix them.

Get the car nice and cozy in your garage. Let it know its safe with you now and we'll just go through each one; one by one!


.......and it wont cost $5K

gamman wrote:well, I bought it. Its too late, I will update with pics later. thanks for the heads up on the items.

Basically, I will need to get a new rad and lines. I can do that myself.
Little stuff, I may do. $105/hr is such a lot of $.

Will look into the mounts for the tranny and engine.

Sucks about the bearing and TT. Will look into as well.

How much is ECM reprogramming? I bet I am getting ripped as well.

What year motor? If it's a 94/95 Ship it to me I'll dump the program and take out what you want taken out and reflash it for you. All you need to do is get it to me and pay shipping back.

AND HEY!!!!! WE NEED PICS.........

I forgot the owner had online pics....
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My list of things I want to do is now very long, and lots of $. uh-oh.
fix RH issues that may bite.
Pilot bearing,
Motor Mounts
Brake is on manual.
front spoiler or AIR bolt on front end.
Many maintenance items.
Rad needed, I need to figure out which it has (944S probably) and what would be a bolt in (current coolant hoses run all over the place). I am looking for a bolt in and bolt up rad with hoses, suggestions? See below for some patches with hoses.
I will do a separate build post.

I will at least link a teaser shot (for the lazy). It looks good from far, but close up, it needs attention. These photos make it look awesome.

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Congrats on the purchase. You're right it does look awesome in the pics.
My '87 S photographs the same way: good from afar, but unfortunately far from good.
Keep the nitpickers 10 feet away and it's all good.

I'm curious: is that a heat extractor/vent on the hood?

Best of luck with it. LT's are pretty basic once you get past coolant routing and the Opti.
You shouldn't have any trouble, these guys in here are great.

Yeah it doesnt look all that bad. The coolant hoses are a bit odd. Is that a PVC 90 for the heater hose?

The headers are kinda weird lookin too.

MN944S wrote:
Keep the nitpickers 10 feet away and it's all good.

I'm curious: is that a heat extractor/vent on the hood?

PVC Comment

Yes, stay back, its awesome.
Yes, its from a 85 Daytona.
I don't know, but he was a pilot, so he had access to some pretty stout stuff.
Watch for my buildup/list.