[VIDEO] Hurricane Ian Flooded the LT5 Engine of this Corvette ZR-1. Will is Start?

With only 6,939 Corvette ZR-1s ever built, including 2,044 in 1991, every example of this vintage Chevrolet masterpiece is worth saving.

At least in the eyes of YouTubers like Sam of the Samcrac channel, who came across this 1991 ZR-1 that had been damaged half-way up its doors by flood waters from Hurricane Ian last September – for $8,000. Sounds a little steep for a waterlogged Corvette, but remember, running examples are going for more than $20,000 and up these days.

Fortunately, some quality weatherstripping from GM kept Ian’s saltwater from infiltrating the interior of this car – making it worth a shot at trying to salvage since the electronics are apparently still OK.

“Can you really revive a car that was flooded to the point where saltwater entered every major mechanical component and then sat for months?” Sam asks.

Since a production model in the spring of 1990 set a series of speed and endurance records, including running for 24 hours at an average speed of 175.88 mph and covering 4,200 miles in the process, we’re betting on the ZR-1 being more than up to a little saltwater challenge.

By the time you watch his entertaining 30-minute video, you’ll know the answer to Sam’s question as you watch how he and a young helper take you step by step to get the inner workings of this 375-horsepower “King of the Hill” all cleaned up, flushed, and/or replaced. Eventually, all that hard work pays off with several successful runs of the engine, though there are a few setbacks along the way.

The LT5 engine, of course, with its four overhead cams and 32 valves, was a collaboration between GM and Lotus, assembled by Mercury Marine in Oklahoma and shipped to Bowling Green to be installed there.

On the next episode, Sam promises to make a few more repairs and actually see if he can get this 32-year-old supercar back on the road, where it belongs. How well do you think it’ll perform?

There are actually four videos from Samcrac with this ZR-1 and we highly recommend watching this one below as it shows him draining the LT5 engine containing the yucky salt water and oil mixture, and the transmission wasn’t much better.

Source:
Samcrac / YouTube

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