I BOUGHT The CHEAPEST Corvette In The USA That Runs And Drives *AGAIN*

Another 2000 Chevy Corvette? You Bet! A subscriber reached out and said they wanted to sell this 2000 Corvette that sucked some water up in the intake and now has a pretty major engine issue. But it still runs and drives. I said I'd take it and by absolute chance they were on our way home to Wichita with an empty trailer. I swung into Neodesha, KS and handed over $3,500 of the walking around money, loaded the car up on the trailer and pointed the truck towards the home. Now let's check this thing out!
MERCH: shopWatchJRGo.com
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Common Questions:
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#CheapCar #Corvette #C5Corvette

[@eldonerc2524]

If you do the motor swap. Please do an engine teardown on this one. We all love to see carnage. 😁

[@OldManBadly]

Better than that, contact the guy from IDoCars, and let him tear it down, and see if he can send you a replacement long block! :)

[@dansteffee9759]

I wood look at repairing the heads , might not be bad as we think

[@leinad20002]

@@OldManBadly collab!

[@bbroken1]

Probably just a bent pushrod on intake side

[@m1t2a1]

@@OldManBadly Came here to say I Do Cars. You're right, he'd have all the stuff.

[@glassvial]

How many Corvettes do you need? JR: yes.

[@breakupgoogle]

This is the way.

[@law_mcc]

The 427 and supercharger sounds like a great idea to me! This beautiful spec deserves it

[@Flies2FLL]

Is yer name Cleetus or what?

[@Chris-hw4mq]

It needs a 427 and twin turbos

[@derekgardin1512]

I love white cars, Corvettes especially look good in white

[@wingedhorsegarage473]

You’ve got to appreciate the honesty of the seller. It was exactly as he said it was. You can tell he loved that car .

[@daviddavis1322]

Mother of God, $3500? What a great deal

[@trapjohnson]

Needing an engine does a wonder on the price.

[@CPAJayhawk]

@@trapjohnson if you’re in the industry and can do the work, great deal, if you aren’t, it’s priced about right

[@trapjohnson]

@@CPAJayhawk oh no doubt. I'm just guessing a more functional engine would have sold this closer to the rat-vette

[@shaunwalsh85]

Shit, I can’t even find an ls1 or ls6 ENGINE ALONE for my c5 with 47k or less for less than 5k, and he got a whole damn car for $3500?! Wtf…

[@ww2gunexp]

C5 prices just went up 5% after this video Probably not but these days who knows lol

[@FeloniousSavage]

6 months from now bought the cheapest C5 Corvette in the USA for the third time... #Legend

[@WatchJRGo]

I'm not sure I can beat this... rollers usually sell for almost $5k 😳

[@FeloniousSavage]

@@WatchJRGo no kidding.... And the majority of them are not this clean

[@clevelandmaker386]

@@WatchJRGo next....an LS swapped Delorian!!!!

[@FarrellMcGovern]

@@clevelandmaker386 LOL!! And there is already an LS swapped Corvair!

[@hansonschmid9548]

Break out your white new balances and gold chains boys and girls!

[@WatchJRGo]

I don't have NBs so I have to wear the white Yeezys with the jean shorts 😂

[@MrSonordrumr]

I would go with a head rebuild or swap on this one. Sounds like valves ticking or lifters...anyways, looking forward to the build!

[@fauxque5057]

134,000 original miles, look for failed needle bearings in the rockers first

[@sweet123623]

Looking for a bent pushrod

[@loufaiella3354]

Agree. a compression check followed by a camera would confirm.

[@charleshenshaw9099]

100% that ticking is in the valve train. Even if you replace the engine its a win.

[@jeepzjken]

My guess is a bent pushrod, maybe a bent valve or 2. If there was water in the cylinder, the valves won't open, but the camshaft will try and probably bend apushrod.

[@charleshenshaw9099]

@@jeepzjken Bent pushrod is what I was thinking also.

[@316Autos]

You're not wrong about the LS engine always getting you home. I had an 00 Trans Am WS6 with a 6.0L LQ4 swap. I drove it from Shreveport to Dallas with a cam bearing that walked out of it's bore. 0PSI oil pressure at idle, 7PSI cruising down the freeway, main and rod bearings suffered no damage on that haul, I couldn't believe it. Nice score on the C5.

[@titanjake8640]

Holy Moly!!!!

[@316Autos]

@@titanjake8640 Pretty much what I said. I bought it like that and assumed it was a bad sender. When I got it home, I threw a mechanical gauge on it, and yeah, the sender was working fine.

[@100PercentJake]

that DVD player needs 2fast2furious in it 24/7

[@RemedialRob]

Something in this video made me think JR needs a shop Cat to keep the warehouse free of mice and rats. Also it's a scientific fact that shop Cat increase KZbin views by 15% - 20 %. Other than occasional litter box cleanings shop Cat is all upside fur JR Go.

[@toolrocks88]

He could have had one. We have about 20. We fix and release them. We dont have a mouse problem lol. (This was at our house, I wasnt in the video)

[@240greyhawke]

I would like to know what happened to the other cheapest Corvett in America. If I had the opportunity, I’d like to see if I could possibly buy that one.

[@WatchJRGo]

It's in the other building... will be back shortly 🍻

[@dj_paultuk7052]

If your lucky it might just be a bent lifter rod or two. Assuming cam surface has not been damaged, just pop in some new rods. Could be a cheap fix ?

[@jackwills8550]

Do you mean push rods?

[@jeepzjken]

Agreed. That's the first place I'd look. Bent pushrods or valves. Not bottom end.

[@68vette11]

WatchJR hoard...... Corvettes lol

[@WatchJRGo]

Gotta catch 'em all! 😳

[@IDriveAFord1284]

JR! That’s a bent pushrod! You’re good! Easy fix. Had a 2001 LS - same noise to the T. Bent pushrod on cylinder 3.

[@seanwieland9763]

You love Corvettes more than Boba Fett. (His backpack’s got jets.)

[@ironguy1916]

This is literally my dream vette been looking for over a year for a white with red interior c5

[@WatchJRGo]

For sale soon, give me a couple weeks 😛

[@titanjake8640]

@@WatchJRGo I will check back smiling

[@austinhight2648]

Got a 97 white c5 67k miles wanna buy it???

[@joe6096]

I like that color combination. Have the driver's seat re-upholstered. That's beautiful. Most likely the CD changer was installed as part of the head unit upgrade, but you could get one from the factory. They weren't interchangeable with aftermarket head units though. As far as the engine goes, I don't give up so easily on bad engines. I'm all for tearing it down to the bare block and so long as the block ain't cracked you can have it machined and rebuilt. Get it decked, balanced, and blue printed. You can do whatever you want from there - rods, valves, springs, rockers, crank, cam, bore and stroke it however you want....... you get to really create the engine you want for however you like to drive. I'd put the money into it because I like this color combination and the rest of the car is not in bad shape. Also, I'm not really a big fan of any kind of forced induction. I like all motor, with a good loping idle. But that's just me - it's not my money 🙂

[@punkinsgarageandpaint8299]

I love this color combo!. Glad this isn't getting the EV swap.

[@FixItRyan]

I know you don’t run a charity but you should fix it and give it back to that family.

[@donreinholz8121]

It could just be stuck lifters. Try some Marvel mystery oil and see what happens. Maybe stuck valves on 1 or 2 cylinders? The body looks clean. Do a compression test. I guess run a scan first. Leak down test is good.

[@jamesrhodes6462]

Hopefully it’s just a head replacement. Fix sell repeat.

[@itsnotme07]

Great 20 ft car! Once you're less than 20 feet away...well...that will buff out. Haha. Even with the engine issue...sounded almost decent once it warmed up. Look forward to seeing what comes for this cool ride!

[@badmonkey3669]

I would check for bent push rod and such before condemning that engine and maybe do a compression check before hand

[@outlawtruckinginc.5542]

I agree sounds like a bent push rod

[@jackwills8550]

I said the same, i'd pull the valve covers to see if all the rockers are moving the correct amount. Why would he need to change out a head unless it has a couple of bent valves?

[@atomikauto9333]

SOUNDS LIKE IT NEEDS NEW LIFTERS TO ME ....

[@geraldlafleur7776]

Aw JR, if we want to see E V swapping we go to Rich Rebuilds . It's just makes me sad to think we will be all forced to drive that nonsense someday.

[@slomaro-mz9mk]

Sounds like my 02 camaro when I got it that tick sounds like a bad lifter that's what was wrong with my ls1.

[@delano62]

Those are some true down to Earth Kansas people right there.

[@dalesworld1308]

Buying a car in the dark - THAT'S faith!

[@gradyledlow1972]

I bought a 08 flooded Silverado from copart that ran the same pulled valve cover replaced two bent push rods fixed it still driving two years later

[@luchaDor]

Hmm...I'm supposed to go look at a flawless Avalanche tomorrow...

[@WatchJRGo]

If it's in Springfield, MO... it has rust. 😬

[@frankm8533]

Hope it works out for ya.

[@lovellmills7959]

I hope you get it, I have 290K on my 2003!

[@luchaDor]

It is not in MO. Whew! Just South in OK.

[@rpavlik1]

That does look pretty sweet. Sounded horrible but looks sweet. And partial to turn of the millennium GM stuff. Looking forward to the build. Please do show us the torn down old engine! Yeah too nice to EV swap, but I'll totally watch when you get a good candidate!

[@brucebelitz3451]

The sound gave me a panic attack, you just had to rev it! I kept begging you to please shut it down!

[@FudaFilms]

Pull the heads!!!! Throw some cheap performance heads, cam, and send it on its way!!!!

[@stacydornan9765]

Think you got a bent pushrod

[@gregorycasterline6060]

I had a loud noisy engine in my 2011 Ford Flex after buying gas. It rained the day before and water got in the gas pump and then in my engine. Had the entire fuel system changed out and fuel lines cleaned out. Works fine now.

[@cnknguyen]

Theres no such thing as a cheap corvette, ask me how I know....#emotionaldamage.

[@WatchJRGo]

But it's always worth it 😁

[@CarswithNash]

Good purchase John!👍😎

[@manowaari]

Bent pushrod...??

[@matthewmeaux3450]

White on red is a traditional Corvette color scheme. Throw the LS1 into the Extreme and put an LS7 into the C5.

[@ajvot71]

I agree with the others that would love to see the engine tear down, regardless of you swapping engines. Looks like a fun project car. Would love to see more on the rat vette as well. Keep ‘em rolling JR.

[@barryabbott7016]

I have to tell you I think vett,s are junk but you are right about the LS if it was me I would pull the valve cover,s but I wood also check the fly wheel because they are none to brake

[@thex8027]

Change plugs n plug wires…. sounds like a miss. Almost forgot valve job… broke spring and yes, heads would fix that

[@toolzshed]

I think a replacement head could be all this engine needs 😲

[@waynep343]

How can you expect a chevy truck for sale to not have a bad transmission.that is why people sell them.

[@shadyonej]

Jus pull the pan . Pull the rod n bearing , replace , put together n send it don't even swap the whole engine

[@MrWoodyBalto]

Reach out to KZbinr "I Do Cars" Eric sells used engines and parts. Tons of LS stuff.

[@handbanana6843]

That's another awesome channel!

[@SB-js6st]

Cocaine white. Blood Red interior 👌 Best color combo.

[@jasonw3303]

Redo the heads and done! But that’s why I don’t have a KZbin channel

[@Shauma_llama]

I was waiting the whole video for a report on the trunk struts. 😆

[@the1nonly451]

Pull those valve covers and look for a broken spring ...would be my first guess

[@stevomcsteve9492]

Either a broken spring or maybe a broken summer!

[@jackwills8550]

Also it could just be a couple of bent push rods, could be both. I'm trying to figure out why he would need a new head unless it has bent valves. Like you said, pull the valve covers and turn it over or even start it to see if everything is moving like it should. If it was hydro locked i'm pretty sure it would have bent rods and it wouldn't sound that good. Just my opinion.

[@edwardmartinez9459]

John a bad rod would not drop a hole. That sounds like valve.

[@blackcountryme]

"Honest John's Corvette emporium...."

[@WildChinoise]

Engine swap is the way to go, you gave us the lesson that a while back,. Afterwards, a quick teardown for an forensic engine exam would be cool. If it is a simple fix, then you have an extra LS engine for a project!

[@titanjake8640]

I'm dumb when it comes to Vettes but I heard a guy at work say a Denali/Escalade engine is the way to go in the c5/c6. Is that true???

[@MrAlexiasjones]

I wouldn't pull the engine out. Just do rods and pistons.

[@michelswerissen6544]

Would be awesome if you pulled the heads found the problem and brought the engine back to life.

[@SpringdaleJim]

sounds like a bent push rod

[@markamcampbell6340]

maybe bent pushrod? do they even have pushrods?

[@lovellmills7959]

does an engine have pushrods? lol duh

[@jamesrobbins3285]

Hey JR, love the C5 stuff , great channel, thanks

[@perryr4516]

Hats off to you for putting the price in the description and not forcing us to watch a clickbaity video just to find out one piece of information, unlike some other unnamed car enthusiast channels

[@HorsePower19]

Very excited to see another C5 come to life as the corvette is my Dream Affordable Car😀😀😀😀

[@DonJudd]

Just bought my 99 C5 base model a few months back for $2k, and no engine issues. It needed a new washer fluid reservoir, and the ABS module needed some dielectric grease.

[@stacydornan9765]

My 98 Formula has the LS1 never had a problem ,still runs with most cars to this day

[@mjmcomputers]

Sounds like a bent rod with crooked piston causing piston slap.

[@rashedalkhalifa9039]

Junk yard 6.0 with 243 heads and use everything u got now

[@philgrimsey3637]

Not usually a fan of refrigerator white cars but that looks sweet. Especially with that red contrast interior.

[@germanium1872]

The LS really is the best engine ever made.

[@Joe-wv7pv]

Did the green convertible ever get finished?

[@lovellmills7959]

change the oil and it will be mint

[@gregdiiamond3899]

Sweet deal man! She’s worth keeping stock looking and flip it. What does one, running like a champ, go for?

[@lovellmills7959]

one sold at my local auction for 7 thousand with 130K miles

[@joshsrq2157]

i just bought the cheapest 2 owner 2000 mustang with a clean no accident carfax and 80,000 garage kept miles for $2,700. tell me we’re ealse can you get one that cheap without issues, also it’s a convertible 😫

[@lovellmills7959]

it's a convertible lol that's why

[@Sockieknowshockey]

Fix it and flip it. It’s too nice!

[@Divot84]

Speaking as someone from Neody, I know you've been there before because you know how to pronounce it. Good luck with that Vette JR.

[@nicholasnorman6094]

I was so excited when I saw the thumbnail to this. Sweet deal!

[@TheOldMachines]

Just bring the engine to your builder to fix it. Like you said it might need minor work

[@Cartier_specialist]

It could be a late run 1999 with a manufacture date of 7/99. I like the factory wheels much better than the ones on it now but you can't go wrong at that price.

[@capthowdy126]

id love to find a deal like this or find a c5 with a blown motor for around that price, i got a sn95 cobra i know i could sell to get enough to buy one in that price range but everyone near me that has them regardless of condition thinks there cars are worth 15 20k with 200k miles ticking valves trans issues a million different issues but they still want 10x more than the cars worth so i just gave up

[@lovellmills7959]

one just sold at my local auction for 7k lol had 130K miles

[@roshaver731]

CAMERA …. WAY ………..J….e……R….k……..e……..Y. SEE HOW ANNOYING THAT IS? Try watching your video on a large screen, it’s horrible. This is your job, please do better.

[@nicholasbabeaux2052]

That thing is really clean, I love the color combination, the rims look great, the LED conversion looks good, get that seat fixed fix the engine and that’s an awesome ride

[@Roger21989]

Love this channel, wait for it every night. You keep it interesting and varied, never know what’s coming next.

[@garysimonson9593]

Full teardown and build on that engine would be really good content.

[@lethargicstove2024]

Why did you post so late lol

[@cheapcargarage]

Ok, I was not hating on you the other day. I just don’t share your love affair of a BORING. LS engine. But to my point, 138k and the LS is JUNK! That’s NOT. The best engine made. ANYWAY, much love to you brother! I love what you do. I’ve watched every video.

[@dylano7242]

A covid inflation car??? 2000 c5 134k miles bad engine for $3500. AUGUST 2023 I got a 2004 c5 150k $5k from a colorado dealer that runs fine.

[@glassvial]

JR you very well may be able to fix this thing cheaper than waiting for find a good price on an entire engine, looking forward to the next video when you start troubleshooting/tearing this thing apart to determine what the case is.

[@ipodhacker58]

Good video. Don't buy a cover for driver seat. get it fixed like restitch it. that car deserves it

[@raymondmumford6255]

Great find 😃

[@mcc11505]

FuckinOink~! I have a C5 I bought new. The headlight pop up motors have sounded like that for years. I paid to replace one, not worth it. I had my sport seats seams repaired recently-- so worth it. I had a C5 totaled by a little rain that got sucked into the engine, insurance replaced it in 2002. The paint on mine has aged ok, but the front bumper color has aged differently than the rest of the car now. My C5 has been comfortable, reliable, and fast for over 20 years. Never regretted buying it, hated the $800/month payment. I won't do that again for a new C8. Subbed & liked.

[@V8Power5300]

A bent rod is most likely hitting the block. The noise doesn't change on decel because the bearings are fine. Drive it long enough and it should self clearence

[@TheBBodyBuilder]

Original 53 Vett color combo…that’s a steal for $3200 bucks…that does not sound like a rod knock to me…I’d definitely inspect that engine before yanking it. I concur it’s too nice to EV swap and Rich Rebuilds is doing that already…go with a high performance LS if you want to make a project out of it.

[@FlameBlue9016]

I’d own it other than the color. And the Autotragic transmission.

[@shysgarage2405]

"What could go wrong?"... famous last words most of the time 🤣🤣🤣 That's a nice get. Can't wait to see this one done...

[@yawningdoodle]

A cheaper option to using Tesla components is using Chevy Spark EV components. Believe it or not the Spark EV was so over built that the motor is very powerful. you could use your torque program to tune the torque curve to get max power at the beginning. GM set the start of the max torque at around 30mph I think. Your SparkVette project would be unique and practical. You can get a used Spark EV for around $10k and use all the components to make a quarter miler EV drag car. I would love to see that. I think it would make a great around towner too.

[@mofosoto]

You need to just keep an LS engine in stock at your shop at all times. You know it'll be used within a year of purchase. Just be on the lookout for a good deal always.

[@redneckbryon]

Go EV Do something different and new, it would be cool, go away from your normal builds. Even though in the long run, for every day vehicles, Hybrid is still a better choice.

[@witmoe]

She looks super clean. Great buy

[@jaycurtis7093]

I have a set of LS1 heads off a 2000 c5, but $40 wouldn't even cover shipping to Wichita. A swap would be cool though.

[@nickhannaford3253]

JR needs to join Corvettes anonymous 😉. “It’s so cheap, nothing could go wrong” 😱😂 Don’t ever say that!🤣🤣