The Example

I must add some background to this in order for everyone to see how it was.

My family and I had taken both C4s down to Bowling Green for the Cruise-In IV. Over the years we have attended, we have fostered friendships with a variety of people, one of whom is Larry Hayes at the NCM. While I was at Beech Bend running the ¡¦94 with my little brother, Larry told my mom and dad to head by the vendor parking lot and stop at Gordon Killebrew¡¦s tent. So, they droved over in her Dark Red Metallic ¡¦87 (see cover of Corvette Fever, Sept 2002) and stopped in front of Gordon and Chris. My dad walked up to Gordon, who was sitting in a chair at the time, and began to ask him about a few of the less admirable quirks that my moms garage queen had.

The response came slow at first, a southern drawl slowly and accurately describing specific points of failure on, in this case, the A/C compressor. My dad tried to comprehend what he was saying, but most of the things Gordon was describing, he wouldn¡¦t have a clue as to what or where it was. Gordon knows this type of Corvette owner, hell he¡¦s been to near every show that has ever bore the name.

This is when he offered to take a look at it for him. My dad agreed, of course, and within minutes after popping the hood and running the A/C through a few cycles, he had figured out the problem. A bad switch, and a little low on refrigerant. He told my mother the part number for the switch, which could be bought at any auto store, and then offered to come back the next day with some cans of coolant.

This was when dad called me, convincing me to leave a drag strip (!) to come see this guy. ¡§He knows absolutely everything about Corvettes, you have to come here and see this, he¡¦s working on moms car right now.¡¨ Initially, I was a little upset to leave the track (I got pictures of Dr. Evil winning the burnout contest, though) but I reasoned that it would be nice if he knew how to make my A/C blow cold air on those 90 degree Kentucky days...I soon learned that his mechanical capabilities reached far beyond mere HVAC systems.

When we left the Cruise-In IV a few days later, neither Corvette had ever been in such outstanding mechanical condition since we had purchased them. My ¡¦94 felt like a whole new car! Chris, (Gordon¡¦s wife) had given us a booklet about the C4 school that he runs off of his property in Cross Plains, Tennessee, about forty-five minutes south of Bowling Green via I-65.

Gordon¡¦s school has three different levels; 101, 102, and a two-day 103 course, along with a ZR-1 specific course. The 101 course is for those who know very little about how to take care of their car and includes information on proper lubricants, cleaning and storing procedures, and the like. The 102 course covers such things as AC troubleshooting, the radio, VATS, engine drivability, ABS/ASR systems and LTPWS, FX3 suspensions, PKE, the Doug Nash 4+3 transmission, weather seals, the dash, and the hood. The 103 is spread over two days and goes very in-depth over basically every component on the C4. At the recommendation of Gordon, I skipped over the 101 class, and signed up for the 102 and 103 classes. The cost for the 102 course was $200, and the 103 was $400. Scheduling a set of dates to come down was painless, and I was assured that everything would be prepared in time for my arrival.

A couple weeks later, I packed up the Vette and headed down by myself. I got into my hotel that was just a few miles down the Interstate later in the evening and promptly passed out.

The next morning I followed Gordon¡¦s directions and drove through a bona fide ¡§one stoplight town¡¨ on my way to his school. Finding it was fairly easy, and the entrance into his woods was rather spectacular.

The school itself is situated a short distance from his house amidst over a dozen acres of heavily forested land. In fact, he built the entire school 100% on his own (with no building plans) using a great deal of wood from his property. It is solidly constructed and incredibly well furnished and decorated with hundreds upon hundreds of pieces of Corvette memorabilia and LT-5 engines. Upstairs, the walls are lined with plaques and certificates of appreciation for his 30 years of work at GM, his tenure as a NCRS judge, and pretty much everything else Corvette-related that you can imagine. The full bathroom even has ZR-1 posters and commemorative towels! The classroom itself is situated around two Corvette dash panels and ALL of their associated wiring and connectors. One is out of an ¡¦85, and the other is from a ¡¦93. Both are hooked to a car battery and function fully, providing incalculable insight into the functioning of either system.

There was only one other student with me on the day of the 102 class, and that was Mike_88Z51. We had some classroom time where Gordon went over the functioning of the dash, and explicitly answered a question Mike had about his key sticking in the ignition. With all moving parts in plain sight, it was very easy to figure out exactly what the culprit was. Approximately 70 percent of the time was spent outside on my car ƒº, where Gordon pointed out about a half dozen things that were not correct within my engine compartment. For example, I was missing a couple bolts from my radiator fan shroud. When he noticed this, he said ¡§well, I think I¡¦ve got some in the shop¡¨, whereafter he would rummage through his extensive collection of fasteners, bolts, screws, nuts, and clips for a C4 Corvette. He would inevitably find precisely what was needed and then affix it to my car. The best examples of this were the spring clips that hold the actuators to the top of the shock tower on an FX3 suspension. Mine were missing, evidently when the past owner had the shocks rebuilt, he neglected to put the clips on. The actuators were just stuck on top and would rattle loosely when I went over bumps¡KI had driven like this for 14,000 miles and not realized it, simply because I had never thought that they were attached in such a way. I was very lucky that I didn¡¦t chip a tooth in the gears, otherwise I¡¦d be looking at some $$$ to repair. Anyway, he had an extra FX3 shock laying around that he used as a guide to fabricate some new spring clips. You can¡¦t buy just the clips, and the whole assembly from GM has been discontinued. After fifteen minutes on the grinder and twenty minutes of massaging them into position, my shocks were factory perfect.

Right about that time, the supper bell rang. We eagerly soaked our hands with Simple Green and bound up the twelve stairs to the second floor (one step for each model year of C4 with the engines available that year) where Chris had a veritable feast awaiting us! Fried chicken, mashed potatoes, cole slaw, corn, beans, and fresh picked (by Gordon) blackberries over vanilla ice cream for dessert. If I had special dietary concerns, Chris would have accommodated me, but I¡¦m an eighteen year old male. Food is food, but great southern food is that much more special.

The four of us ate a relaxing lunch amongst the blinking instrument panels and Corvette memorabilia, and then continued the course.

The next two days were dedicated to the 103 level course, which went into further detail than the 102 classes, and was very helpful. I had questions about the optispark system, and Gordon just happened to have a disassembled optispark that he used to demonstrate how it works and the most typical points of failure. He showed me the best way to get at the spark plugs, took apart my drivers door and removed the window glass to replace a guide stop, replaced my chime module by cutting a hole through the center console. We also replaced the parking brake. Now, this might not seem very technical to most of you guys, but these were the some of the more important things that I cared to see accomplished to my car. The classroom work taught me how to troubleshoot the engine, electrical, and transmission, along with how to use the diagnostic systems on the car. I didn¡¦t go there to swap in an LT4 hotcam kit, (though Gordon would have probably helped me through it just the same).

The three days spent at Gordon¡¦s School were without question, the BEST $600 that I have ever spent on my Corvette. I learned how to do more troubleshooting than I ever thought possible, and the first-hand knowledge of exactly how to go about repairing components was incalculably valuable. With what I have learned from Gordon, neither of my Corvettes will ever see a dealer again. If anything, the school taught me that most technicians at a Chevy dealer are less experienced with C4s and have no more troubleshooting prowess than the informed individual.

Gordon and Chris are two of the nicest, most sincere, and most down-to-earth people that I have ever come across in the Corvette community. They are undisputable proof that Corvette people are the best group of car enthusiasts on the planet.

All that Gordon needs now is a ¡¥Vette of his own.

CoolVette86

:cheers: Sounds like some very excellent classes to take! Gordon is no doubt a living Corvette legend! :cheers:

corvetteronw

Gordon used my 87 vert and another guy's 91 coupe as demonstrators at his C4 class at Bloomington Gold this year. It was several hours long and only cost $100. We also had Ron Kane as a co-instructor. Ron runs a Corvette repair shop in Springfield, IL and knows his stuff! This was the best $ I ever spent. Once again, he fixed several of the nagging problems with our cars and gave advice on other problems and answered all our questions. If you can go next year - do it! But sign up early as they only allow 12 students in the class. Talk to him at the registration area earlier in the day and see if he would like to use you car as a demonstrator. I mailed him a letter with pictures of my car back in the spring and volunteered my car. He called back and we set the whole thing up over the phone. Give it a try! :)

kittmaster

I got the experience last year speak with him last year and he is the man most DIRECTLY responsible for me installing the FX3 option and the LTPWS on my car. He is the C4 god and superceeds anyone on the forum when it comes to factory repair and C4 configurations. I heard from Mike that you guys had a great class and that he wished he brought his vette to the school..........glad to see you discovered what many of us already know from meeting him

Kitt

Mike_88Z51

Great write-up stormy652. It was great meeting you at the school. I intend to return for the 103 two day class with my Vette. My mechanic will be coming too.

The extensive tools and minor parts that Gordon has available to immediately attend to your Vette issues is just amazing. Gordon solved a rattle in my cruise control switch that had been driving me crazy for months. He knew immediately where to look and what to adjust in less than a minute. By using the complete dash assembly (one of 3) he has hooked up in the classroom we were able to figure out exactly what was causing my ignition lock cylinder to stick when shutting off the car. It was a cable under the console that runs up through the steering column. All without having the car there.

Gordon is THE MAN when it comes to the C4. Gordon's wife Chris is a real sweetheart and a gourmet cook. They are the nicest most real people you will ever meet. I highly recommend going to the school. TAKE YOUR VETTE!

SharkB4C4

:thumbs:

McRCN

Great review! Sounds like $ and time well spent. :thumbs:

90EXPVette

Great writeup! Sounds like an awesome course...one day...

ZAD54

I couldn't agree more, Gordon is definately the man. He diagnosed a problem with my car at the Museum last year and even left his tools for me to use after I got the new fuel pump. He's one hell of a guy!! :thumbs:

SPD DMN

Sounds like you got $600 worth of fixes out of him and learned something to boot. He is a very knowledgable man when it comes to the C4, that is for sure.

Ray Quayle

Gannon,
Great write-up. I knew you would enjoy it. I still have got make the time to get to the ZR-1 school. Do you thnik you'll make the next Cruise-In? If so, CYA there.

The Example

Oh, I got much more than $600 worth of repair. Based on GM's flat rate book, I would have seen a total bill well in excess of $2000. All told, he's probably done about $4000 worth of GM work on both Corvettes.

Rick92

Thanks for going to all of the effort to share your experience, I really enjoyed reading about it :cheers:

merplastic91

nice write up.

War Machine

Thanks for sharing! :cool:

Strick

Hi Gannon,

Nice write up. I really want to attend his courses. Can you bring a camera/camcorder? When you reach my age, you need to help out the old memory. What limits does he put on you as far as what you can do to your Vette? I would like to explore the clutch and rear end.

Thanks again for the very informative essay. :thumbs:

ductape

And here I thought I was special! But Gordon and Chris treat everyone that way! I too attended the 102 class. Trailered my non-running vette down, drove it home!! It had been in two shops. One for over a year. No luck. Took it with me to class on a trailer, and had it fixed in 30 min!! Including pulling the ditributor! I to saved about 3 times the cost of the class in repairs! :eek:
If you do ANYTHING more than drive your vette, you have got to take one of his classes. Even if just the beginner. You will never regret it. Heck, the food alone is worth the money!! 1-800-F-Y-VETTE :chevy

The Example

Video cameras are not allowed during the course itself, for obvious reasons. Still cameras are fine at all times. There is NO limit to what you can do to your car.

I am absolutely convinced that you could strip a C4 down to its frame, removing every nut, bolt, rivet, and fastener along the way, and then put all of the pieces in a big pile. Gordon could put it back together, and it would come out better than it did from the factory.

:D

Strick

One more thing, what about tools? Lifts? Parts?