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This is going to take me QUITE a while to get all together, as it needs a lot of work, and I only have so much time and money, but I am finally starting this now.
I remember when I was 6 (40 now), my dad had a red 64 vert (fairly nice driver), that is me in the back
and traded it for a 63 with a bit of damage (I thought he was crazy).
Soon after we drove it to Illinois (from Florida) where this pic was taken
When I was in high school, my dad took it to the drag strip, just to see what it would do (I don’t recall what it ran).
Something in the harness shorted out at the track, and he bypassed the whole harness, ran a hot wire to the distributor and ran it at the track
Then it sat for the next 25ish years
Now I have it, and finally have some time a money to see what I can do with it. I bought a running driving (drove it home 3.5 hours) 98 Z28 with a T56 to donate its organs to the vette.
So far the plan is to use the stock frame (powder coated)
Ride tech suspension (level II kit with front sway bar, just ordered)
LS1 from the Z (not sure what I may upgrade in the motor, maybe heads, intake cam depends on $)
T56, after rebuild (at least needs synchro’s)
Removing every piece of wire on the car
Replacing with updated wiring harness from American Autowire, they are releasing in about a month
Going to try to keep as much of the stock interior for now, as it is not too bad.
Vintage air AC
general idea will be a nice driver that I can get 20+ mpg, reliable and fun to drive.
I may not be the BEST car to start out with, but I’ve known it for 34 years, so I’m going to work with what I’ve got.
So far I have:
Pulled the (non original) 350 and Muncie from the vette
Pulled the LS1 & T56 from the Z
Ordered some parts (engine mounts, headers, ride-tech susp, radiator)
I have had the idea for a long time to make a tablet pop up from the speaker grill, but looks stock when closed.
I took a stock speaker grill, and had to cut the part of the back that surrounds the windshield defroster vent, as I did not want to block that vent when open. There will be a second piece that stays down on the dash, so than when closed it looks like a stock one piece speaker grill.
I had to remove the rear stand offs, so I had room to mount a frame to the grill. The frame will be bonded to the speaker grill.
I used a motor from a generic power window kit to power the movement.
Will post more when I get more mounting details ironed out.
I got the frame welded up and started fully filling in the factory stitch welds.
I had Vansteel rebuild the center diff with a rebuilt posi, 4.11 gears, 31 spline output shafts, Chromoly half shafts, half shaft safety loops, also had them set up my ridetech trailing arms with 31 spline axles, and mounted up the rear brake mounts from my 98Z28. I had to open up the center hole in the caliper brackets, make the center flat area a little larger, and drill 4 new holes, but then it lines up great, and the Z28 rotors match up well with the calipers.
I also ended up using the lx Innovations adjustable motor mount adapter plates with the motor mounted as far back as possible, to move the weight back as far as I can, and to give me as much clearance for the blower up front as I can. This moved the transmission (T56) mount to the middle of the transmission tunnel. I cut out the center section of the cross member, and welded in the plates to make it removable, then cut out a center chunk and welded in step to mount the transmission to
I did not end up using the muscle rods motor or transmission mount at all, it placed the motor to far forward for the blower to fit. If you are trying to fit an LS with a T56 into a stock frame, and don't want to cut into the transmission cross member, then this would work out fine, you HAVE to move it that far forward, or you need to cut into the cross member. Also note, if anyone uses this mount on an early C2 (I think just 63, 64) they do NOT have a cutout in the cross member in front of the motor meant for the BB ballancer, and where the motor is positioned, a stock 63-64 frame will be almost touching the ballancer of the LS motor, so close that you can't even get the belt on and off. (I was going to notch my cross member)
Great pics and love the history. Rust being what it shows on the B-pillar and drip rails, a thorough inspection of the windshield frame would be a good starting point before you get too far into the project
Great pics and love the history. Rust being what it shows on the B-pillar and drip rails, a thorough inspection of the windshield frame would be a good starting point before you get too far into the project
on that note, how do you fix the rusted through areas on the B pillars? are there replacements?
I'll likely be farming out much of the body work, but trying to do the mechanical work first.
Based on the existing mounting hardware you would not be able to use this particular a/c unit on a '64-'67 coupe, it appears to be a one-year specific assembly.
It seems like I remember seeing that very picture before. If T56s could be used without modification to the tunnel I'd own one right now. As a matter of fact I'd say there would be a lot fewer TKO installations if T56s would fit.
I checked out the American Autowire site to see what their Dash harness update was going to include.
Longer dash light leads I hope... got any info? Their site didn't say much.
the guy on the phone did not give me too many specifics, just that it will include all the wire ends, and bulb holders like a stock replacement harness would, but use newer fuses, and have additional circuits for things like power windows, fans power locks, ect.
Originally Posted by mudbone64
Please, someone correct me if I'm wrong but won't the transmission tunnel have to be cut/modified/re-shaped before that T56 will fit?
I thought so too. (even though they told me I would not have to) I have the motor and trans out now, will be separating the body soon, then when I get in the new mounts, going to put in the motor, lower the body, and see what hits.
Originally Posted by rayvaflav
Based on the existing mounting hardware you would not be able to use this particular a/c unit on a '64-'67 coupe, it appears to be a one-year specific assembly.
yeah, I'm pretty sure my dad did that, way before vintage air. It did have AC though!
Originally Posted by mudbone64
It seems like I remember seeing that very picture before. If T56s could be used without modification to the tunnel I'd own one right now. As a matter of fact I'd say there would be a lot fewer TKO installations if T56s would fit.
I was prepaired to mess with it already. I saw where someone cut out the stock one, raised it 2 inches, and filled the gap. I was thinking of trying that. This example may be beyond my skill level (but I think I can fill a gap )
12-15-2015, 06:13 PM
63 split window + 98Z28 LS1&T56
Got the suspension and headers in today.
