empeg9000

Hey everyone. I haven't posted a ton but I thought I would just post random things I am doing to my Corvette in one thread. There isn't much yet but I hope to do more things over time.

I joined the forum last September when I was looking at my Corvette and came on the board seeking advice about my purchase. You can see that tread here.

The car came with some terrible generic mufflers so I asked around to see what people had. A few people recommended the hide-away mufflers from Corvette Central.
I installed them last week. I don't have any pictures of the install yet but I do love the sound of them. Here is a video I took of it yesterday. The sound in the video isn't that great because I recorded it with my phone.

I have only driven it about 4 times total since I bought it in October. I did drive it yesterday afternoon and I took it to work today. It was cool this morning but this afternoon I was able to take the t-tops out and here the engine and I went down a nice twisty road. Too bad my drive home is only about 8 miles when I take the "long" way home.

Here are a couple pics I took this afternoon




I also got a personalized historic plate for it which finally came yesterday. I got wooden nickel for the first correct guess on the origin of the plate!

empeg9000

Today I replaced the door handle pulls on both doors.
Here is the car in the somewhat messy garage


Here is the drivers door pull installed. These seem kind of cheap where the connection is and I can see why they easily fail.


Mrs Empeg and I took the Vette out for it's first long drive. We went from the Albany NY area, over the Berkshires into Williamstown MA.
We had the T-Tops out when we started out at the house.


As we got higher in elevation the temps were dropping and the wife was getting cold so I put the T-Tops back in.


Once in MA we went north on RT 7 into VT and into Bennington. We stopped by Hemmings on the way through.


I was pretty nervous driving the car for a while but I loosened up a bit by the time we got home. We were out for about 2 hours and covered about 110 miles. I had a great time and the wife did too. She said she enjoyed it more than the BMW touring motorcycle we had before.

empeg9000

Week I'm going to my first cars and coffee this Saturday if the rain holds off. I've doesn't the week fixing my door ajar light and detailing the car. I stripped ask the wax off, clay bar'd the whole thing. Then I polished it and waxed it I changed and waxed the wheels and chrome.

Here are a couple photos I took real quick when I pulled it outside to make sure I got all the wax off.








I also got a pair of custom CocoMats. I made my own pattern since I don't care for the pattern of the typical C3 mats.

empeg9000

Yesterday I restored the center console plate and wiper with assembly on my 74.
Console before pics:


Console after pic:


Wiper before pic:


Wiper after pic:


You can see all the pics here.

Today I am trying to install the ignition shielding and I am having a heck of a time getting the plug wire shields installed. I have the AIM but of course it doesn't give you any tips, it just how it gets installed. Anyone have any suggestions?
I am taking the Vette to it's first car show next weekend. I would like to have this installed by then. I can get the distributer one on, it's just the wire shields.

F22

I don't care what anybody says, but I think a '74, with the L48, with a four speed is still a lot of fun! Looking good and glad you're getting it out.

empeg9000

Thanks! I have to say I am really enjoying it. It's not fast, but I wouldn't say it's slow. It has plenty of torque and it's fun to go through the twisties. I am getting used to how it handles.

Next up I am going to install the new A/C compressor and get the A/C working again. It was working but the compressor decided to start leaking fluid out the front.

Today I am working on my 56 Dodge trying to replace the rear axle seals. Not a good time...

Paul L

You have a very nice looking 1974 in pretty fine condition. Enjoy it!

empeg9000

I attended my first car show yesterday with my wife in the Corvette. We had a great time.
It was the VIP Spring Corvette Cruise-In June 2014.

68Thunder427

Great looking car and thanks for the pics from the corvette show. A lot of great looking cars.

empeg9000

Thanks. I should have also noted the show was in Upstate NY at a place called Lakeside Farms in Ballston Lake. It was put on by Vettes in Perfection Corvette club.

Sunstroked

Very nice photography. Beautiful setting, nice day, and great looking cars.

H P Bushrod

Your car looks great! Thanks for sharing the pics.

empeg9000

I am a little late in posting this. A few weeks back I drove from Upstate NY to Maine to visit inlaws and attend a car show.

I posted the car show thread over here.

I had the A/C compressor replaced in the second week of July in anticipation of the trip. I figured 6 hours on the highway was worth getting the A/C fixed. The old compressor was leaking oil out of the front. I got the Pro 6 Ten compressor from Corvette Central. It was a direct bolt on and my car was previously converted to R134. My shop charged the system and all was good.

The trip went well and the A/C was cold enough that I my wife asked me to turn it down. It was only low 80s but that is way better than before. I used to bake on the highway. We hit a lot of traffic on the way out and ended up in the car about 6.5 hours. We had to get gas once on the way.

I had a great time at the car show and the car got a lot of looks despite the fact that I was parked next to a friends amazing 62 Fuelie. It's funny I noticed young kids, 25 or less maybe, seemed to gravitate to my car, anyone older liked the 62.

The way back was rough. Tons of traffic and we ended up in the car for about 8.5 hours. We ended up stopping at a rest stop for gas and I just rested for about 25 minutes.

Overall the trip was awesome. I drove 680 miles. If I include gassing up as we were leaving I filled up 4 times and averaged 14.5 mpg at 65-70 mph and some city driving in Maine. I used about a half of a quart of oil. It was already a smidge below the line when we left though so that's not terrible.

A few things have come up. Don't they always?
I seemed to have developed an exhaust leak or tick from the manifold on the passenger side. When I first arrived I was going up the steep driveway and the exhaust bottomed out a little, there is a big ridge in the middle of the drive. I think the rear touched down so I don't think that could have caused it. I did notice it looks like there is a broken bolt where the exhaust attached to the manifold. It might have always been that way or perhaps it happened on the way. Not sure. It's been hard for me to track down because with all the noise from the fan it's tough to hear. I can hear it when driving though.

Second the car has started popping out of gear on deceleration. In doing some searches seems like this could happen if the shift linkage it out of adjustment? The trans shifts fine and doesn't make noise so I don't think it could be that but you never know.

Third the shifter is really noisy and rattles like crazy at 65-70mph. It was so loud! I need to rebuild that over the winter.

Fourth the pilot bearing or throw out bearing are getting noisy at highway speeds. I suspect it's the throw out bearing. It I put my foot gently on the clutch the noise goes away. I am going to look at the linkage and see if there is any play I can take up and adjust it. I hope it's just that.

I welcome any comments or suggestions on the show or the problems I have.