At long last my 66 trophy blue, 327/300, 4spd, KO's, side exhaust, a/c car is here. It is everything that I hope for and more. All of the major stuff has been done to the car in the last three years (Paint, front end rebuild, engine out of the car detail), it basically looks, and is new.
Now the saga begins.

It arrived on Friday, with the whole neighborhood looking on. We took a lap aroung the circle in front of the house and parked it, and the crowd parted.
Then we took a short ride and got some air in a tire. The car had been sputtering a little bit. It cut off, got it restarted, made the top of a hill, and it quit. Then I coasted into a gas station and filled up. Then the battery was dead and it wouldn't start. Got towed home by my old friend mechanic who worked at a dealer in the 60's, and who will work on the car in the future.
Saturday AM, I got a new battery(thought I knew something about changing a battery until now), but it still wouldn't start. Mechanic came by in the PM, changed a few plugs, adjusted the points, and discovered that the static shield was grounding out the elcetrical system, and we got it humming.

Now I'm ready. I took it out for a spin, came home and steam was pouring out of the engine bay. I panick because I thaught it was smoke at first. Seems that the top radiator hose was to close to the pulley belt, and it was sliced like a knife had cut it, and a small leak had developed. You've got to understand, under the hood of this car is clean enough to perform surgery on. In fact the car is so clean, it obviously hasn't been driven much.

I get the feeling that it was not the right hose though. Does anyone know what the proper one is? This one is close, but it looks like it ought to have another small bend in it to give a little more clearance.

Also, although there is no play in the steering wheel at rest, there seems to be a lot of wheel travel at speed. Is this normal? Guess I'm to use to rack and pinion, and just have to get use to the old way again.

Don't get me wrong, it even looks great behind the tow truck, or just sitting in the garage, but this is going to be a driver.

Look forward to hearing from you.

Frac :) GB

 

Sorry for the mispost. I figured out how to moveit.

Frac :blueangel: GB


[Modified by FRAC, 7:36 AM 2/17/2002]

 

Welcome to the never ending joys of owning a mid-year corvette. You will eventually get the bugs worked out. Don't get discouraged....they even look good when they are broken. Fixing them is half the fun of owning them. If it was easy to own one everyone would have one.
Good Luck,
Keith :D

 

Congrats on bringing home your new toy. Something I learned with my 66 Coupe is patience! When something happens - we tend to move to quickly and often over look the simple things. Also - chances are someone on the Forum has experienced the same thing so you can save alot of grief and dollars by going slow, asking questions, thinking thru issue. Final thought - never throw anything out!

Have fun!

Peter

 

The steering is going to feel a little looser than a modern car. Do you have ps? That will feel even wierder. That was before the days of variable ps. Feels the same in the parking lot or on the highway.
BTW, there's a big Vette show in Birmingham in early April. Maybe you can make it up here and show off your new toy. :D

 

Congrats on the '66 Coupe. I know your feeling of excitement! I bought my first 66 Coupe about a year ago. The car was nice and also had been sitting for quite a while, but I drove it straight home without a hitch. A 3 1/2 drive! I had a friend with tools and stuff in the event something did go wrong. Mine wasn't as clean as yours but I'm getting there slowly. You'll find this board a GREAT help.

Rondog

 

Congrats!! Your goin' to have some fun and some frustrating moments, but you can get the best of them. Your steering vagness may be due to You shoudl look at the rag joint above the steering box. Also check the idler arm. If the rag joint is original it may well be worn and loose. Have someone turn the steering wheel as you look at the motion of the input shaft of the box. If it's worn you will see it and when you drive, the resistance of the tires on the road and you at the wheel are opposing forces which will excerbate the flexing. The hose issue can be solved at a quality parts house by checking the various hoses that could apply to a sm. blk. Or if your rad is alum. and your motor i.e. manifold/water neck are correct, one of the Vette suppliers will have the right hose for you. Hope this helps.


....just drive 'em! Dennis, TOY-1

 

Congrats!!! :yesnod:

As Bluestripe67 said, you'll get it there. I've had my 66 BB a few years now. It ran ok when I got it, but it runs a WHOLE lot better and is a whole lot more reliable now. Getting them where YOU want them to be is part of the fun and part of the process, particularly if you intend to drive it (hopefully). :yesnod:

I have PS on mine, and experienced issues similar to your description when I first got the car. On hard acceleration, it would even set off the horn. Rag joint! The original rag was in there and it was the consistency of a ball of loose TP!! :eek: I changed out that and all was fine. There are a whole bunch of excellent parts dealers out there specializing in C2 parts as well as others. You WILL get to know them and love (at least some) them.....LIC, ZIP, Paragon, CC, MAD, and a number of others. And, best of all, you have this Forum, regularly visited by "pros" who really know these cars and are more than willing to help you out with any questions from mechanics to carpet to paint. I am turning wrenches on mine on things I never thought I would challange, and it really is because of the info and data I've gotten in this venue. :cheers:

Have fun....and post up some pics soon!! No one tires of seeing anothers "new" C2!!! :D

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Jeff
Ô66. Modified L72
ÒThe Silver BeastÓ
Keep on :flag :seeya :seeya :cheers:

 

The circles will get bigger, but it takes time.
When ever I get "a new to me" car I start out small.
Trips around the block, then around town, then 30 minutes,
an hour, ect.
Before long you will know everything there is to know about your car.
(like it or not!) :yesnod:
But it is worth it!