thanks Ron.....I appreciate the comment. Will you be back in Cleveland in March for Autorama again? I am planning on taking the car this year but with the hardtop that I am getting redone. The paint will be done at end of week and the SS will be complete mid/end of next week. Since I never did a hardtop before this will be a lot of fun as when we were taking it apart there are a bunch of pieces parts and it goes together like a jigsaw puzzle......should be an experience! I wonder how many times I will walk away out of frustration and come back later to pick it up again.....there were only a few times when I did the car that I had to walk away and every time I was able to come back and push through what ever the stumbling point was.....

 

Herb,
I will also be going to the Cleveland AutoRama but w/o the car. I've done the ISCA the past 3-4 years and felt it was time to give it a rest.
I'll talk to you at the Cleveland show.
Best of luck,
Ron....

 

thanks Ron.....I will see you there. I will also miss seeing your beauty....your car is over the top.....

 

Ron,
Tell me about that air cleaner that I see in your avatar.

Tom Parsons

 

The picture I posted is a before picture. The front only had 2.5" of clearence. The springs were for drag racing. Very soft and tall. When you stepped on it, the front would raise 8".

 

I agree. it's one of the most beautiful I've seen, wish it were mine.

 

it could be yours...just bring lots of folding paper with photos of past dead presidents on 'em that any bank would take and it is yours!!!!

Seriously, thank you! It seems that the car is never done.....I am doing the refurb on the hard top and hope to have that done in the next month or so based on getting parts back and heopfully not messing anything up along the way. I need to move the steering column hole pentration on the firewall down 2 to 3 inches to raise up the steering wheel to clear my knees and also to make a polished SS cover and new hole bracket for the firewall. Additionally I will be installing power brakes, the 4 wheel manual discs just don't give me the pedal feel I would like. I found an electric powered brake system that uses an accumulator to store the hydraulic energy, even if the pump was to fail you still get 8 -15 actuations and then it reverts to just manual brakes at that point. So it is a good compromise for getting powered brakes with some fail safe still available for braking.

It seems like the cars are just never done, I see little things I want to keep doing and of course that is time and money as you do them. This past summer I had the trunk redone and will use the same upholster to do the hardtop headliner.....

I am hoping this summer ot get back on the '63 SWC resto that I am doing. Last summer I got distracted by getting my numbers matching '63swc painted, going on the Hot Rod Power Tour and then messing up the motor in the car that we were going to take ('37Ford w/502 + supercharger) and getting it fixed, ended up with bored and stroked 396 that pushes about 409 cubes but with the supercharger still sitting on top. Last summer seemed like endless work on everything but what I wanted to be working on and that was the '63swc resto......

 

Tom,
I sent you a PM with the information you requested.
Ron....

 

Please tell the rest of us, it looks quite interesting, as I have another application (1937 Ford truck street rod project), that something like that would work very well.

Doug

 

Here's my 61. Normally I run Diamondback Wide Whitewall Radials with Stock Rims and Caps but I recently put these TTIIs and Radial T/As on for an "Alter Ego" look.

Front: Eaton Original Style Coils ordered new 1" lower than stock. Rear: Stock Leafs with 1" Lowering Blocks to give a ride height 1 3/4" lower than stock.

I was looking for a nice stance that still gave me a comfortable ride. This did it...car rides smooth and corners outsatanding. All of these mods are totally reversible to original.

 

looks great!

 

Sharp car.....I like that theme, very nice. What size are your tires and TT rims?

Do you have any comparison pics with the wide whites and caps ?

Stan...

 

Thanks...TTIIs 6X15 front and rear, T/As 225 15 Rear and 215 15 Front. I wanted to go for more of a road race look and wanted to get the tires under the rear lip just right. I tried 7x15s on the rear but it didn't look right.

I'll dig up some pics with the Diamondbacks and post them for comparison.

 

Thanks I'd sure like to see them.. 225 15's...would that be 225 70's?

Stan..

 

Sorry...225 60s and 215 60s. Diamondbacks are 205 75s.

 

Ahhh, Ok...they sit perfectly...great fit and stance.
Thanks..Stan..

 

Dan...For your 62 if cost is a factor the shortened Eaton front springs and rear lowering blocks are very affordable. I found the springs on Ebay and paid $50 for them brand new. I made the lowering blocks myself. Lots of muffler shops and speed shops may have old ones that you can use and get for next to nothing.

Suspension geometry is important for both safety and comfort. The passenger car spindles are best for lowering the front and maintaining the proper geometry on a stock C1 frame. You need to check your front alignment and your driveline angle whenever you alter anything front/rear on your suspension.

For me the stance on an early Vette is critical. I like this mod because it works and is totally reversible if I want to revert back to stock.

 

Stan...Thanks again.

 

Thanks for asking. Using my design, I had a local hot rod shop (www.rpmpgh.com) in Warrendale, Pa. fabricate the air cleaner, valve covers and rear-end cover for me. We used my stock drop base due to hood clearance and hand fabricated the top lid rolling and cutting in the detail that I was looking for. I supplied a new set of smooth billet aluminum valve covers for this project. The tubes are non function 3" exhaust pipe and the top lid is about 1" in diameter larger than the base so it breaths from the bottom. The bell shaped polished aluminum tube ends and hold down fastener were hand milled and installed in addition to the thin pieces of aluminum trim stock installed on the tubes and valve covers. As for the paint...the blue matches the exterior of the car, the flattened red the interior and the silver stripes matches numerous suspenion parts. If you view my Public profile and click on Designs by Champ you will see the final results. For some reason, I just can't seem to post pictures as I've tried a 1000 times.

 

...is the pipe going to the firewall the 3" non functioning exhaust pipe you are talking about..?

...if not what does it do...air conditioned carb air or something?

Stan..