emccomas

...found a few issues that will need attention.

1. That shifter really has to go. It is clunky, hard to get into and out of reverse, and way too much travel between gears. The Hurst Competition Plus is on the way. That will be job 1.

2. Clutch needs some fine tuning on the adjustment. It engages a bit higher than I am used to, or comfortable with. Engagement somewhere between 1/3 of the way and 1/2 of the way from the floor is what I am after.

3. I really need an inside day/night mirror. Bright headlights in the rear view mirror are very annoying.

4. The driver's side view mirror doesn't hold it's position well. Is this adjustable?

5. The carpet needs a little cleaning. I noticed this yesterday. It has a few small light smudges on it.

6. The biggie ... the rear gear assembly is whining like crazy. It whines when you let off of the accelerator, or maintain a steady speed. It stops whining when you accelerate. There does not seem to be any whining noise when the car is rolling with the transmission in neutral.

The rear gear assembly was low on fluid when it got to me. I filled it up. I do not recall hearing that noise when I test drove the car in Denver, but I do recall seeing that the pinion seal was leaking (most likely from lack of use).

Numbers 1 through 5 are fairly easy.

Number 6 may involve a rear gear assembly rebuild.

The car has a 3.55 posi rear end in it now.

Also, I found out that the chassis under this car came from a 1965 Corvette. The restoration shop said that the original frame was a little more rusty than they were comfortable with, and they already knew they were going to upgrade to disc brakes.

Of course my next question was how much rust did they find in the bird cage. They said none, and the pictures of the bodywork in progress seem to back that up.

They purchased a complete rolling chassis from a 1965 Corvette out of San Diego ($9800), and had a Corvette shop in San Diego do a complete restoration on the chassis ($10,000).

The joys of old car ownership. I am having a ball.

I took my wife out to dinner in the car last night. After watching me drive for a while she said that she was perfectly fine being a passenger in this car. She will drive the 2004 convertible when she feels the need for speed.

wmf62

replace the side mirror. it can be taken apart to try to tighten but it's not worth the effort

Bill

Jackfit

Just adjust mirror , put a drop or two of blue Loctite , wait 24 hrs and mirror will hold position for a while until you bump it or readjust it.

The simple fix...works on driver side and passenger side mirrors....as well as rear view mirror.

Jack

emccomas

Thanks for the info.

65tripleblack

Clutch should begin to engage as close to the floor as possible. 1964 calls for 3/4" freeplay...............1965 calls for 1 1/2" freeplay if not in "fast action" setting. Better off using 1 1/2" freeplay no matter what.

Easy Rhino

Good news is that the clutch is super simple to adjust.

The diffy whine is not as simple to fix.

Frankie the Fink

I don't know your midyear experience but unlike my 61 the noises coming through the jack storage were more pronounced on my 63...it took me a while to get used to it. To wit, make sure you have a real problem before tearing into things...

427Hotrod

If the pinion seal is leaking and you have noise....it's possible the pinion nut is loose. Might luck out and change seal and set pinion preload correctly and be good to go.

JIM

jimh_1962

The frame was rusted chances are the birdcage has some areas of rust unless the birdcage has been worked on previously.

If it was me, I would really take a hard look at birdcage.

Story goes...

A guy wants to buy a corvette so he hires a mechanic who specializes in straight axles and mid year corvettes as an inspector. The mechanic's job is to inspect each corvette the customer finds. The customer gave the mechanic a list of criterias plus some candidates.

First candidate - The car had a rough running NOM trans/engine combo. Nope don't want that one!
Second candidate - The car was hit and has a salvaged title. Nope don't want that one.
Third candidate - The car needs a complete restoration. and will be a money pit. Nope don't want that one.

Eventually, the customer gets tired of listening to his mechanic's advice and decides to just buy a mid year from a classic car dealer. The customer tells his mechanic he no longer requires his service. Fine no big deal with the mechanic and congratulates his ex-customer on his purchase. About 2 weeks later, the ex-customer calls back the mechanic to ask him why is he seeing brown specks on his dash after every time he drives the corvette. The mechanic tells the ex-customer to not drive the car and let him check out it out. He removes the windshield molding and discovers the windshield frame was held together with only bondo. Immediately, the mechanic stops all further work and tells the customer he needs to take this corvette back to wherever he bought it. The birdcage was completely toast. All that was holding up the windshield was bondo.

True story...

Frankie the Fink

You can't always tell from a cursory inspection. My '63 had mild rust at the PS "A" pillar and it was just recently repaired during the repaint. If you see paint bubbles or flaking or orange-ish drips its worth investigating..

There are places seldom seen that are a consideration.

65hihp

My 64 is in the garage. Private party purchase. I love it. If I recall correctly I said you were very lucky when your seller declined your offer. I hate consignment corvette dealers. All of them.

Critter1

If the differential didn't make that noise when you originally test drove the car, something is coming apart. (As 427 hotrod mentioned in post #8)
If someone replaced the pinion seal but didn't install a new prevailing torque nut on the pinion, the nut can/will back off. That allows the pinion to move toward the ring gear on coast/float but moves back to it's proper position on acceleration. That will produce the exact noise you are hearing.

Or, someone filled the differential with banana peels to keep it quiet for a few miles to sell a car. Don't laugh. It's quite common.

A friends 66 was doing the exact same thing so I suggested checking the torque on the pinion nut. Sure enough, it was a bit loose, allowingthe pinion to move.
He was going to tighten it up so I tried to explain the proper way to do that using a new nut. He didn't understand though.

SEEVT65

All of these things and more issues will arise as you drive the car. It is old, and it happens to all old cars especially those that are not driven frequently. Many buyers get all 'hyped' up over the looks from the outside, and do not understand the issues that can be hidden underneath. I bought several old C2's only to find that they were in 'need'. Sellers do not disclose issues. You need to ask the right questions. In the end I decided to do a bare 'frame up' build so I understood what went where, how it went together, and what was correct. It took me 2.5 years to complete the job. I took my time. I had a job and a family that took president over the build.
JMO. Enjoy the car

desertpilgrim

After doing whatever it takes on the pinion seal et al as covered by 427hotrod and critter1, a full load of new posi fluid and a trip to a large empty parking lot for about 10 tight figure 8s is recommended.

SupremeDeluxe

Frank,

That lower A pillar area looks nearly pristine to me. Where was the problem?

Nick

jimh_1962

He said mild rust. I think the repair was not for the birdcage.

emccomas

The pinion seal was leaking when I looked at the car in Denver. IT was still leaking when the car got here.

The fluid level was low. I filled it with gear oil, but did not check the pinion nut. I'll do that first thing.

I have put 30 miles on the car and the pinion seal is not leaking now

I recall hearing a whine when I test drove it in Denver, but it seems a lot louder now.

Also, Denver was very noisy, and we had both windows down, so it may have been as bad there as it is here.

In any event, it will get some attention fast.

The original 64 frame was rusty, but not rusted through. The way it was described to me was that the original frame has a significant amount of corrosion type damage.

And since they knew that they were going to upgrade the brakes to disc anyway, the decision was made to start with a relatively pristine 1965 rolling chassis

I have already checked as many areas of the birdcage as I can get to without completely disassembling the car. I removed the kick panels and checked in there, check all under the dash, etc.

I don't see any issues or anything that gives me cause for concern, but I will keep looking.

And of course, to add insult to injury, a bulge appeared on the sidewall of one of the Coker repo redline tires. All four tires are dated 3rd week of 2016. One more thing to deal with.

Car is safe and sound back in the garage, and is not coming out again for any serious driving until I get a handle on these issues.

Having said that, I am having a blast playing with this car.

emccomas

Speaking of test drive in Denver, the salesman and I were taking the car down the road.

We came to a stop at an intersection. There were three guys standing near the corner, not doing anything in particular.

The sales man turned to me and said "That crap stinks!"

"What crap stinks?", I asked.

"Weed", he replied.

I looked at him and said "Weeds, that is what we were smelling?"

He replied, "No, weed, pot, maryjane".

It hit me at that moment, marijuana purchase and use is legal in Colorado.

emccomas

And while I am thinking about it...

What specifically happens if you run a C2 rear gear assembly without enough gear oil in it.

I think I know the answer.

I am wondering what the fluid level of the rear end was when we were test driving the car in Denver. I know the pinion was leaking, so it had something to leak out.

What would bad / damaged carrier bearings in one of these units sound like.

Also, I have a 3.55 ratio right now.

Any suggestions on a better / more entertaining / fun to drive gear ratio.

I was sort of thinking about 3.70. Nothing beyond that.

Is there much difference between 3.55 and 3.70?

Jeffthunbird

You have the right attitude. My '67 is a great unrestored driver and I'm fixing little things. Bird cage good. I was lucky as I started educating myself on these cars AFTER I bought it. That was not wise at all. I still wonder if I'm good for a while now.
My second car is a '66, totally rebuilt (frame off) modified from original, hot rod and I'm still fixing little things.
It never ends but if you enjoy it, it's great.