Sundevil64

Cool. I remember when I first brought my 64 home after sitting for 19 years in a garage. Good luck! Get it running and driving first. It helps motivation.

Railroadman

Back home from a day and a half at the other place. My Corvette time was limited by all the 1,001 other things to do - rebuilt the rider mower front end, raking, ongoing bathroom rehab etc.

BUT I do have an interesting update. I was doing lots of small stuff, and because of the frame issues I was under it spraying PB Blaster on body mounts and any other thing I could think of. So I bumped into the dead battery I had set under the car, shoved it out and was going to load up for the junk yard.

Just for giggles I put a meter on it and it showed 00.08 volts. For some reason I put the charger on, and after dinner it was 8.34 volts. By this morning it was about 13 volts, and when I took the charger off it stayed at about 12.15 or 12.20! This is after sitting dead for at least 10 years! Not sure if it would have the amps to crank the motor but I'm beyond amazed that it did not freeze and bust open.

Now when I get the car on the road I'll get a new one, but for around the shop this is perfect! I was able to determine that the following items DO work:

Horn
Headlights, low and high beam
Turn signals (one bad bulb in rear)
Right side courtesy light
Heater blower, all 3 speeds
Fuel gauge
Cigar lighter
And the radio works too!

The following do NOT work;

Headlight motors
Instrument lights
Clock
Front parking lights
Wipers

Some of those may just be a corroded connection or a blown fuse, I did not have time to chase everything down. But it's a good start!

I also pulled the plugs - #1 was totally fouled with white crud, #5 was showing oil fouling. Other 6 looked normal. Squirted about 6 pumps of 10-30 into each cylinder.

Also managed to sop up the old goop that used to be gas, from the fuel tank. It looks nice and shiny in there now.

Progress!

Westlotorn

Wow, progress. Does it hold brake fluid? That might be asking too much of a long resting car.

Railroadman

Master cylinder is dry. Because the frame issue has to be addressed before driving it, I'm not even going there now. I am going to wind with a dual system - it's the original single cylinder now. Whether the frame gets fixed and I convert this car, or whether i get a new frame, or get a used rolling chassis is still under consideration. I DID buy plugs and some oil today, have to check whether it still has the canister filter or has been upgraded to spin-on.

hcallaway

Right side:




Another shot of right side:




Left side:




While the right side seems only bad at the kickup, the left side is rotted with small holes all the way to just ahead of the crossmember. At one time it was the Squirrel Motel, it appears, as I took a ton of stuff out from inside the frame.

That's it for today, guys. Opinions and suggestions welcome. I'm really not bummed about the frame because I knew going in that's what I was getting. I'm happy because overall it still seems like what I was looking for, and I'm having fun, it's already a better car than the day I bought it. [/QUOTE]

It is great to see all the shots of various 64's. Our two cars were both made in Feb fairly close to each other. I have found rust on my frame and also like you feel like the car was at least as good if not better than what I expected. After doing a fair number of restorations, it seems the best course of action is to make sure the frame is up to specs. I am in the process of cutting or breaking the body bolts. I would suggest waiting until you have the body off the frame before deciding if a new frame is the way to go. When I look at repair sections there are a lot of different options. I have found that a shop within a few hours even offers the option of a rolling frame with brakes etc.. for around 10K.
I am sure they would repair only the needed sections. I also have worked for years with a race car fabrication shop that has the ability to do this type of job. With his labor at around $100/hour, I feel like I can be out of there for way less than $1500 including the repair parts. Good Luck I am watching and learning.
Attachment 48353093

jimgessner

Nice project. TRIM TAG DATE F12= JUNE 12, 1964 which looks correct for your late 20000 plus vin. It is a A.O. Smith body which was the DOW division supplying bodies to St. Louis since January 64 as they could not keep up with demand. All paint codes on Smith Body cars had the letter A. St. Louis cars had AA after the numbers.

The 490K was used on 64 cars with Daytona Dark blue seats, with no restrictions. If two letters were used, like ''KC'' then the car would have power windows, but could not have auto trans, air conditioning and a radio. ''KD'' was used for power windows and automatic.

Railroadman

Today saw some encouraging progress - followed by a potential "Aw ****!"

I bought some fogging oil and gave each cylinder a good dose. I let that sit while I checked the one bad tail light, and the one bum courtesy light. Both of those were light bulb problems, not a wiring issue.

I tested that battery, and it's still at 12.18 volts. So I finally took the next step - gave the key a little twist - and it spun freely (plugs are still out, of course.) I only did it for about a second, but there seem to be no issues as far as being set up.

Did a few other things not worth mentioning. Then, just before I had to leave, got the oil drain pan to drain the oil. It's one of those enclosed plastic ans where the oil goes down inside, and you can unscrew a cap and pour it out into whatever.

I very gently took the drain plug out - and saw what I did NOT want to see - WATER!!! Not just a little. It's hard to estimate how much, but too much for comfort. Less than a quart - I hope - maybe 16 ounces, I can't say. It SEEMED like 10 gallons while I was waiting for oil to show!

So here's my plan for next time out there:

1. I will take a clear plastic 2 liter pop bottle, and try to get a measurement of how much there was.

2. Determine whether it is WATER or COOLANT. The car does have good anti-freeze in it so if should be fairly green if it's bad luck. It was dark under there and while I know it was not oil, I can't say which it was. I am hoping it was just condensation from 10 or 15 years of hot summers and cold winters.

3. Use my probe viewer to see if there are signs of rust in there. Or I may just drop the pan and get a good look.

I am cautiously optimistic, because there was NOT a whole cooling system's worth in there, but that does not mean I'm out of the woods. I had not planned on going out there tomorrow but might have to, just so I can sleep at night!

As always I welcome your advice, which I may or may not follow!

Westlotorn

Bummer, Rust is an abrasive so if it gets mixed in with your engine oil it can do damage quickly in a running engine.

I will share a tip I learned recently from my cousin. He says you can fill your cylinders and oil pan with Coca Cola and let it sit for two weeks. He says the Acid in the Cola will eat away the rust. He says it can free up rusted piston rings no problem. I wish I knew this a year ago I would have used it in my rusted and stuck L79 327, 35 years of sitting.

The other thing used for rust is a 50/50 mix of ATF and Acetone. This mix I have tested and it works very well. It has tested better on rust than PB blaster or Kroil for breaking loose rusted bolts.

pop23235

I posted my procedure in another post, which would have changed the oil prior to spinning the engine, but that bell has been rung. Take a feeler gage and measure the gap between head and block. If about 0.017”, steel shim gasket can corrode. Do a pressure test on the cooling system. If it doesn’t pass, fill the cooling system, pressurize and wait to see if liquid shows in any cyl or. more water in the oil pan. Last engine I tore down had enough rust it needed sleeved with less than 0.003” wear. Antifreeze can corrode After a few years! Hope you get lucky.

Railroadman

Thanks! I'm hoping it was mostly in the sump, and not deep enough to affect crank counterweights etc.

I will say that the other day I pulled the dipstick and it showed about a quart overfull. I was hoping at that time that it was just a case of putting too much oil in it years ago, but obviously that was not the case. So it's possible there was a quart of water in there.

I'm leaning more and more toward pulling the pan off. A new set of pan gaskets is a lot cheaper than just crossing my fingers and hoping.

3JsVette

Hopefully the engine survived it's long sleep. If not it may be time to consider making this car the driver you want it to be. You can make it look correct but put that used disc brake frame you were considering, build a period correct looking engine, and other upgrades that only a Corvette savvy person would know are not stock. See what you find when you pull the pan. Good luck.

Railroadman

Fingers crossed, 3js. Half the fun is the obstacles and surprises.

(Got a son in Brooklyn. Does not seem like Vette cruising territory to me but NYC has its own attractions so it balances out I guess.)

Railroadman

Well, some days you're the dog. Today I'm the hydrant.

Poured a bit of straight oil off the top of the catch pan, then put the rest into a couple orange juice bottles. No question about it:






It did NOT drain the entire cooling system so I'm hopeful it's a head gasket or intake gasket. Any suggestions on pinning it down? I'm thinking pull the intake, see what it looks like, then go from there. Or should I try some sort of pressure test before taking anything apart?

6T7L71CPE

Since your cranked the engine I'd be concerned that it is now in the oil passages. I'd pull the oil filter to see if it got past it and drop the pan to see if it's corroded.

Railroadman

You are correct. I only did two half-second cranks, but that's enough to slurp up a little. I forgot my bag of extra tools when I went out there today, would have had to drop the pan (which I am going to do regardless) the old fashioned way with a ratchet. I have a small air ratchet which will make it much easier.

The oil filter I plumb forgot about this afternoon. It's coming off next trip out there, I have a spin-on adapter on order which should arrive tomorrow. I'll save the canister in case somebody wants it in the future but for my purposes a spin-on is the way to go.

Bluestripe67

The jug content doesn't look good. Lets hope for the best later on. Dennis

pop23235

Post 49

Post 177
https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...post1597053836

Railroadman

How did I miss that one?

Thanks!

Railroadman

Dropped the oil filter canister and the oil pan today. Very little coolant in the filter. Tomorrow will hopefully remove the intake manifold and see what there is to see there.

Westlotorn

This is only one picture but I don't see a rusted crankshaft. Your screen is beautiful.
With a pan on I have filled a crankcase with diesel fuel and cranked the engine over. I let it start and fun a minute or two. Diesel is a lubricant but a better solvent.
The Diesel does a good job cleaning.
ATF would do the same thing.
Then drain and fill.
Change the oil again at very low miles and you should be good after that assuming this beast decides to run for you.