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I have GOT to get different wheels for my Z. I was cleaning them yesterday and what a total PITA. Especially with the factory dirty pads. Your wheels look very easy to clean.
I just have to make sure whatever I get has the same rigidity as the factory wheels so the corning ability isn't compromised.
Doug
You should have gotten the Z07 package.....what brake dust!
If you are anticipating the purchase of a '56-'57 you will need to shorten the steering column and reduce the size of the steering wheel from 17" to 15"; otherwise, you will not find them entertaining to drive, no matter what your size.
I have a '60, and i'm 6'-2" and a little plump. I'm a pretty big guy and I fit fine with the top down (don't drive it any other way). The previous owner was taller than me and we are of similar size and that helped...he put in a smaller diameter steering wheel and then with the seat all the way back and while a newer cover the padding is worn in just right for me so I sink in enough. If I ever redo the seat covers I will not exactly improve the cushioning. Anyway I have room. My car is a light resto mod so newer engine and a heavy duty auto transmission but everything else '60 so not dealing with the clutch helps my long legs. I love the car more than I thought I would. Fun drive exactly as you enjoyed. I never thought I would fit in a C1 but the smaller wheel really does it.
All C1s are a “vintage ride”. Said in the best way! I do believe though that ‘61 and ‘62 did get a bit more leg room. Most of the car seats will vary slightly depending on how they were restored, if at all. I had problems getting in and out until I found someone who made me a 16 inch steering wheel to replace the 17 and learned the trick of ingress/egress. I sit down butt first and then slide my legs in after. Works pretty well!
Congrats on driving a "fast tractor" as the C1s are often described.....I did 10 year in my '61 with bone stock suspension/steering and finally got over it (I'm still on the 12 step program). After a stint in the C1 cockpit when you drive a C2 immediately afterwards it just feels like a "real car" -- so to speak.
Many 10s of thousands of pleasant miles in the '61 but a new owner has it and has made it his garage queen so I guess the old girl is now "out to pasture"...
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (appearance mods)
C1 of Year Finalist (appearance mods) 2019
I like the analogy of strapping on an open cockpit classic airplane. Every time you climb into a C1 you feel a little like that. I'll have to buy a long white silk scarf for fun!
I drove mine 10 hours a day coming home from Los Angeles with no problems....At 6ft and 250lbs I fit perfectly in my 62, but I do have a 15in. steering wheel now, and prefer top down to prevent noggin bumps.
Ahhh. Glad that you got to experience the thrill of driving a C1. I really enjoy driving the '60. Longest ride that I have done to date since I picked it up in June 2016 was a 80 mile roundtrip starting on a nice cool Friday AM and ending when it started to get hot here in RVA. I'm 6'2 200# and fit without too much of an issue.
The looks and thumbs up that are received make it all worth it - plus it is such a blast.
Our '60 has been in our family since '62 and was my Dad's daily in Pittsburgh for about 7 years - he took his Mom to visit her sister in Detroit in the mid-60s. Heh, it was just a car back then, right?
Why a cobra kit car now that you know just how much fun the C1's are (and the reaction to them)?
For one, I'm a tinkerer, I will do something or change something to the car and it will not help it's value, it will be done for me to enjoy it. So I would probably put an LS in it, because I know my way around them the best and I would probably go SRIII chassis since they are close to me in Chicago and have seen their stuff up close. At that point though, I'm looking at a high cost of entry and more $ to tinker.
With the cobra, I can start out with a lower cost to entry and not worry about the tinkering.
If the entry point on a c1 is there, than it is a no brainer decision...
If you are anticipating the purchase of a '56-'57 you will need to shorten the steering column and reduce the size of the steering wheel from 17" to 15"; otherwise, you will not find them entertaining to drive, no matter what your size.
I agree. This is my customer's '56, and I feel like I'm holding the wheel of a riverboat.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (track prepared))
2019 C1 of Year Finalist (track prepared)
I have to disagree, but no Corvette has ever appealed to everyone.
My '57 is the most entertaining Corvette I've ever owned. Out of 60 cars. I'm 6'2" (used to be 6'3"), 190. No problem with the fit. 17" wheel. Standard brakes. No problems.
It's a cantankerous, loud, snarling old beast that was the fastest car around in it's day, and the '56 and the '57 are the cars that that saved the Corvette.
Have most C1 owners here updated to front disc brakes? My car was done by the prior owner.
I upgraded to self adjusters first, very simple install. I always seemed to get a little pull to the right when stopping and decided to install front discs. The discs solved the pull, but as far as better braking, there is little or no improvement, with normal driving. I could easily lock up all 4 with drums, so the discs haven't improved on that.
Have most C1 owners here updated to front disc brakes? My car was done by the prior owner.
Not me, and not planning to. The stock drums work just fine on my '61. Of course, I've been driving drum brake cars for the past 40+ years, so I am used to them.....
I'm 6'4" and weigh 299.998# in a helium suit. My first Corvette was a 1960 that was my daily drive to college, work, everywhere, that I bought at the age of 18 in 1974. Since then we've owned a 1954, 1957, 1958, the 1960, 1961 and a 1962. In every one of them my head hit the soft or hard top, my knees were buried into the steering wheel and door panel, and after 45 minutes my cheeks would go numb. But I loved them.
Last summer I still had the 1954, 1957 and 1962 but no more. After 43 years of C1 ownership I finally went over to the other side. I sold them all and sat in a 1967. Now it's in my garage. Head room, factory air, no more steering wheel marks on my shirts. Love it.
This is me in front of my '62 a couple years ago, and the video is a short ride I took after the powerglide was rebuilt in the '54. Selling the '54 was painful because it's the only car I ever fully restored back to original. In both case, the people who bought them from me were no taller than 5'6". Both of them asked, considering my height, how in the world I could ever drive a C1.
06-18-2018, 10:41 PM
