After my tach-drive disintegration a couple of weeks ago it was time to get back in the groove. My old basement 1967 rebuilt by me years ago distributor was doing yeoman duty in the garage setting but needed a real test. Dwell and timing are set. (I am waiting for parts from ZIP to redo the #1112247.)

Today was a beautiful day here in this part of Canada. The ambient temp was about 86*F and the skies sunny. It is my younger Brother's xxth birthday so time for a nice ride and brunch.

So I and the Wife and he with his companion headed out to a heritage village about 60 miles away. We parked in front of a pub and had "decent" meals (not great) ranging from fish cakes to sandwiches to caesar salads on an outdoor patio. The fresh-squeezed lemonade was excellent (we do not drink and drive).

The 1979 L-82 in the pics was my first Corvette in 1986. I sold it to my Brother in 2003 after a restoration. The 1974 convertible is mine.

The pub (Goose and Gridiron) is circa 1867 and a very nice if dated but clean establishment.

So it was a nice 120-mile drive today. The 1974 purred. It was nice to get that distributor tach-drive mess behind me. Whatever I did with the dwell and timing seems to have worked. The car starts right up, it idles at 550-600 in drive, and 750 or so in Park. Highway temps at 65mph are about 180*F although a few bursts to 75mph brought that up to 200*F. I consider this normal.

Nice day! I hope others had one as well.

 

Sounds like a great day with your brother / others out with the vettes. Great pictures!

 

You make me jealous.

I am still waiting for mine to come back from the painter and then I am ready for the great fall weather.

 

I wish you well! When those leaves come out I take pics!

 

Great day - great pics. Thanks for sharing.

 

Paul, that looked like a great day, the town looked very nice, great old architecture, what town is that?

 

Sarge,
The town is called Merrickville.

http://www.realmerrickville.ca/

 

Great looking cars!!

 

Never notice it before, but is that some type shaded air spoiler above the windshield?

 

Nice pics, cool town, sharp cars, looks like a great day!

 

I didn't get to go for much of a drive but I installed new pinion snubber bushings in my `76 on Sunday. After several hours I gotter done, then went for a quick test drive up and down the road. Success! No more clunking noise. Everything else seems fine so we should be good for a nice Labor Day excursion, weather permitting. I'm really looking forward to it so my fellow Ontario-ians should expect heavy downpours all day Monday.

 

That is called a Windjammer. It is blackened Lexan. It deflects air up and over the passenger cabin. Believe me, with a convertible the air turbulence at 70mph can rip your sunglasses off. It cuts off about 75% of the annoyance.

It mounts with Allen screws and nylon bushings where the convertible (or t-top) pins secure to the windshield frame. In the event of a rain shower it comes off in two minutes.

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb....Z5Z5Z50000050G

 

If Environment Canada says 60% chance of rain go ahead and drive. They have been wrong so many times.

 

Yeah, no argument here. The 5 day forecasts are laughable. A scientist named Ed Lorenz used a little PET computer back in the day to prove that anyone who says they can predict weather more than a few days ahead is just guessing. Way too many variables, not to mention the pesky science of chaos theory.

It's pretty cool that your brother has your `79 Vette. My brother and I have a long history of vehicle swapping. He buys high and sells low to me so I like him a lot.

 

Nice pics.

Check your driver's rear wheel alignment

 

I did and you are correct. The camber is somewhat off. Thanks for the heads-up! I will correct that. Strangely there is no abnormal tire wear.

I checked some pics from last year and yes the camber has changed. Now I have to figure out why.

Or, as the car tracks clean and true I just may leave things alone. These cars are never perfectly setup. But my local GM dealer has a grey-hair alignment person....We shall see. Heck, if I can take my hands off the steering wheel at 75mph and the car tracks true (yesterday) I have to wonder. I have a bad habit of fixing things that are not broken.

 

Hi Paul,
As usual a nice record of you enjoying your car with your friends and loved ones.
I think this is the first time I've seen your 79, although I remember your 67 very well.
Regards,
Alan

 

Alan,

Yes, I drove the 1979 L-82 for many years. I loved it.

In those days you could sit on the cars. Heck, a paint job was $500.00. Love those Western Cylcone II wheels with Eckler's cones and spinners. And the Le Bra of course. No comment on the stripes. But yes, that is the same car as you see above.

The quality is not good. There were no digital cameras in those days.



A little heresy this evening. I drove the 1967 for five years. Some people consider it the creme-de-la-creme of the Corvette breed. I never enjoyed it. Much too small and not a pleasure to drive. Yes, it was a pleasure to show but....I had other uses for the money. Strange? Sometimes dreams do not come true. But at least I gave that dream a try. No regrets.