I hope it is not that bad I am getting ready to take the body off of my 81

I put new rocker channels in and a complete new floor allready to make sure it is well supported to take it off. I also invested in the lift strap so it is pulled off somewhat straight. I will be digging into this in the early fall just trying to get the hunnie do list down a bit before I dive in.

Nice job on your car by the way thanks for the informative thread I really enjoyed following along.

Thanks
Graham

 

Hey 81,

I didn't see your reply here. Thanks for the compliments!

On the body off part - I was just razzing Rogman because he's in the middle - well, towards the end of a frame off build on his '73. You should check out his build. Beautiful work.

Our project is just sitting for the summer except for a few very short drives to the gas station etc. Needs tires before I'm willing to drive it much. Plans are to continue on with it after the heat breaks. Maybe towards the end of September.

Adam

 

Now that we're getting closer to cool weather, the project has been put on hold as I try to get my design business rolling. First things first as the saying goes. It's not going away, just need to keep the priorities straight

There are some small projects that will continue to be worked on - elbow grease stuff. The paint work, tires and more expensive items will come later. I'll post up pics once I get back into it.

Adam

 

makes me wish I had a garage of my own!!!

 

Making a step forward on the project. I ordered the tires from Discount. Ended up going with the Cooper Cobra GT Radials. 275/60/15 on the rear and 245/60/15 on the front. Will be mounted up next Thursday.

Pretty exciting! I'll actually be able to road test the car beyond a few blocks and get the speed up over 40

Adam

 

Looking forward to a full report.

 

Progress is progress!!! Looking forward to the pics of some new rubber!!!

Rogman

 

Will do guys It will be piece of mind for sure. The tires that came on the car are dated 2002. Accident waiting to happen IMO. Will be a SLOW drive to Discount Tire

Adam

 

Spent a little time on the project this weekend. There were a few things that were bothering me and felt like it was time to take care of them before I drive it over for tires this week.

Removed/replaced the oil pressure switch - gauge was not working (again) and I narrowed it down to the new switch I had from O'Reilly being defective. BTW - this was #3 from them so I didn't go back there for the replacement First one they gave me was for a dash light not a gauge. Second one crapped out after about 10 minutes. Third one lasted almost 5 miles worth of driving time. FYI on this - the local Chevy dealership was $4 cheaper then Auto Zone. That surprised me. Oil pressure shows aprx 60 - 65 cold and 35 - 40 hot. I'm good with that.

Rerouted fuel lines to the pump. I just felt like they were too close to the passenger side upper control arm (rubbing slightly). Piece of mind thing. I also found a better place to put the ground wire on the starter wiring harness. It was not run correctly and ended up using a hole in the back of the passenger side head for my ground connection.

I noticed last week that my volts (alt) gauge was showing a higher reading. Up around the 14 (pushing 15) area of the sweep. Then while starting it to test the oil pressure gauge, I turned the key - nothing. Everything was dead.

Started with the obvious - battery. Moved the negative cable a little and all my interior lights came back on. The connections were snug, but not tight. Cleaned up the connections, tightened everything up and had power back. This also made my alt gauge drop back to the 13 volt area while running.

Little stuff, but I feel better about the trip later this week.

Adam

 

Mounted up the new tires today. I'm happy with them so far. I like the look of the tread, sidewall and lettering. When I did a couple miles of freeway driving and they drove smoothly and didn't seem to be terribly noisy. 275/60/15 on the back and 245/60/15 on the front. Going from a 255/60 down to the 245/60 fronts also solved my rubbing issue.

As I was driving to Discount Tire this morning, I realized my jaw was sore. I dawned on me I was clenching my teeth because I was so nervous about the old tires giving out on me Glad that feeling is gone!

Car ran great even on the freeway, but the temp did climb from 200 to about 220 at 2500rpm (aprx. 65 mph). It held that temp and although that's not terribly hot, it is a little warmer than I would like. I'll pull the plugs this weekend and take a look at my mixture etc. I know my timing needs some work yet (I'm running about 42 total with vacuum advance at 2,200. Coming in a little quick and I'd rather have it at 38 total or so.

A big step forward for us!






Thanks for looking!
Adam

 

The car looks great... Guess I missed the update when you put the lighter primer on it...

Rogman

 

Good deal! New baloney's all around, gauges reading good. How far away are you from making it a regular driver?

 

Hey Rogman! Thanks - it's the same primer. Guessing it's just a difference in the lighting.

Hey F22, Yep, it's a good feeling to have new tires on it. As of today, it's really ready to start driving more often. Paint work still needs to happen obviously, but it's not horrible looking like it was so I'm good with it for now. We'll be saving up for the paint, seat covers and foam etc. The only other "safety" issue I have is to get the headlights working correctly - they won't open with the switch yet. They do light up correctly. I've tracked that down to the actuators. Again, saving up for that project.

We purchased this car almost exactly 1 year ago - 11/8/11. I think we brought it along pretty quickly.

Thanks again guys,
Adam

 

Well, now that we have new rubber I finally was able to really get on this thing hard. There is a road by our house that is 1/2 mile long with only two business driveways entering it (no cross streets etc) so I waited until those businesses were closed the did a rolling start (about 10 mph) run. Through 1st, 2nd (got a nice chirp out of it), 3rd and up to about 3,500 in 4th then backed off. Felt fantastic!

Certainly no race car, but no dog either! Man, that felt good Been waiting months to really push this thing hard and see what it would do.

Adam

 

Bet that felt GREAT!!! Congrats...

Rogman

 

Glad to hear, now get out and give that girl some exercise.....no excuse. Remember, a lot of us are now living vicarously through you lads down south.

 

Thanks Rogman! It really did feel good - grinning from ear to ear when I pulled in the driveway.

Will do Brian. Sue and I are planning to go for a drive tomorrow. Looking forward to it. I'm going to drive down to big parking lot not far from us and let her drive it a bit. She can drive a stick and want to try it out away from traffic. Gotta love a wife who loves old cars and wants to learn about them! She often comes out to the garage when I start it up just to hear it

Thanks again guys!
Adam

 

awesome Adam! The beginning is SO close.....I say "beginning" because it will be the beginning of your life with your new 77 Corvette.

 

Well, we had our first "official" cruise together in the '77 this afternoon. Was fantastic. Went out around town - little over an hour I guess and we really enjoyed it. Car ran great - no issue to speak of, so it was a success!

Looking forward to many, many more.

Adam

 

The new headlight actuator valve (going with a single unit) and actuator seal kits showed up, so I've started working on that. Hoping to get the headlights opening with the switch. Hardest part of this job is getting those actuators out. Pretty darn tight in there lol

Adam