I rebuilt the speedo today.

This was the culprit for the odometer not working.



So the reassembly is fairly straight forward.

Fist fitted new lower drive shaft and pressed the end cap in place







Now the drive mechanism







Now fit the trip gauge adjust and ensure it is centered in the hole properly before tightening.



Now the tumblers with end clips. Ensure you align the locking pigtails onto the lower rails so all dials don't rotate.













Testing with a drill driving a spare cable.



Along the way I put a few drops of Labelle 108 oil on the cogs.

Also this page had good Information that helped.

https://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/...ebuild.680356/

 

I am considering getting a couple of new faces for the gauges as the tacho redline area is fairly faded. Hopefully I won't have to pull it apart again so now is the time.

 

I finished off the drivers dash today with vinyl paint.

 

That looks amazing Craig ! Nice work.

 

Craig, lovely work and attention to detail. Which paint did you use? I know I asked you before but honestly I forgot.

 

Thanks guys, they are not perfect but probably will fit better than a new reproduction part.

I used this.



Vinyl paint as far as I can tell is just Satin paint with flex agents etc added.

 

Was not 100% happy with the vinyl paint match so went to the local auto paint store and got a few tints and started playing. (Blue-Green, Blue-Red, Black)

End result is much closer. Also added a little more sheen to better match older vinyl parts.

 

Put the gas pedal assembly in and started tidying up the wiring.

Then plugged in the column so i could test it all.

 

Craig, now I know why you said the brake booster nuts where simple with extensions and a wrapped UJ. You don't have a clutch pedal and dash in the way

 

Yes With the dash out it is all way easier Brad 😀. And a third pedal would also complicate things .\

Take 2: I actually took out the booster with the dash disconnected but not out. However I got carried away as usual and decided to refurbish all the supports, gauges etc so it all came out.

Putting the new booster back was a bit harder as it had larger metric threaded bolts that made clearance even worse.

 

Dan at Vansteel has been very helpful.

He supplied me some shorter replacement springs for me rear coilers and helper springs.

I was fairly happy with the height but wanted to avoid the spring not being captive on full suspension drop so we went with a set of helper springs and couplers together with new 8" Hypercoils.







When car is loaded helper spring is fully compressed.

 

I got some time today to start putting the speedo and tach back together and into the cluster.



First fit new glass, gaskets and bezels to dash pad.



Fit new faceplate to speedo mechanism.



Prepare the green plastic part that tunnels the blinker and headlight lights with new rubber pads.



Fit the rubber gasket at rear of speedo



Then the clip to hold the cables.



Lower the bucket over the speedo parts, there are aligning pins to help, and then add the two bolts that hold it all in place from the rear.





Test it all with a drill in reverse.

 

Drivers side dash is back together.









Now i need to trial fit it and do any adjusting.

Also considering Warm White LED's.

I will order some but not sure if i can use them for the brake, headlight etc warning and indicator lights or will they wash out too much.

 

Beautiful work. The color mis-match on your driver-side dash was because the first stuff you used was for a Bright Blue interior ('68-69). The color you needed was for Medium Blue (same as I have in mine). I was all set to tell you how impressed I was with the color match for Bright Blue....when you posted that the color wasn't correct. Your Medium Blue color appears to be 'spot-on'.

P.S. The Corvette Black Book does not show Bright Blue interior for '68. But I had one, and know better. It also labels the '71 blue interior as Dark Blue. It was not; it was Medium Blue. The Corvette Black Book is a very good document...but it's not completely correct.

 

Interesting info re “blues”. I thought Royal Blue was a name used as well.

The strange thing is that the paint i had was originally matched to the new panels i purchased for the interior B pillars. However when sprayed out a couple of years later it had lightened.
It had also been thinned a fair bit over that period when i used it so possibly the early ones had more pigment.
Either way it now matches both the old panels sprayed before and the dash so i am happy.

 

So I have been fairly "Corvette Slack" recently, the entire Covid-19 situation caused the cancellation of my Sons wedding in New Zealand and has for everyone caused life to change.
I have found I could not get motivated to work on the Vette so I decided to redo one of the bedrooms at home.

Now I have that done I am back and started to get the dash mounted back in the car.
Working on the dash cluster and all the wires, cables etc is certainly a pain but I have now had it in and out a lot of times and have it down to a set process. Still a pain but better.

I found it easier to adjust it all by pulling the centre cluster and passenger dash so I could lift the dash pad while fitting and adjusting



While it was out I have changed the cluster lights (not indicators, brake or high beam) to LED bulbs that have a single SMD LED in them. They produce a warm white but stronger than stock.



I will post a picture of bulbs later.

I did find once I had the cluster back in the trip adjuster is hard up against the column support.

After a bit of searching I found this is normal but certainly not ideal. I saw "RiverRacer" mention in a post for 2011 that he would modify the support when he has the cluster fully out so I did just that







Removed a fair chunk of its ear and now the cable has a much better bend on it and fits more easily.

 

Thanks for the update. I'm about to dive into my rewiring project and general dash repair, so the detailed photos are just what the doctor ordered. Sorry to hear about your son's wedding, we're really into an unprecedented life experience in modern times. We're just praying it gets back to as close to normal as soon as possible. I'm trying to distract myself from it with my long dormant Corvette project.

 

looking good as always, karnt wait to catch up again next year for the National Convention in Canberra.
really annoyed that our nationals, the 40th anniversary downunder, was cancelled, the South Australian club had so much planned.

i have had the water pump off mine since mid march when they were canceled, haven't had the motivation to put it back on.......

 

Hey Craig -
This is the first time I've looked through your incredible post and your admirable process. One note for you: 7 years ago, you posted up some photos of your carb and the way you cleaned it up and re-assembled it. If it's still in that configuration, you have a problem - it is not right. Might be a good idea to fix it when you get a chance.

Here is the photo you posted to show how you have the carb choke pulloff:


First, your carb is not a 1971 carb, or you do not have a 1971 choke system. The 1971 carb and system looks like this:





Your carb is a 1972 - 1974 vintage carb. It uses a spring wrapped around the choke pulloff arm to assist in correct choke operation. It also uses a unique secondary airvalve rod. Your carb is missing the pulloff arm spring and the second (short) pulloff connect rod. It should look like this:









Lars

 

Yes I can relate to your lack of motivation Alan. But I am getting it back.

With regard to the wiring detail BigBlock77 if you look at the AIM the routing of the harness is different between the years.

I am following the 71 model for the main harness that snakes over the gauges but I added an extra factory clip to the top bolts of the steering column support to hold the extra harnesses i have, including for power door locks, radiator fan control etc. each harness is wrapped as per factory but I wanted them held up out of the way not just hanging like factory.

This is not only neater but helps with getting the dash in and out more easily.