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LOVE IT! My dream has always been an early 30s Pontiac coupe with a 455 & tri-power! But now, it looks like this Vette may be our last project... our "retirement toy"! Would LOVE to see more pics of your street rods! I`ve ALWAYS been a GM man.... but those Challengers ( old AND new) have really caught my eye!
My youngest son is a serious gearhead too, and loves the old classic cars. My FAVORITE shot of the 31.....
I hesitate to go off topic as each forum has it's own feel. Some are pretty open to all kinds of cars, some are kinda rabid about staying on-topic.
I think you get a lot of leeway in your own build thread.
That said, your C3 cleaned up very nicely! I hope you get to enjoy the driving season before it is tied up with a new paint job. Perhaps you will put it off for a bit once you start having fun driving the car. What will the new (original) color be?
I think you get a lot of leeway in your own build thread.
That said, your C3 cleaned up very nicely! I hope you get to enjoy the driving season before it is tied up with a new paint job. Perhaps you will put it off for a bit once you start having fun driving the car. What will the new (original) color be?
Thanks. In SoCal it's driving season all year long so the wife can drive it whenever she wants. Next repair will be new weatherstrip, but probably wait until after paint for that.
I think you get a lot of leeway in your own build thread.
The guys in the C3 group are pretty laid back... a VERY good group of people. Every once in a while, we wander off a little, but yes, the main focus is our love for the C3 Corvettes. Typically, the OP (original poster) can talk about whatever he wants to in his own thread.
Originally Posted by Its_hers
Thanks. In SoCal it's driving season all year long so the wife can drive it whenever she wants. Next repair will be new weatherstrip, but probably wait until after paint for that.
SoCal weather is like ours in Central Florida... year-round cruising!
So, as to Bikespace`s question..... does she plan to leave it the original Orange?
The guys in the C3 group are pretty laid back... a VERY good group of people. Every once in a while, we wander off a little, but yes, the main focus is our love for the C3 Corvettes. Typically, the OP (original poster) can talk about whatever he wants to in his own thread.
SoCal weather is like ours in Central Florida... year-round cruising!
So, as to Bikespace`s question..... does she plan to leave it the original Orange?
Yup, it stays Ontario Orange. The wife loves orange and it was luck we found this one. For years she said she wanted a "75 or 76 Stingray", but she didn't know the differences between years, she was talking about that time in her life. She had 3 requirements.... A/C, T-tops and no red interior. As far as I was concerned, I always liked the chrome bumpers, hated the rear on the 74 and newer and was intrigued by the '73 transition body. It may not have the value of 68-72's but this is going to be a driver so that wasn't an issue.
This has it's problems, but nothing I can't knock down one at a time. That's where joining the forum comes in. Doing things like replacing weatherstrips, window rollers, etc will make it easier.
Pulled the seats this morning to condition the leather, clean and lube the seat tracks, vacuum the carpet and see what treasures were hidden under them. Only "treasure" was tire gauge, but still amazed at the condition of the interior. All original..... carpet like day one, leather still supple, no cracks. I couldn't restore it and make it nicer than it is now.
Sooooo. the idea today was pull the distributor to convert it to Pertronix and pull the tach driven gear to see why the tach's inop.
Never seen a cast iron dist body before, but pretty sure it's original with the tag on the dist body.
It was looking like I might just be able to replace the driven gear and have a tach again.
Was having an issue getting the old grommet out, so broke down and completely disassembled it. With my luck the distributor shaft/gear is long obsolete, so time to reassemble and move on.
I'll finish it up and time it tomorrow and see how it runs.
So apparently this is a common enough repair that shafts are being reproduced, so ordered a new shaft and driven gear. Still going to reinstall it as-is tonight to get it running again and just pull it out again when everything gets here to rebuild it.
You're probably also going to need a tach cable. Something made that tight enough to eat that gear. Those gears. Maybe try chucking the end of the cable in a drill and see how the tach acts.
Last edited by derekderek; Sep 25, 2018 at 07:01 PM.
You're probably also going to need a tach cable. Something made that tight enough to eat that gear. Those gears. Maybe try chucking the end of the cable in a drill and see how the tach acts.
Good call, that's what I was thinking of doing.
Parts will be in Tuesday, but reassembled and fired it with the Pertronix today (tach cable disconnected). Runs much smoother than before, so now I can do a proper tune up. Decarb and crankcase flush first.
So after reading everything I could find on tach gear replacement, I'm still not clear on a couple things. I'm replacing the drive gear/shaft as well as the driven gear, but but since I didn't know what to look for when I disassembled the dist I don't know what button (or not) was in it. I have a '73 but have read the nylon buttons were used up to '73 but don't recall if there's a recess FOR a bushing in the housing. I don't much like the idea of a brass button (brass on brass isn't a good idea normally), but seems like my options are limited.
Anything anyone can add to clarify it?
Took it down to AAA yesterday for the title transfer which was the first opportunity to put a few miles on it. It was also the first time it was at operating temperature for an extended period of time. Saw that wisp of steam from the defroster and smelled that sweet smell I know all too well. Yup, going to be time for a heater core, but going to bypass it for the time being as I know I'll want to rebuild the heater/evap housing and check all the controls when it finally comes out. I have other minor issues to dealer with before that happens though.
45 year old car with 34k miles...... not like I couldn't see it coming..... oh well.
