Hi Folks,
This is my 1st post. I have finally bought my 1st Vette. It is a 71 LT-1 coupe. It has under 35,000 original miles .It has been off the road since 1991. I have it running and I have driven it a little since I bought it in October. I have some questions that I can't seem to be able to find answers to.
The car has the breakerless ignition. The amplifier box was just hanging out in the engine compartment. I made a bracket to support it to the radiator support. I DID NOT drill any holes in the support to mount it. I can not find any good pictures to show how it should be mounted as per the factory. I would like to install it correctly and I am looking for some info on doing it correctly.
The second thing is the radiator. It has a Harrison Aluminum radiator.I've been told that this is not correct on an LT-1 unless it had the ZR-1 package. The car was missing the shroud when I bought it. I was able to buy a metal shroud which I was told is correct for an aluminum radiator. Were aluminum radiators an option ?
The car presently has incorrect aftermarket wheels , headers and side pipes , and the wrong tail lights. All of this stuff will be removed and the car turned back to stock. I do enjoy the sound of the side pipes however and that will be the last thing that I do to return it to stock.
I also need to get the spark plug wire shielding as well . That was all removed when the headers were installed.The headers and side pipes are chrome and are an integrated set up. They were nicely made. I'm hoping they will be worth something to someone and I can put the money towards other parts on the car. Thanks for reading this and for any and all advice you can give me. Joe Flannery in Dumont, N.J.

 

Welcome to the forum. Can you please post up some pictures of your first Vette?

http://photos.imageevent.com/durango...g%20Images.pdf

 

On the TI system. Is it complete? The amplifier has three bolts that hold it to the driver's side wheel well--you should see the three holes. Does it work? Is the amplifier hooked up to the TI harness? Pictures would help. Is your coil a 272 and do you have a TI distributor and wiring harness. I just had my amplifier box rebuilt with a new computer board by Dave Feidler--approx. $550. My TI system was not hooked up so I had to buy the TI harness and coil and am having Dave rebuild the distributor. If yours is hooked up and working can you email me some pictures of where the wires hook up to the main ignition wire coming through the fire wall? Does your car have the CEC solenoid?

 

Welcome to the Forum and best of luck with your '71.

 

I will take some pictures today and post them. The TI box is functional. It has the correct coil. The previous owner and I both worked at a Buick dealer back in the late '80's . He ordered a lot of new parts using his mechanic's discount back then. Some of the things he ordered were the new correct coil and the amplifier box.
He fell onto some hard times . Lost his home and storage and needed money quickly. I always liked Corvettes but never owned one.My brother has owned 2 of them. A 69 convertible and a '73 big block coupe with air and leather. 2 of my friends have owner Corvettes also. I bought this one for the right price and because I knew who owned it. I prefer big blocks, but the little LT-1 does pull very well.
My friends cars were big blocks, 67- 427 roadster and a 69 427-390 coupe. It is about time I finally bought a Vette. I've owned 3 big block Chevelles and now they go for more than Vettes in some cases. I think Vettes are now under priced compared to Camaros and Chevelles.I've also owned Dodge, AMC,Ford and even supercharged Studebakers. This is the first time I ever bought a car and people wished me congratulations. There are cars ... and then there are Corvettes !

 

Welcome Joe. I'm sure there are plenty of people who would be interested in your side pipes once you remove them. A functioning TI system is a big plus as they can be problems. Once you get everything worked out and back to stock get out and drive it. You wil find it is tough to only put 50 miles on it. They are here to enjoy. Pictures are always a plus here.

An easy check to see if it is a ZR1 is the brake calipers. If it has the dual pin calipers it might be a ZR1. Also radio delete was a ZR1 mandatory.

 

Joe,
Hi. Sounds like you have an interesting car. You might want to look into why your car has the aluminium radiator. They're pretty pricey, so usually didn't end up on cars by accident. Could it have been a ZR-1?
Have you considered getting the 'Assembly Instruction Manual' and the GM 'Chassis Service Manual' for your car? They are easy to find and have loads of information, pictures and answers. Many of the larger vendors have them.
Regards,
Alan

 

http://s245.photobucket.com/albums/g.../?action=share



I hope this works. My computer locked up and not all of the pictures loaded

 

http://s245.photobucket.com/albums/gg42/joeflan63/



try this one- I have no idea what I am doing wrong

 

Nice ride

 

http://s245.photobucket.com/albums/g...n63/71%20LT-1/


I hope this one does it. I took a lot of engine compartment pics. I never tried one of these photo places until just now.

 

Joe, all you have to do is click the address under the thumbnail that has the [IMG] tags, and paste that directly into the post. When you click it it should copy itself so all you have to do is right click and paste the address.

 

sweeet. good luck. nutsy.

 

Thanks for the comments. I have an assembly instruction manual. It doesn't have a clear picture of the Amplifier location. I know the car was hit at one time. The previous owner did give me some pictures of it when it was in the body shop. It was hit in the Left front corner. It is also missing the rubber inner fender flap that goes around the upper control arm.
It has a radio and a heater,so there was no way it was ever a ZR-1. That would of been cool if it was. Maybe the aluminum radiator was added during the repair process. I bought a metal shroud and have yet to install it as you can see in the pictures.
I would really like to get it back in stock condition in time to run it at the Factory appearing stock drags events. I have run the studebaker that appears in one of the posted pictures in their events. The aluminum expansion tank goes with the aluminum radiator from what I understand. I just installed a new one. The one that came with the car was all corroded and leaking.
I definitely need a shop manual. I will get one soon. Can anyone tell me what is on the radio fuse circuit besides the radio? It blows the fuse immediately ,with the radio in the off position. It has an AM-FM stereo in it. I would like to get it working.
I really want to get rid of the wheels and tires. I don't think they fit the car right. I wish they were Torque Thrust "D's". I think they would look better, if I was to stay with an aftermarket wheel.
The tail lights will be going soon as well. I just can't believe the previous owner just let the original wheels get away when he lost his storage, as well as the spare tire carrier.
The car needs a lot of little stuff, but at least it is driveable in it's present condition.

 

What are the last three letters on the engine block code?
CGZ = LT-1
CGY =ZR-1

ZR-1 had no fan shroud, no ignition shielding because it didn't have a radio, had an overflow tank, aluminium radiator, HD front and rea sway bars; HD pwer breaks, special shocks and springs, and some other things I don't remember--because they are very rare. I have only seen pictures of 1 or 2 on this forum.

 

Joe,

I love the look of that ride! The color and the sidepipes (I usually don't like them) look great! I set of Torque Thrusts would just benn perfect

I am wondering what color to paint my car; as the Ont Orange never really grew on me. I liek that silver! Maybe somday. paint is the last on my list!

carbster

 

radio could have been added. nice ride there, check out the eng code to check for which engine

 

Joe,

Order a copy of 1968 to 1972 Stingray Fact Book by Dobbins. This book has pictures of TI amplifier and its location on a '71 LT-1. It's worth having.

 

That's a beauty. Congrats on your 1st Vette!!!

 

Thanks for the encouraging words on the Vette. It is nice to see that custom or modified cars are so welcome. Some forums for other makes and models don't take kindly to cars that aren't authentic. I don't see that here. Seems the most important thing here is to build your car the way that you want it and drive it !
I checked the engine number. V0825CGZ so it is definitely not a ZR-1 .
I will definitely get some Corvette reference material. My plans for the car is to make it as authentic as possible and race it at the Factory Appearing Street Tire events. With traction, practice and a really good state of tune it should be able to break into the high 13's. The Road and Track road test from '71 has the car in the low 14's at 100 mph flat. That is still respectable performance even in the 21st Century. There are faster cars today, but they will never have the style. Vette styling is timeless.