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I was a bit over ambitious today. My plan was to get everything back together except for the headlights and wipers so I could take it in around the corner to get the geometry done.
Well... good news and bad news.
The bad news is I had to cancel the appointment, It wasn’t ready yet.
The good news ? The corvette moved under its own power for the first time since October of 2019 !!! Grantedonly a few feet, but this is a milestone.
It fired right up immediately and ran very smoothly. The small exhaust tick is gone. I hate those pesky ticks.
I scooted a few feet forwards and backwards the new clutch made a huge difference. Whereas it used to be tough to feel and challenging to get moving... here it is easy to get the car moving. The clutch was the issue.
The big (unexpected) time consumer was bleeding the brakes. That took forever. There still is a problem there and that will be for a new post shortly.
Other things that ate time? Getting the radiator and fan to fit. Having to remove the Z-bar to install the header. Searching for the tool I had in my hand not five friggin seconds ago
Yesterday evening I put the hood on the car (another milestone) and bled the remaining bubbles out of the front calipers. There was a small pocket left. There still seems to be an issue with brake travel, see here. I probably will not get that sorted by Friday 1600, when I bring the car in for an alignment. Just to be sure, I think I will bleed the rear brakes today. I have a feeling this pedal still could be firmer even if the travel is not where I want it.
When I removed the engine and trans, some of the oil spilled out, so I had to top the Muncie off. Of course right when I was filling the trans, the sky opened up on me, soaking me thoroughly from the belt down + back.
I took the car out for a super short drive; a few hundred yards... maybe ? All seems to be working well. Once again, this is a nice milestone.
Oh... it was a bit uncomfortable as there are no seats in the car yet. My back was against a jug of coolant and my butt was on the floor.
i dind using the one man shiw technique the easiest with the large bittle and the nylon clear tubing inthe cap below the liquid level trick to be the easiest. never fails.
i dind using the one man shiw technique the easiest with the large bittle and the nylon clear tubing inthe cap below the liquid level trick to be the easiest. never fails.
Soooo, I went to have the geometry done and it took an hour-and-a-half and he did a 1/4 @$$ job.
Looking at the rear I noticed that the right side was higher than the left.
Upon closer inspection of the left side... I dunno if you can see it but there seems to be a broken leaf on the spring. It goes through to the other side.
The front of the car, with the performance coils, is somewhat higher than the rear so the rear will have to come down. I was planning on a new rear spring the winter anyway.
I think the guy didn’t bother doing a full job because I told him that I was going to lower the rear soon so I’d have to return anyway.
For the moment, I wanted the car to be safe ...or rather, not so wildly out of spec due to the complete front end rebuild that I would wrap the car around a tree.
I suppose he figured doing much more was a waste of time. The good news: $37.
Anyway I may have to find another place. I’ll first have to replace the rear spring and the rods. Hmmm... Maybe I’ll replace the rear bushings while I’m at it. For the moment it’s high time to enjoy the car and drive it some before the season is over.
Lessons learned so far: the nose is longer than you think
Aw crap. Minimal... but really a silly mistake.
I also learned that if you have your headlight assemblies removed... it’s not going to cool very well
Because of that, a clutch adjustment issue and a fan shroud that was contacting the sway bar... I could not really check out the car’s performance with the newly rebuilt front end, new clutch, new engine mounts, etc.
The short drive did tell me that the Black Magic fan seems to work reasonably well. It brings temp down quick when stationary. The vibration at 60 mph (it’s hard to tell with the short test drive) seems like it’s gone With the new clutch is AWESOME !!!! Much easier to get the car moving and the powerplant feels much more torquey. The dynamat is great too ! The car feels more solid and put together. The new shocks and bushings: provisionally, great ! But I can feel the rear is still squidgy. The new shocks handle terrain imperfections really well. The Borgeson steering box ? Worth every penny ! Muuuuch easier to drive. Faster. More precise.
Stay tuned. More testing tomorrow once I get rid of the shroud interference and get the headlights in.
Without a doubt the vibration at 60 MPH is gone. It may have been a combination of worn motor mounts and a very, very worn clutch.
The clutch grabs very nicely but the pedal still needs some adjustment. On the other hand, I found out why the pedal has so much play in it.
The pedal stop is not only missing but the bracket was completely bent away. An easy fix.
The brakes still need work.
The front suspension seems fine, but the rear threatens to brake loose. Sitting high, a new leaf spring will be required. New bushings. But also, I think, a rear sway bar. But that will be for the winter brake.
Do you have a road track over there to run around and put the car through its paces?
That is something I would love to do. There are a few tracks here like Chimay and Spa-Francorchamps. I can imagine they have run-what-you-brung days. Though I would be more interested in a road-course.
On the other hand... the rear of this car is a little squirrely. The shocks are new, so it cannot be that. That leaves:
The rear ride height is too high; clearly the half-shafts are not parallel to the ground.
I am very sure one of the leafs on the rear spring is broken.
The spring bolt rubber cushions are in poor shape
The control arm bushings are probably toast
The strut rod bushings are probably disintegrating
The control arm shims are flopping around - not sure if that is normal.
The front end being entirely rebuilt with HD coils, I suspect the rear could benefit from the addition a small anti-sway bar.
In short, the front end has been completely rebuilt. The rear is next before, before I take this to the track.
One last thing I need to do this winter break is rebuild the brakes.
Once that is done - the rest will mostly be detail work and deciding what to do with the engine. The engine is fairly nondescript, but surprisingly fun to drive. I was originally planning on a 383... but now, with the Mrs. driving... I am not so sure.
Last edited by DorianC3; Sep 13, 2019 at 03:04 AM.
This weekend I am going on a rally/tour with a bunch of other vintage cars... I think about 66. We registered very late so we will be the 67th to leave
There will be one other C3 corvette in the mix, a 1981; and a C4 from 1984. The weather should be perfect. Other cars will include: VW Bug, MG Midget, Autobianchi A112, Renault Alpine, Jaguar XJ, Volvo Amazon, Opel Manta, VW Golf, Alfa Giulia Super, BMW 2002, Peugeot 106, Ford Escort, BMW Z3, and a couple of Porsche 911s.
...and they are aaaaaall dead meat
I took the day off tomorrow because there is a lot of prep work left I am not sure that I will have enough time to do it all.
So far the list includes:
install horns
install rocker panel thingy
install door panels and new door mechanisms
wiper door + wiper
tighten steering column set screw
replace brake clevis pin
bleed brakes one last time + master cylinder on an incline
tighten header bolts
drill Z-bar
install trans dust cover
dye seats
clean tape stains off
move license plate down
check timing
right bumper support seal
check air flow to radiator
realign the alternator belt
Some issues include that, even with the new Griffin aluminum, radiator the corvette seems to be running a bit hot.
It could be a timing issue. Maybe some air trapped in the coolant circuit. I am also guessing that with the electric fan conversion, there is no mechanical fan constantly blowing. This could lead to coming faster up in temp. I think I have a 160 T-stat in there. I have a 180 or a 195 somewhere... I should replace it... if and when I find it back.
Hmmm, I need to check if the lower hose may be collapsing... I just thought of that.
at idle id expect it to get up to 108/109c and then the fans kick in and knock it down to 105.
driving forward it should stay 95-100 ish.
u have digital readout?
Analog - and that is precisely what I am getting.
But moving forward needs to be quite fast... I'd have to verify, but I seem to recall around 60-70 kph or the fans like to come on.
EDIT - there is at least a bumper seal missing and no top of radiator support seal... possibly another seal somewhere that I am missing. The Black Magic fan and shroud seem well sealed and seem to do quite a reasonable job.
Last edited by DorianC3; Sep 18, 2019 at 10:42 AM.
as long as you have a sealed hose too and from the overflow tank...so coolant can get sucked back in upon cooldown. ive seen poor connections at the rad overflow nipple and also the overflow tank nipple to hose connection allow vac leaks. then the fluid doesnt come back in on cooldown. resulting in airpockets. obviously a person would end up with a full overflow tank so this should be self evident.
maybe you have an undersized waterpump? is it moving enough fluid at low rpms?
Some issues include that, even with the new Griffin aluminum, radiator the corvette seems to be running a bit hot.
It could be a timing issue. Maybe some air trapped in the coolant circuit. I am also guessing that with the electric fan conversion, there is no mechanical fan constantly blowing. This could lead to coming faster up in temp. I think I have a 160 T-stat in there. I have a 180 or a 195 somewhere... I should replace it... if and when I find it back.
Hmmm, I need to check if the lower hose may be collapsing... I just thought of that.
One thing I did, mainly for style, is I removed the front license plate. This should also allow more air to the radiator, although I never had any cooling issues to begin with. I guess the auto transmission radiators are a bit larger.
Maybe you want to try this out; it's only a few bolts
One thing I did, mainly for style, is I removed the front license plate. This should also allow more air to the radiator...
Did that. I am very pleased with the look and clearly much more air flows through. Doesn’t seem wise to put a plate right there blocking probably significant air flow.
Soooo, the rally-tour was this Saturday. Rally-tours are fairly popular here in Belgium. Essentially it is a gathering of mostly vintage vehicles, several with a pedigree in rally racing. They give you a "road-book" with directions and you need to collect points on the way by spotting little specially placed road signs with letter on them that you have to record on a sheet of paper.
As always, I finished prepping the car at around midnight The door panels went back on without too much of a struggle. The brake light switch had to be tweaked. Window wipers needed to be installed - tho' no rain was forecast.
Simon got a bath at 0530
As you may notice, the passenger side seat cushion only has been dyed. This weekend I may do the rest.
Last edited by DorianC3; Sep 23, 2019 at 02:55 AM.
Music from The Right Stuff movie scene "Astronauts Walking" playing in my head we prepared to set out. (Yeah, that dumpster in the back kinda ruins things.)
Aaaannd, Houston... we have a problem. Right out of the gate Simon was coughing and sputtering. Something was clearly wrong. I had done a test drive Thursday (admittedly very short) but it ran extremely smoothly. I pulled up at the first gas station -I needed to fill 'er up anyway- and found that the electric choke was not opening. It was either power or ground. Ground seemed ok... We didn't have time to check the power because we needed to be at the start briefing by 0830. Solution: a strip of duct tape to lock it open. (Never leave home in a classic car without it.)
Performance was not ideal - but it got us there on time...
All the gauges worked properly. The cabin fan was not working. I will need to check that when I get home. The ride over (with the top on) was remarkably cool; the insulation I installed made a huge difference.
After 90 minutes of driving we got to our destination on time - well on time for coffee and croissants. (See Erwin, my co-pilot below.) We were close to the French border. The view was as lovely as the weather.
We got our briefing and one by one each car left with about a minute in between. As we were the last to register for the event, we were the last to depart: number 68. That was fine, that gave me time to look into the choke failure. It was a loose ACC wire on the fuse box. I must have knocked it when messing with the brake pedal switch. Once reattached the ride was super smooth again. So smooth that I am not sure that there will be much to gain with the upcoming fuel injection conversion. On the other hand... gas mileage sucked... even after the choke was fixed.
Your truly:
Last edited by DorianC3; Sep 23, 2019 at 04:57 AM.
Grantedonly a few feet, but this is a milestone.
I hate those pesky ticks.
Whereas it used to be tough to feel and challenging to get moving... here it is easy to get the car moving. The clutch was the issue.
With the new clutch is AWESOME !!!! Much easier to get the car moving and the powerplant feels much more torquey. 
The dynamat is great too ! The car feels more solid and put together. The new shocks and bushings: provisionally, great ! But I can feel the rear is still squidgy. The new shocks handle terrain imperfections really well. The Borgeson steering box ? Worth every penny ! Muuuuch easier to drive. Faster. More precise. 
The door panels went back on without too much of a struggle. The brake light switch had to be tweaked. Window wipers needed to be installed - tho' no rain was forecast.
