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Thanks for the tip on the location. This seems a great spot. I am glad I did not put it in the cabin. It is noisy. If I pay attention, I can even hear it when I am driving.
The Global West bushing are awesome and being able to be re-greased and their design I have installed them in several Corvettes and are worth the money.
And of course, nothing in life is easy. I have yet to disclose the "rest of the story".
The engine fired up immediately after the upgrade and was surprisingly smooth and stable.
Then I thought I heard a slight pop and burble...
I soon found that the nylon oil pressure gauge sender line failed. Presumably I bumped it at some point... possibly when reinstalling the intake manifold, or popping the old one off.
It pretty much dumped all the oil out within a very short period of time.
Glad I caught it. Happier still that I had in my parts bin replacement fittings.
Another item for my to do list: replace the entire oil sender line.
BTW, it is VERY frustrating to be backing out for a test drive with the upgrades dialed in... and this happens. #annoying
The Corvette performed extremely well on the 250 mile "race". It handled quite well (considering the front suspension bushings are shot and very dry rotted). It rained a LOT and after a while, it finally started leaking into the car. Engine performance was fine. It felt a bit rich tho'. I'll check the plugs and, I expect, I'll jet down.
Taken the morning of the race... already very wet.
Some wet competitors. It was a small event and several cars cancelled out due to the bad weather.
My wife fell in love with this car... a Boxster. It might well be our next classic.
The Corvette performed extremely well on the 250 mile "race". It handled quite well (considering the front suspension bushings are shot and very dry rotted). It rained a LOT and after a while, it finally started leaking into the car. Engine performance was fine. It felt a bit rich tho'. I'll check the plugs and, I expect, I'll jet down.
Taken the morning of the race... already very wet.
Some wet competitors. It was a small event and several cars cancelled out due to the bad weather.
My wife fell in love with this car... a Boxster. It might well be our next classic.
Hi, that is a really pretty car and, as you have found out, not many in Europe!
The harmonic balancer - there are 2 diameters back in the 70's for the 350 engine, 6 3/4 and 8 inch. They both do the job just fine and timing pointers for either size are readily available from Summit. etc. If you have a stock timing cover, the pointer is probably tack-welded on, so you will have to remove it, but the new pointer bolts on using the timing cover bolts. The vibration can have any number of things causing it (didn't you mention that you had a pulley that 'wobbled'?), but as long as the balancer is in good shape and is not one for a later 400 motor (externally balanced), it shouldn't be causing any vibration.
Its not a 400, for sure. I used to have one in another car. The damper looks in reasonable shape. I’ll get a closer look tomorrow.
I put the car up on jacks to examine the underside. It looks in reasonable shape. I was searching for potential sources of vibration.
Hmmm. Do you think these motor mounts have seen better days and could be a source ?
Also, I see the trans tunnel insulation is hanging in places and touching an exhaust pipe and probably also touch the joint of the driveshaft. What is best way to get that out of the way ?
Its not a 400, for sure. I used to have one in another car. The damper looks in reasonable shape. I’ll get a closer look tomorrow.
I put the car up on jacks to examine the underside. It looks in reasonable shape. I was searching for potential sources of vibration.
Hmmm. Do you think these motor mounts have seen better days and could be a source ?
Also, I see the trans tunnel insulation is hanging in places and touching an exhaust pipe and probably also touch the joint of the driveshaft. What is best way to get that out of the way ?
Those mounts are pretty much gone. They would allow the motor to move up and down some as you accelerate and decelerate. If they are actually broken (rubber separated from metal part of the mount), that may allow the motor to move enough to touch the hood or fan shroud and you would feel that, Replacing them can't hurt! As for the insulation, the factory put some tabs to help keep it in it's place. Do what you need to do to get it away from the heat/moving pieces - tabs, screws, cut off some of it. It keeps the transmission tunnel a little cooler, but the Corvette is a hot car anyway, so missing a little insulation won't be noticed.
Some more detail on the suspension. Dampers seem to be some (old?) NAPA Sensa Tracs
Say... looking at the perished rubber at the top of the shock mount. Is that a good indication that these are old shock absorbers? Would they need to be replaced? And are they (NAPA/Monroe Sensa Trac) junk quality? The corvette's ride is very "spongy". My plan is to replace all the control arm bushings with polyurethane or del-a-lum and add a fast, new steering box (Borgeson). A set of HD front and rear anti-sway bars can wait. Do these shocks play a significant role in the sponginess, or, are they reasonable and I should not worry about them just now.
Seeing bad rubber on a shock absorber mount is not always an indication that the shock is bad. Usually I will remove the shock and check it. If the shock is blown out and not providing ANY dampening....then the front end will bounce due to the coil springs have no dampening mechanism so calm that effect down when you ride over a bump.
Shock absorbers are made differently and can offer different rates of dampening thus you can buy a set that can make the car ride rough and stiff while others shocks provide a much less dampening rate and the ride can be smoother. Those Monroe shocks are decent shock and may work for you but some people want to use KYB's and Bilsteins
I can say that I have installed the Global West Del-alum bushings in many Corvettes and they are really impressive. They do require a bit more work to get in but it is well worth it in my opinion. Some welding is required. A person cannot compare a rubber bushing to these Del-a-lum bushing in what they can provide to tightening up the suspension. . A lot of it has to deal with what the customer is going to use the car for and how responsive they want the car to feel.
Seeing bad rubber on a shock absorber mount is not always an indication that the shock is bad. Usually I will remove the shock and check it. If the shock is blown out and not providing ANY dampening....then the front end will bounce due to the coil springs have no dampening mechanism so calm that effect down when you ride over a bump.
Shock absorbers are made differently and can offer different rates of dampening thus you can buy a set that can make the car ride rough and stiff while others shocks provide a much less dampening rate and the ride can be smoother. Those Monroe shocks are decent shock and may work for you but some people want to use KYB's and Bilsteins
I can say that I have installed the Global West Del-alum bushings in many Corvettes and they are really impressive. They do require a bit more work to get in but it is well worth it in my opinion. Some welding is required. A person cannot compare a rubber bushing to these Del-a-lum bushing in what they can provide to tightening up the suspension. . A lot of it has to deal with what the customer is going to use the car for and how responsive they want the car to feel.
DUB
Thank you Sir. Agreed, I am ^retty much set on Del-a-lum. This is a corvette after all. Even old, it should be given what one can to perform above average.
Soooo, as the car performed relatively well on the "rally", I decided it is time to taken down for the season. Things that need to be addressed require pulling the engine, such as: replacing the motor mounts (ok, ok you don't have to pull the engine for that), check the clutch (here you do), tidy up the wiring, clean and detail the engine bay, rebuild the suspension with del-a-lum.
I plan to yank the engine on October 26th with a buddy.
Other things that need attention: wiring behind the dash, dash lights, interior panel gaps while I am at it, ignition key cylinder, and emergency brake which barely does anything.
So let's begin...
I started by checking out the rear suspension.
The results of that exploration can be found here and here.
09-20-2018, 04:24 AM
