The Force Awakens...
 

Hi All,

a newbie here and I’m talking VERY new. I got my 1969 L46 just last week.

Soo, forensics time; at least a start…

One positive piece of news: my wife and kids dig the car and are arguing about who gets to drive it! My wife actually snuck out to sit in the car and see how it feels. The kids reported that she said it was a very nice car and she looks forward to driving it. As you gear-heads know, this is a BIG deal!

As for the health of the car, it looks all right. But until I have done a compression test and driven it around a bit, I won’t really know what to think. And until it is registered and insured, there is no driving this baby around.

Friday I will be attempting to push the corvette through local DOT (Belgian) tech inspection. That means I need to fix the horn and install a fog light.

At first glance, the car looks overall healthy but there are a ton of small projects.
- horn button not springing back and horn relay is dead
- external rearview mirrors rattle
- entire rinse circuit (lights and windshield) has been disconnected
- neither block nor the heads are correct for a 1969 L46. (They would match a 1972 corvette, however.)
- corner bolt missing on intake manifold… or broken off; there is something plugged in there. BTW, the intake is an original, first generation Edelbrock Torker.
- wiring is odd and hacked (no clutch safety) and a push button start on the side of center console. (It’s neatly done.) Perhaps to bypass the clutch safety?
- no bolts holding steering column to firewall?!?!?!?
- wiper switch not working properly
- wipers bump into the wiper door
- no timing tab
- various instrument panel lights are not working or behaving weirdly (the clock works !)
- ventilation levers are stuck
- when I removed the fuel line, some gasoline squirted on the bottom side of the hood and black paint started to wipe off. I wish they wouldn’t have ‘dress painted’ everything; it is distracting.

On the positive side:
- the idle seems healthy and remarkably smooth (not a performance idle)
- what little I can tell about the steering seems fine
- no significant leaks
- what little I can tell about the braking system seems fine
- engine cools quickly once the thermostat opens (and electric fan is on); I have yet to test with viscous clutch fan.
- body panels fit will including the T-top
- body paint seems nice
- despite the bird’s nest of things to do; the car still manages to look overall clean

The carb on there is a 750 CFM mechanical choke Edelbrock Performer. The choke was neatly wired open. As a first job, I found a used carb (another Edelbrock) and swapped over the electric choke. See the pics below.

Don't leave it up on the jack stands like that long. They don't like that. Beautiful car. A clock works? That adds 10K to the value!

Looks real good. Except for all that rubber for a fuel line. But thats another job. Make sure the wire to the choke is thru the IGN switch circuit and not "hot" all the time.
Myself, I would never lay a T-Top down like that. Who knows how many stones are in that grass. You need vendor parts catalogs shipped to Belgium now.

:iagree: 1000%

Putting the jack stands where GM says to put them can cause for problems...especially on how much front end weight is hanging past the fulcrum point of where you have your jack stand...which is at the hinge post.

This has been discussed about many times....and you can do as you see fit with your Corvette. But I can tell you that IF I had the jack stand at the hinge post like you have it...my floor jack would still be under the center of the engine cradle and provide some lift also so the front end would not sag...because it can.

DUB

:iagree: A rubber fuel line from the fuel pump to the carb is just asking for problems in the future....unless oyu keep a constant eye on it....which many people do not.

DUB

Doing this car in Belgium will prove challenging.

Sweet ! Enjoy.

Nice ride. Small block 69's are nicely balanced cars. Paint looks great! Enjoy your beautiful car.

Thanks Gents ! All excellent points:
- jackstand location (I noticed that issue when l lifted the car to lower it: never again!)
- be careful with T-top
- get rid of rubber on fuel line
- the electric choke is tapping off of the wiper circuit; yellow wire. (Got that advice from reading through the threads here)

I’m already glad I joined the forum.

My goal is to keep the vehicle looking as stock as possible, slightly resto-modding. A 383 from Blueprint; an overdrive manual, rack and pinion, possibly A/C... Belgium doesn’t get all that warm, after all. The vehicle is to be driven once or twice a week.

Everything else needs to be restored and as stock as possible.

In that same vein, I could put in steel braided fuel lines, but that would ruin the vintage look.

Do do you have a recommended source for a hardline kit with a filter?

The electric choke is still giving me issues. The vacuum pull off piston doesn’t seem to be doing its job... I need to get a closer look at it. I’ll need to blow out the hole and check for carb base gasket interference.

Dr. Rebuild carries fuel lines. OEM fuel line from filter to carb will not work for you. The OEM carb has a front fuel inlet. Made my own hard line pump to carb, 3/8 tubing, tubing bender and double flaring tool kit. Only took 3 tries to get it right. Don't know what type of fuel you have, most of ours has alcohol and destroys the OEM fuel filter [GF432]. Congrats on the 69. Got one myself, great cars. T

Hi DC3,
Your 69 looks like a nice one!
You must be very pleased! I can understand why your family is enthused too!

While working on your car I think you'll find that having as much information about your 69 to refer to will be a big help.
There are a couple of sources of info you may want to consider buying:
The 69 GM Assembly Instruction Manual.
and
The 69 GM Chassis Service Manual.
They're both readily available and will be a big help to you.

Good Luck with your new/old car!
Regards,
Alan

These are the editions for 71 cars.
You'll want to order the 1969 editions.

https://cimg7.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...b55af9c952.jpg

https://cimg6.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.cor...2e72165022.jpg

Very nice , lots of help here available, don't be shy .

Edelbrock (formerly Carter) has never made mechanical secondary carburetors. Your carburetor may look like a mechanical secondary carburetor from the underside but if you look into the venturi above the bottom butterflies you'll see a pair of counter weighted butterflies. Those are the early style of "air valve secondaries" that later were moved to the top of the venturi as in the present "Thunder" series. They are there to prevent "over throttle" which kills low end power by slowing the venturi velocity too much for good fuel metering. Unless you plan on using your C3 only for off road racing I highly recommend you install an original QuadraJet intake manifold and QuadraJet carburetor to get the benefit of increased low to mid range power and the best fuel mileage.

Welcome to the forum and congratulations on your new C3!

I noticed you said that the engine was from a 72 corvette, can you post the engine stamp pad info?

Beautiful car, welcome to the forum. Keep us up to date with what you are doing and as Alan71 mentioned above the AIM, chassis service manual as a must have.

Congrats on the new 69 and welcome to the forums!

It really looks like the car was well cared for and is in great shape.

Just as a precaution I would suggest checking the usual places for rust. The outside finish is unfortunately not always an indicator of a well cared for frame. There is a sticky on the forums here about the top 10 things to look for in buying a C3. If you haven't already I would suggest reading it and then going through your car as it explains.

Again, gorgeous car! I bet that turns a lot of heads over in Belgium!

Alan71 is the AIM. You will come to appreciate his help and pictures.

As mentioned. There is no hard line kit for this carburator.

And if my memory serves me correctly...they do NOT want a hard line attached to it . I feel that it is because that area of the top plate that the fitting in the carburetor is located is not stout enough to handle a hard line flexing and bouncing around and it not being correctly supported.

NOW...I have installed hard lines on these carbs BUT I do take the time to make sure I support the fuel line so there is no twisting or flexing of the steel line and cause it to fatigue or crack the top plate of the carburetor. On the Corvettes that I have done this to...they have been on the road for about 10+ years and no problems.

I also plumb in a fuel filter where it is basically in from if the right cylinder head. I know that it is not factory...but I have very little choice where I can put it and have t still be serviceable. Some of my customers who have non-factory parts on their Corvette have to live with it. Because the carburetor you have do not have the ability to allow a fuel filter to be installed inside the carburetor like a Quadra-Jet carburetor allows. And putting the fuel filter back by your fuel tank is pointless and does nothing to filter the fuel that is going down the full length of your steel fuel line.

Now to answer some of your questions:


Did you get these to work???



If needed... we can get into these one at a time if you need help on them
Yes it is possible that are trying to bypass the clutch safety switch. Replacing that switch and getting it adjusted can be a pain. Which is more than likely why they did what they did.
Actually there is a special plate that had a stud attached ot it..and then a carriage bolt. So this plate is on the firewall side and the thread of these bolts pass into the cabin and go through the base plate of the steering column and nuts gets attached to them.
Incorrect wiper blades. They are standing away from the windshield too much and causing the arms to hit. That is my guess do to seeing this issue before.
You need to get the correct one ...because there are two types ...depending on the diameter of the harmonic balancer.
Not to hard to figure out instrument light bulbs,,,and really not that bad to get in and replace if needed.

Been there many times...when you are ready to free them up...just ask. Also..if you are going to be taking the dash apart for some of your dash lights. THAT is when you want to that.

In regards to the paint wiping off....it will depend on what you are looking for in order to get that looking good again.

DUB

Thank you for all the kind words and support. MUCH appreciated.

I'll definitely get those manuals ASAP.

I ordered on Monday some horn repair parts from Eckler, but they haven't indicated if it has shipped yet. I'll call this evening. It's too late for tomorrow anyway. Tomorrow is when I try to pass local DOT tech inspection. I'll fab up a temporary solution for the horn as well as mount a fog light (which I will remove right after) Likely I will hand if from the rear bumper ( as single red light). I gotta find someway that doesn't involve drilling a hole into the bumper or the body.

Tomorrow will be the corvette's "maiden voyage". I have never actually driven it more than a few yards. I had ordered at Road Ready report on it and according to the report, it runs fine with good oil pressure, no leaks and no overheating. The last three I can confirm.

We will see tomorrow how many heads this will turn. Interestingly I have NEVER seen another vintage corvette on the road here. My plan is to make this a weekly driver.

It is about a 20-mile drive from my home to my buddy's garage/shop and DOT. I will be putting my Karmann Ghia plates on the car for the day as it will be covered by the insurance for that day and Monday only.

And yes, I would reeeeeeally like to get a proper Q-jet back on there...