It was nasty! Like really nasty. I can't understand how you neglect a car like this. Who let's a big block corvette just sit in a driveway for decades?? I find that amazing.
And we have bumpers! I was afraid thry were going to be way off but they fit the car pretty good. Looks like they were prepped and fitted to another car previously. Dated 2005. Good enough for my junk
Everything is at a bit of a standstill. Waiting on parts... While I'm waiting, I did manage to get it added to my policy. $84 for the year! I knew I had a set of yellow, 73-86 NY plates around here someplace. Took me a couple days but I found my pile. Ordered a 1974 sticker. Once I get back from morgantown, I'll send out the paperwork to DMV and get that ball rolling. It'll take 6 weeks for a new title. By that time she should be ready for craigslist! Next week I'll shoot the bumpers white...stay tuned!
I finally got the front bumper bolted on. Had to loosen up the front bumper support and adjust everything. I have to say, it fits pretty good for a 20 year old aftermarket glass bumper. Not perfect but I'll take it. I could build up the sides with some duraglass and really get it tight to the nose, but it's not a show car... Rear bumper fits even better. With bumpers on it, it doesn't look as ratty... And while I'm waiting on the carb, I jumped into the oh so gloriously overcomplicated vacuum headlight system. These guys were nuts...the front crossmember is the vacuum storage tank. So wierd. Anyway, I tested everything on a component level. And what do you know....the headlight vacuum relays are leaking like sieves. So I order a pair of them along with the Corvette letters for the rear bumper.....$200 later and they'll be here tomorrow. Maybe the damn headlights will go up and down after this..
This weekend is 4th of July fiberglass extravaganza! Thank God my neighbors will be on thier boat the whole weekend! Lol. I hope it's not going to be too much of a dust storm. Gotta tell Jen to close the windows and turn the AC on
here’s you next one https://www.facebook.com/groups/167...87656731270781/?sale_post_id=6387656731270781
Well, unfortunately the fiberglass work was put on hold. Louie had to reschedule.. But work continues on the vette! I installed the new vacuum headlight relays and the Corvette letters on the rear bumper. Cleaning up more of the interior too. I heard from a couple corvette guys...their response to me was- "you didn't check the birdcage???" So that got me worried. So I took the kick panels out and inspected the body mount/ birdcage area behind it. Not bad for a 50 year old corvette that was sitting in a driveway for 30 of them.ittle bit of rust but not terrible. What say you?
Also- went to the local DMV office and got the car titled in my name and got my sales tax reciept. The tax receipt, vintage plate forms were all sent to DMV in Albany. So things are coming together!
Took out the mid 80s era Rancho shocks. They were all dead- no gas left in them at all. In went a brand new set of AC Delco gas charged shocks and a new set of Moog stabilizer bar end links. One of the bolts was actucuslly bent! This thing should handle like it's on rails!
Finally addressed something I wasn't looking forward to doing- making holes in the rear bumper to mount the lisence plate lights. I made a template and after measuring it a dozen times, I bit the bullet. Came out pretty good for an amateur. I even countersunk the screws! Took out a few more interior pieces and finished dying the interior. Rear bumper is bolted on. It's a car again! Just some more odds and ends....
Few updates on the corvette saga.. I should have the carb back this week from Ken at Everyday Performance. Car is officially mine. Got the registration in the mail and I got the car inspected. Here's what the new nys inspection stickers look like- And we have a new fiberglass guy. Oddly enough he lives like 4 blocks away! He's 80 and still owns the 68 Charger 383 4 speed he bought new. $40/hr plus materials. And I bought an NOS fender section for a whopping $40! It's got the factory lock hole that's pretty much missing on my car. So he's going to section in the missing piece from this fender.
The Corvette leaks water! This is my shocked face---> I would of been surprised if it didn't leak! It seems to be coming from under the drivers side dash. First thing I did was seal up the gap in between the t top and the upper windshield trim. There used to be sealer in there. Now it was just a huge gap. So I filled it with some 3M strip caulk thanks to @Trophyblue442 . I used a plastic trim tool to push the butyl into the gap and cleaned off the excess with wd40. But according to the last rain, it didn't help....sigh Attempt #2- I noticed all the formerly white seam sealer and that thick heavy black sealer was dried out on the cowl. Most of the white sealer was just flaking off. So I cleaned up the cowl area and applied some thick roofing tar. I tried to duplicate the sloppy factory application. Any boy were they sloppy! Came out pretty good. It's almost like I worked at Fisher #1 in the 70s lol Hopefully it helps but it certainly didn't hurt.
Today was carburetor day. Ken did a fabulous job rebuilding and recoloring the carb. Nicest part of the csr by far. You know a carb was done right when you hardly have to adjust it. Well worth the wait. Drove it all over the neighborhood today. The sidepipes sound awesome. Downshifting into second, they backfire a little. Sounds like an old trans am race car. It's gonna be tough to sell it! Pics tomorrow. Ran out of daylight and nive weather