The Force Awakens...

DorianL

solid fixture here in the forum
Staff member
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Finally!!!! It’s like I can breathe fresh air again ! I got an early release for Thanksgiving and managed to spend some quality time with the Glass Reinforced Plastic mistress. The sun sets here around 16:50 so there wasn’t much time; tho I did carry on with flashlight.

Some things are good, others less so.

Getting the engine to fire up is a bit of a chore. I think it is a combination of the carb needing a rebuild and the fact that:
a. the pump shot squirts less than 5% of what it should and
b. the choke plate is wired open

Once running, the idle is quite smooth.

So there is no way to prime with a pump shot nor create enough “draw” with the choke plate to get things going.

I have a bead on a used 750cfm, electric choke Edelbrock. I’ll rebuild that and slap it on.

It felt also like there was too much advance on the timing. I decided to check the timing and... amazing: no timing tab. Eyeballing it, it looks like it is around 38 degrees at idle. Again, that is eyeballing it.

The horn wasn’t working; the button doesn’t spring up. I figured I’d start with the horn relay and check that: sure enough, it’s toast.

I yanked off the horn button and, from what I can tell, the contact plunger is missing.

The horns themselves work.

Tomorrow I’ll lift the car and examine the underside. The M20 shifter seems to need adjusting. Getting in and out of reverse is difficult.

Btw, stupid question. There’s no filler cap on radiator?
 
Gentlemen, you have no idea how good it feels to be working on a chevy again.

Lots of projects.
 
obviously the radiator will require a radiator cap to pressurize the radiator , as that permits the coolant to absorb and transmit heated coolant without boiling over,
someone may have just carelessly removed it and lost it or it may have been left off to prevent pressure from causing a coolant leak, some place in the system, knowing that the car was being sold

Sorry, to be clear, to rad cap is on a metal expansion cylinder on the passenger side.

You don’t fill the rad from there, do you ?!?
 
pictures would help here
yes some c3 corvettes have coolant expansion tanks and over flow tanks
not every corvette had expansion tanks but yes many did
BTW that corvette looks to be in much better condition than most c3 corvettes, are at this age,
I think you made a decent investment


http://www.zip-corvette.com/68-82-c...8-72-expansion-tank/68-72-expansion-tank.html


cooltankex2.jpg

cooltankex1.jpg
 
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Yes. That’s what I have but no actual cap on radiator :p I wasn’t expecting that.
 
yes!
just fill it and let it idle a few minutes then refill, if required, it helps a great deal if your t-stat has a couple holes drilled to prevent air being trapped, and obviously this is best done before the engines heated up, because you sure don,t want to chance being scalded in the process.
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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.

72B88A65-EFD6-4282-889F-E5FC38BC83AD.jpeg 4A18E8E4-934B-4AE5-8955-3FC788848532.jpeg 995B1C89-3303-4711-9DD9-8F60ECBAF06F.jpeg 606F3E3A-AD6B-4355-8769-0687BF9056DE.jpeg 77555FF6-A881-4531-91CC-3BB81B099CD8.jpeg 4224BC48-9F7C-4410-B4FC-F5E6414207C0.jpeg
 
the car looks rather nice so far,..... did modifying the carb choke improve the way it starts?
btw, EDELBROCK CARBS like that,are not my first choice,
but I've spend a good deal of time learning and tuning them,
as they are common on dual quad intake set-ups,
and yes they can produce decent power
 
The carb cleaned up much better than I expected. The pump shot plunger's rubber seal had come off. That meant starting was really bad without the benefit of even an operational choke.

So we are in worlds better shape than we started. The choke still needs to be tuned for current cold weather conditions.

That being said the entire carb needs tuning: All jetting and rods, are stock calibration for that model. Someone just slapped it on.

Friday will be its maiden voyage, about 30 miles my buddy's place to prep it and then pass tech...

As there is no timing tab, I will need to start by finding TDC. A good moment to do a compression check...
 
Hi Ira, I somehow missed your purchase post last time I logged on.

Nice pick, glad to see you wrenching again!

If I can be of any help just let me know. I have all the assembly and service manuals, color photos and everything ever published for NCRS pertaining to the chrome bumper years.

Rich
 
Hi there, Chrome !!! Good to read you again! I have no doubt you will be an invaluable resource and a cornucopia of insight.

It's good to be twirling wrenches on something beefier than a Ghia.

My goal is to retain a mostly stock configuration... hell, I might even go back to a Q-jet on there.

The carb works much better starting - However, I have figured out that the vacuum piston for the choke pull off isn't working properly. The piston and the bi-metal coil should be opposing pulls. This evening I'll blow out the hole again and check if the carb base gasket is interfering. I might drill out the hole a bit...

Stay... "tuned" ;-)
 
I know there is somewhere a parable out there about a fox who gains access to a chicken coop and instead of raiding as needed, it goes bananas and wipes out the entire flock.

That is how I am feeling now... the urge to do everything at once from replacing the bushings, a 383 swap to rebuilding the dash and super-detailing the interior.

I gotta slooooow doooown and savor this. One step at the time. First the carb needs to be perfectly settled. Then the horn and fog light...

This car is going to be all about attention to detail.

Must - slow - down !
 
Over many years of restoring and flipping the earlier C3 Corvettes I’ve found its best when working alone to do a “Rolling” restoration. Focus on a single system at a time, never tearing apart this car until it’s roadworthy and you have a clear picture of what’s in store should you decide to do a more comprehensive restoration later.

A lot of guys rush to create a disorganized pile of parts and then you have a created a project that instantly drops to near worthless should things change and you want out.

Start with getting the motor in good operational condition, the braking system, the suspension system. Later it’s a toss-up of what’s next, either drivetrain or electricle, then move on another choice between interior and body.

Most will get an itch after attending to the first 3 items and go completely random. If you stayed with the plan and your car is drivable and enjoyable after sorting out the motor, brakes and suspension, you may just want to take a breather, a short break before planing your next steps.
 
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