The Force Awakens...
- Thread starter DorianL
- Start date
Snooping through the car and glad I pulled the engine.
Discovering many things that need attention. I ran some compressed air through the vacuum reservoir and immediately felt some cracks at the top. That will have to come out and be rebuilt.
I discovered that the bolts of the wiper door were loose... tightening them made a world of a difference. Gave it a more solid feel. I was also able to peer down the drainage areas there... They were clear. However, I shined a light from the inside of the vehicle and found a gap between the cage and the fibreglass firewall :
That will need to be sealed somehow. I also managed to get a closer look at the body mounts.
There is a notch in the clutch... whatever this thing is. Worn, it will need to be replaced to get the slop out. Note to self: check other end to see if there is a problem there too.
I pulled the headlights out to find that one of the headlights down switches was missing. One spring on the assembly was broken. But it is in otherwise good shape. I will rebuild it nonetheless.
There was also a screw missing in the parking light bracket on both sides. This probably led to a rattle in the front grills.
Discovering many things that need attention. I ran some compressed air through the vacuum reservoir and immediately felt some cracks at the top. That will have to come out and be rebuilt.
I discovered that the bolts of the wiper door were loose... tightening them made a world of a difference. Gave it a more solid feel. I was also able to peer down the drainage areas there... They were clear. However, I shined a light from the inside of the vehicle and found a gap between the cage and the fibreglass firewall :
That will need to be sealed somehow. I also managed to get a closer look at the body mounts.
There is a notch in the clutch... whatever this thing is. Worn, it will need to be replaced to get the slop out. Note to self: check other end to see if there is a problem there too.
I pulled the headlights out to find that one of the headlights down switches was missing. One spring on the assembly was broken. But it is in otherwise good shape. I will rebuild it nonetheless.
There was also a screw missing in the parking light bracket on both sides. This probably led to a rattle in the front grills.
You missed your true calling Ira. You would have made an great proctologist!
All kidding aside, that’s going to be one hell of a smooth and correct 69 Corvette when you are done.
Btw, looks like I hit it square on the head about where water gets in to the birdcage. Oddly, it’s Corvettes and English cars that reveal everything when you backlight places in the dark. I intended to point out the vacuum components for ‘68 and ‘69 are the worst years for weak parts in the vacuum system. Racine Industries made all the vacuum parts for GM and they were bad going in the cars at the factory. Luckily the great labor strike of 1969 put them out of business by late 69 and Morris, a DuPont company took over Corvette plastics until ‘87.
Btw, looks like I hit it square on the head about where water gets in to the birdcage. Oddly, it’s Corvettes and English cars that reveal everything when you backlight places in the dark. I intended to point out the vacuum components for ‘68 and ‘69 are the worst years for weak parts in the vacuum system. Racine Industries made all the vacuum parts for GM and they were bad going in the cars at the factory. Luckily the great labor strike of 1969 put them out of business by late 69 and Morris, a DuPont company took over Corvette plastics until ‘87.
Worked a little bit on the Blue ...Somethingorother (Gotta find a name one days.)
First was the wiper door. I learned something from looking at a buddy’s recent purchase of a 1971... when in good shape wiper doors have a good action. So I decided to disassemble mine and sure enough one bolt was in poor shape.
I managed to carefully drill it out a preserve the threads.
First was the wiper door. I learned something from looking at a buddy’s recent purchase of a 1971... when in good shape wiper doors have a good action. So I decided to disassemble mine and sure enough one bolt was in poor shape.
I managed to carefully drill it out a preserve the threads.
Working on the tubular control arms. They are generic Chevy. Apparently all you have to do is swap the lower ones from side. That means flipping the cross shaft and the sway bar brackets
A chip in the nylon sleeve
Del-a-lum bushings. I always wondered if these were any good. Minor damage from factory
Less minor are two seniors who think I should go play somewhere else while the study for mid terms.
A chip in the nylon sleeve
Del-a-lum bushings. I always wondered if these were any good. Minor damage from factory
Less minor are two seniors who think I should go play somewhere else while the study for mid terms.
Maniacmechanic1
solid fixture here in the forum
Since this a Grand Tour Corvette for ride and comfort Moog Brand OEM replacement bushings may make logical sense.
They should last 20 years.
I think the best compromise of handling comfort is Energy Suspension bushings.
The Black bushings squeak the least.
Sometimes a Real sticky assembly grease is supplied. Like glue on Your skin.
Or you buy a small tub of that sticky white grease.
Made for OEM control arms.
Aftermarket control arms you get what you pay for.
Not worth it me.
Like Street and drag myself.
Delron Teflon Plastic by Dupont.
Got imitations or something ..not sure.
Delron does not crack.
I think they used that exact word: annoying.
These are new control arms that I bought off of an eBay merchant. $270.
Moving that sway bar bracket over to the other side is going to be the next step.
I think I’ll invest in a ball joint tie rod puller and a spring compressor.
Well, this is all experimental. I might love it... I might hate it or anything in between. What I do know is that I want more caster and the stock uppper cross shafts are too flimsy to undergo any machining. These cross shafts are beefy. I plan to slot the uppers by an undetermined amount to move from 2 degrees of caster (C3 Corvette OEM limit) to 5 or 7 degrees.
If I put in that T5 transmission to give me the comfort of overdrive, that defeats the purpose if you have to be super vigilant with floaty tracking.
Maniacmechanic1
solid fixture here in the forum
You Want a World Class T-5. It will hold up to a moderate Powered Chevy SB V8.
The Muncie 4 is still 4 times stronger in HP & Torque capacity...no Overdrive of course.
Soooo. Success and failure.
I was going through the fiber optics. The 69 Corvette had stranded fiber optic cables that channeled light from the front and rear to the shifter console. That way you could see if a bulb was burned out or not.
Some people say it’s gimmicky; I think it’s cool.
However replacing the front and rear harness is $300.
I went through my front harness and found that all were working except for one. The ones that did work did with varying brilliance.
I explored the one that did not work and found that at some point it had been pinched and this was concealed under some electrical tape.
I read somewhere that a fellow working on the 1970 corvette assembly line would mend broken fiber optics with a hollowed our electric wire sheath. I tried it and it worked very well. Almost too well; it now outshines the other lights.
So now I’m considering replacing the harness with solid core fiber optics, end glow, 2.5 mm core - 3.5 mm outside diameter. I would imagine it will work very well and be muuuuuch cheaper than two new reproduction harness $300 !
I was going through the fiber optics. The 69 Corvette had stranded fiber optic cables that channeled light from the front and rear to the shifter console. That way you could see if a bulb was burned out or not.
Some people say it’s gimmicky; I think it’s cool.
However replacing the front and rear harness is $300.
I went through my front harness and found that all were working except for one. The ones that did work did with varying brilliance.
I explored the one that did not work and found that at some point it had been pinched and this was concealed under some electrical tape.
I read somewhere that a fellow working on the 1970 corvette assembly line would mend broken fiber optics with a hollowed our electric wire sheath. I tried it and it worked very well. Almost too well; it now outshines the other lights.
So now I’m considering replacing the harness with solid core fiber optics, end glow, 2.5 mm core - 3.5 mm outside diameter. I would imagine it will work very well and be muuuuuch cheaper than two new reproduction harness $300 !
You fixed the one cable, what is stopping you from fixing the others? What would be the cost for the replacement?