72 Corvette - Restoration Updates
- Thread starter TimP
- Start date
I think you are right - there's still a fair number of parts, particularly the doors which are the heavier intrusion beam doors from a '76, the fuel tank is empty and a lot of interior parts that when fitted will ratchet up the weight. This should settle the car a bit. The geometry at the rear (with the smart struts and shims) has to be set up yet and although that may not have an effect on the spring loading the rear wheels definitely have some camber adjustment before they sit right.
Mr. Cricket
Committee Member
Mating the body back to the frame is a milestone indeed Tim!
Bring it to the Corvette Nationals for a decent shake-down drive as I know many members including myself would like to set eyes on it, shake your hand and buy you a drink!
I still have those parts boxed up in the garage if you still need them? Can't remember exactly what is in the box but I can check later. Electronic ignition parts and new door seals were the main items.
Bring it to the Corvette Nationals for a decent shake-down drive as I know many members including myself would like to set eyes on it, shake your hand and buy you a drink!
I still have those parts boxed up in the garage if you still need them? Can't remember exactly what is in the box but I can check later. Electronic ignition parts and new door seals were the main items.
Sorry to be slow replying - I missed this post.
Getting the car to the Nationals will be a stretch too far to be honest - it's a 300 mile plus round trip (from Eastbourne) and I think I would be pushing my luck to attempt this with literally a few days under its tyres after a complete rebuild.
I'm still interested in the box so if you are happy to part with them I can give them a good home.
Getting the car to the Nationals will be a stretch too far to be honest - it's a 300 mile plus round trip (from Eastbourne) and I think I would be pushing my luck to attempt this with literally a few days under its tyres after a complete rebuild.
I'm still interested in the box so if you are happy to part with them I can give them a good home.
The last part of the rear end that I needed to do (for the time being anyway) was refitting the handbrake and footbrake components. I forgot to take any photographs as I am in 'press on' mode at the moment but here's a quick before-and-after of the rear brakes...
There are a lot of new components included and the brake callipers have been completely rebuilt with 'O' ring seals, new bolts, pads etc. The calliper rebuild for the rear brakes was done quite a few years ago and they have been in a box since but seem to have faired ok. The brake lines are stainless steel and bought preformed - just needing some final tweeks to the bends to allow the fittings to align well enough to screw them together. Fitting the pads was an exercise in ingenuity but they went in ok in the end - part of the problem was that I had put a thick layer of paint where they slide in and across and there wasn't sufficient clearance so initially they didn't fit at all. After scraping paint off the affected areas everything worked a lot easier. The rebuild kit for the front callipers is still unopened and putting the front callipers back together is next on the list of things to do. The handbrake has been refitted and probably works now as well as it is ever going to. It's quite capable of holding the car on the flat.
Three of the original wheels have been stripped of their tyres and are at the powder coaters to be shot blasted and coated. I had one wheel (the most corroded one) restored 5 years ago (doesn't time fly) by the same company and it still looks good today. I have reserved a set of tyres from Vintage Tyres at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu which I think will look good on the car when finished. Hopefully I can get these fitted next week and then the wheels can be put straight on the rear allowing me to raise the front and get the brakes completed at that end too.
It will be good to get the new wheels on the car - I'm sure they will make a difference to how the car looks (particularly with the rings and hubcaps in place) and for the first time since I have had it, the car will have tyres all the same sizes on all four wheels. The car originally came with four different size tyres which made the car sit rather oddly.
Next week I will attend to the front brakes, cabin interior trim, wiring, gauges and cables with a view to getting an engine start by the end of the month.
There are a lot of new components included and the brake callipers have been completely rebuilt with 'O' ring seals, new bolts, pads etc. The calliper rebuild for the rear brakes was done quite a few years ago and they have been in a box since but seem to have faired ok. The brake lines are stainless steel and bought preformed - just needing some final tweeks to the bends to allow the fittings to align well enough to screw them together. Fitting the pads was an exercise in ingenuity but they went in ok in the end - part of the problem was that I had put a thick layer of paint where they slide in and across and there wasn't sufficient clearance so initially they didn't fit at all. After scraping paint off the affected areas everything worked a lot easier. The rebuild kit for the front callipers is still unopened and putting the front callipers back together is next on the list of things to do. The handbrake has been refitted and probably works now as well as it is ever going to. It's quite capable of holding the car on the flat.
Three of the original wheels have been stripped of their tyres and are at the powder coaters to be shot blasted and coated. I had one wheel (the most corroded one) restored 5 years ago (doesn't time fly) by the same company and it still looks good today. I have reserved a set of tyres from Vintage Tyres at the National Motor Museum at Beaulieu which I think will look good on the car when finished. Hopefully I can get these fitted next week and then the wheels can be put straight on the rear allowing me to raise the front and get the brakes completed at that end too.
It will be good to get the new wheels on the car - I'm sure they will make a difference to how the car looks (particularly with the rings and hubcaps in place) and for the first time since I have had it, the car will have tyres all the same sizes on all four wheels. The car originally came with four different size tyres which made the car sit rather oddly.
Next week I will attend to the front brakes, cabin interior trim, wiring, gauges and cables with a view to getting an engine start by the end of the month.
Mr. Cricket
Committee Member
Great work as usual Tim.
What size tyres did you go for? I put 225/70/15 on mine as I think the taller wall fills out the wheel well better and takes away some of the 4 x 4 look you sometimes see on C3's
I have gone for 215/70/15 on mine. I think this close to what they were originally. I have one fully refurbished wheel with a 215/70/15 on it and I think it looks ok but I could be persuaded to go for a 225 section. Presumably that doesn't cause any rubbing on the front wheels at full lock. Do you have a picture that shows how the tyres look with the body?
Mr. Cricket
Committee Member
Mr. Cricket
Committee Member
I put the same tyres on this one but this is stock height
antijam
CCCUK Member
When I bought my '71 it was wearing 225/70R15 Goodyear Eagle GTII's. These had excellent tread but were unfortunately very old and starting to go out of shape, so......
......I changed them for 215/70R15 B F Goodrich Radial T/A's. Like you Tim I thought they were a closer fit to the original bias ply tyre rolling radius.
There was no discernible difference in driving quality, but I'm not the sort of driver that exploits the full potential of the car very often. the 225's are just noticeably fatter and do fill the wheelarch slightly more than than the 215's, but the difference is very small. There was certainly no fouling on full lock with the 225's.
......I changed them for 215/70R15 B F Goodrich Radial T/A's. Like you Tim I thought they were a closer fit to the original bias ply tyre rolling radius.
There was no discernible difference in driving quality, but I'm not the sort of driver that exploits the full potential of the car very often. the 225's are just noticeably fatter and do fill the wheelarch slightly more than than the 215's, but the difference is very small. There was certainly no fouling on full lock with the 225's.