72 Corvette - Restoration Updates

[johng]

Tim, don't know what process you followed to adjust the lights but I used this one from the US forum and it worked for me.

C3 Headlight Door Alignment - CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion

 

[TimP]

I personally don’t mind the license plate bolts/screws/fixings showing on the plate. With chrome caps on the fixings it will contrast well against the black plate and compliment the chrome rear bumpers.

Keep up the great work.

Hadn't thought about chrome caps - had imagined using black fittings that would have gone over the silver letters/numbers that would have drawn the eye. Sometimes I just get distracted by an idea that has a disproportionate amount of effort for the benefit it gives.

Thanks!

 

[TimP]

Tim, don't know what process you followed to adjust the lights but I used this one from the US forum and it worked for me.

C3 Headlight Door Alignment - CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion

That's very useful - thanks. I think I have adjusted everything I can adjust but possibly in the wrong order - this will be a good/known 'standard' that I can use. I'll give it a go this week.
Thanks!

 

[TimP]

So having taken everything apart that related to the headlamp pods, and then putting everything back together and set up in the right order..... it alls seemed to fit quite nicely. I am baffled - don't what was wrong the first time - but I'm not going to argue with it.

I also installed all the front lights wiring reasonably tidily and tucked everything away using p-clips so that the hood can open unobstructed.... Tested the lights and they all work fine.



Having got that (finally) sorted out I thought it was time to start the engine.... so after a few preliminary checks everything seemed to look ok.

Last Thursday afternoon with the first try of the ignition key, the engine turned over nicely on the starter but no firing....Then I noticed that the oil pressure gauge pipe was pumping oil on to the drive so that stopped play until it was properly hooked up....

Checked everything out on Friday... Found one loose spark plug and a vacuum pipe disconnected. A further 30 mins of trying to start the engine produced a few odd bangs and a dead battery...

Spoke to a few of the club members on Saturday night and the general consensus was that ignition timing was likely to be the culprit.

Spent an hour on Monday morning redoing the timing and it was way out... Got it all sorted properly, set up a camera and .......

'72 Corvette first start

As far as I know this is the first time the engine has run since 1993 when it was laid up. There are no mufflers, radiator, cooling fan fitted at the moment and the engine wiring/hoses/pipes all need to be tidied up and routed in the right place but.... the engine sounded smooth and settled down to a steady fast idle, admittedly for a short time until I killed the ignition. Didn't want to melt any wires on the manifolds so kept it short this time.

I wasn't expecting it to run so smoothly at all, in fact I bought a fire extinguisher just in case..... Thought it might have run rough at first until the carb and timing were spot on but it seems remarkably smooth first time out.

Beautiful sunny day (hence silly hat) and a major milestone - got to say I am pretty chuffed.

Next step is to get the engine bay fully sorted out and all missing pieces attached in their rightful positions, then do some more testing....

 

[Roscobbc]

That sounds remarkably healthy -

 

[rubyragtop]

A great achievement Tim and another step towards to completion. You are a true inspiration to others to tackle jobs on their Vettes.
Please don't forget to write up another article for the magazine, especially for the benefit of those who don't sign on to this site and new members who are not aware of the mammoth task that you have undertaken.

 

[Mad4slalom]

So having taken everything apart that related to the headlamp pods, and then putting everything back together and set up in the right order..... it alls seemed to fit quite nicely. I am baffled - don't what was wrong the first time - but I'm not going to argue with it.
View attachment 31718
I also installed all the front lights wiring reasonably tidily and tucked everything away using p-clips so that the hood can open unobstructed.... Tested the lights and they all work fine.

View attachment 31717

Having got that (finally) sorted out I thought it was time to start the engine.... so after a few preliminary checks everything seemed to look ok.

Last Thursday afternoon with the first try of the ignition key, the engine turned over nicely on the starter but no firing....Then I noticed that the oil pressure gauge pipe was pumping oil on to the drive so that stopped play until it was properly hooked up....

Checked everything out on Friday... Found one loose spark plug and a vacuum pipe disconnected. A further 30 mins of trying to start the engine produced a few odd bangs and a dead battery...

Spoke to a few of the club members on Saturday night and the general consensus was that ignition timing was likely to be the culprit.

Spent an hour on Monday morning redoing the timing and it was way out... Got it all sorted properly, set up a camera and .......

'72 Corvette first start

As far as I know this is the first time the engine has run since 1993 when it was laid up. There are no mufflers, radiator, cooling fan fitted at the moment and the engine wiring/hoses/pipes all need to be tidied up and routed in the right place but.... the engine sounded smooth and settled down to a steady fast idle, admittedly for a short time until I killed the ignition. Didn't want to melt any wires on the manifolds so kept it short this time.
View attachment 31719
I wasn't expecting it to run so smoothly at all, in fact I bought a fire extinguisher just in case..... Thought it might have run rough at first until the carb and timing were spot on but it seems remarkably smooth first time out.

Beautiful sunny day (hence silly hat) and a major milestone - got to say I am pretty chuffed.

Next step is to get the engine bay fully sorted out and all missing pieces attached in their rightful positions, then do some more testing....

Great news Tim! what a milestone you have reached. I bet the oil pressure line gave you a shock !, is yours still a copper line? I had a leak (minor) at the block end which I struggled to seal with new olive. I found “extra” pipe coiled up behind left lower dash so pulled some more through and re made connection with another new olive. A friend suggested sealey , air and brake pipe sealant which seems to have cure it. I think half the problem was the new brass fittings which felt squeaky dry when tightening, he suggested lightly greasing the thread after putting the sealant on the olive and pipe And this allowed for more “feel”when tightening the pipe fitting. I have Two of the plastic oil line to gauge kits here if you want to go that route , you are more than welcome to one , let me know snd I will pop it in the post.
Great to see your progress Tim, Brilliant

 

[Oneball]

Well done! Ready for next year?

 

[TimP]

A great achievement Tim and another step towards to completion. You are a true inspiration to others to tackle jobs on their Vettes.
Please don't forget to write up another article for the magazine, especially for the benefit of those who don't sign on to this site and new members who are not aware of the mammoth task that you have undertaken.

Just realised there are a few posts that I haven't responded to......

Many thanks for your very kind comments. Hopefully some of these posts will help others to do things on their C3s that they might not have otherwise considered. Although in many cases I have probably showed how not to do things...

I have a few ideas about articles for the magazine - I'll try and get something written for the next edition.

 

[TimP]

Great news Tim! what a milestone you have reached. I bet the oil pressure line gave you a shock !, is yours still a copper line? I had a leak (minor) at the block end which I struggled to seal with new olive. I found “extra” pipe coiled up behind left lower dash so pulled some more through and re made connection with another new olive. A friend suggested sealey , air and brake pipe sealant which seems to have cure it. I think half the problem was the new brass fittings which felt squeaky dry when tightening, he suggested lightly greasing the thread after putting the sealant on the olive and pipe And this allowed for more “feel”when tightening the pipe fitting. I have Two of the plastic oil line to gauge kits here if you want to go that route , you are more than welcome to one , let me know snd I will pop it in the post.
Great to see your progress Tim, Brilliant

Hi Gary, When I first saw a pool of oil underneath the engine after it had been running for just a few seconds you can probably guess what was going through my head. I was thus simultaneously relieved and annoyed about what had actually happened. Relieved that this was not a big oil leak problem and easy to fix, but annoyed because I had this task on my pre-engine-start checklist and somehow I had managed to miss it. However, it probably proved that the oil pump was working ok, albeit in a rather messy way.

Due to a re-occurring procurement error (buying things that I have already bought even though I keep a comprehensive list of everything I have bought. In my defence it's a really long list) I have two installation kits for the pipe that goes from the top of the block to the inside gauge. One is fitted (and seems to be leak free) and I also now have a spare - just in case, although hopefully I will never need it. Come to think of it I also have the original (plastic) pipe and fittings too. Many thanks for your kind offer but I'm fairly sure I won't need another kit - things will have got pretty bad if I do.

More progress to be reported soon, I hope.

 

[TimP]

Well done! Ready for next year?

Thanks! Hopefully the car will be on the road this year. More details to come but the radiator is in and I'm just waiting for a dry day (hopefully this Sunday) where I can push the car out of the garage and do some longer engine runs. I'm still mindful of a fire whilst things settle in and don't really want to do engine starts inside where space and ventilation is limited. The main electrical systems are working (even the heater fan!), number plates are on, and otherwise it's mainly the lack of a master brake cylinder that stops me getting it off SORN and going out for a drive..

 

[Mad4slalom]

Hi Gary, When I first saw a pool of oil underneath the engine after it had been running for just a few seconds you can probably guess what was going through my head. I was thus simultaneously relieved and annoyed about what had actually happened. Relieved that this was not a big oil leak problem and easy to fix, but annoyed because I had this task on my pre-engine-start checklist and somehow I had managed to miss it. However, it probably proved that the oil pump was working ok, albeit in a rather messy way.

Due to a re-occurring procurement error (buying things that I have already bought even though I keep a comprehensive list of everything I have bought. In my defence it's a really long list) I have two installation kits for the pipe that goes from the top of the block to the inside gauge. One is fitted (and seems to be leak free) and I also now have a spare - just in case, although hopefully I will never need it. Come to think of it I also have the original (plastic) pipe and fittings too. Many thanks for your kind offer but I'm fairly sure I won't need another kit - things will have got pretty bad if I do.

More progress to be reported soon, I hope.

Good news tim, I have gathered a fair few spares over my five years of ownership. Nice to know they are there just in case .

 

[TimP]

Having got the engine started briefly (for about 10 seconds) I need to do some longer runs to ensure that everything works ok. This requires a few things to be added:

1) A radiator and fully working cooling system
2) An exhaust system with a couple of mufflers to avoid annoying my neighbours with a straight pipe (actually no pipe) exhaust.
3) Some basic instrumentation so that I know how the engine is performing

For todays update here's the radiator that I have installed. It's a new Chinese made aluminium radiator sourced from a company in the Czech Republic on eBay. No risk there then.

I have a '73 radiator in very good condition but the '73 item does not fit a '72 as the '72 radiator is a couple of inches shorter in width. I have not been able to find a good Corvette used radiator for a reasonable price. However, I did find the aforementioned radiator that is for a similar vintage Buick Regal that has exactly the same mounting, same core size and same capacity. The only differences are the inlet and outlet are not shaped - they are at 90 degrees to the radiator and the drain plug is in a slightly different place. More importantly the inlet on the passenger side of the car is 40mm rather than 45mm. The price, delivered to my home was £150 - how could I resist? On delivery it was very well packaged and in perfect condition. I think it is nicely made and was delivered within a week. Using Prestone coolant there are no leaks and it all seems to work just fine. So far so good.

Thus, fitting the radiator in position was very straightforward using the existing mounts but I used some silicone angled pipes to get the coolant flowing in the right direction.



The pipework isn't terribly elegant but it works and it's watertight - using some swaged aluminium tubing to join the different sections of hose together.


There's a reducer on the passenger side of the engine which impacts flow a little I expect but having said that the original radiator that I still have, has large notch in the inlet pipe to clear the anti roll bar which this installation doesn't need.




I haven't fitted the overflow pipe, the shroud or the related seals for the time being just in case I need to take some mods/repairs but I think the radiator should be able to cope for idling and engine testing without a problem.

Work is continuing, weather permitting, on the exhaust which should be finished next week. More on that then.

 

[Oneball]

If you haven’t got one I’d add an extra support underneath the rad in the middle. Those types of cores have a habit of sagging under they’re own weight.

 

[teamzr1]

As tight as that bend is, I would be concerned as reduced coolant flow and
when that hose gets hot, that under pressure would collapse and even less flow ?

 

[TimP]

If you haven’t got one I’d add an extra support underneath the rad in the middle. Those types of cores have a habit of sagging under they’re own weight.

Thanks for the suggestion - it shouldn't be too difficult to add another bracket underneath.

As tight as that bend is, I would be concerned as reduced coolant flow and
when that hose gets hot, that under pressure would collapse and even less flow ?

View attachment 32160

Thanks - you might well be right. I'm going out to the car in a minute - I'm trying to work out in my head if putting the shroud on eases some of the pressure on this bend as the top hose from the thermostat is swinging a bit. I'll definitely have a closer look at this and see if I can reduce the likelihood of what you are suggesting happening.

 

[teamzr1]

Why does the fan look like it is off center to the right ?
Is there a shroud fit over to allow the fan to create pressure for airflow ?
Is that upper coolant hose protected so fan blades not hitting it ?

 

[Oneball]

Thanks for the suggestion - it shouldn't be too difficult to add another bracket underneath.

if your rad support is like mine there was two captive nuts at the bottom and I just made a right angle bracket with a bit of foam on it.

 

[TimP]

Why does the fan look like it is off center to the right ?
Is there a shroud fit over to allow the fan to create pressure for airflow ?
Is that upper coolant hose protected so fan blades not hitting it ?

View attachment 32161

It's a sort of optical illusion because of the angle that I took the picture. The fan is right where it should be but the on the C3 the radiator is slightly offset to the left (a couple of inches max) but not nearly as much as it looks in the picture.

As I said in my original post I haven't fitted the shroud or the related seals that guides the airflow from the front of the car through the radiator. When the shroud is fitted not only does it do that but it also makes a barrier between the fan and the hoses. I have tied the lower hose out of the way to keep it out of the fans way whilst the shroud is off. There is a bigger gap between the upper hose and the fan that it looks in the pictures - I think it's fine for the moment but if t ever gets close I will tie up somehow too.

 

[TimP]

if your rad support is like mine there was two captive nuts at the bottom and I just made a right angle bracket with a bit of foam on it.

Thanks for the tip! I'll check that out.