Early Corvette Blue Prints

[Roscobbc]

I'm reminded of my obligatory 6 months working in the companies drawing office in the mid/late 60's. As a (then) leading manufacterer of potentiometers for the aerospace, nautical and electronics industries we would produce component, mould and press tool drawings for internal applications. As a mere 'oik' in the day I would take the ink lined drawings (on tracing paper) to the huge 'light box' with it's ultra violet lamps, sandwich the drawing (any size up to A1) under a sheet of photosensitive paper to the window off the light source for a timed period, roll it through the developer tank, then peg it up on a towel rail to dry.......long before the days of inkjet and lazer printers.

 

[Mr. Cricket]

I can still smell the Amon

I'm reminded of my obligatory 6 months working in the companies drawing office in the mid/late 60's. As a (then) leading manufacterer of potentiometers for the aerospace, nautical and electronics industries we would produce component, mould and press tool drawings for internal applications. As a mere 'oik' in the day I would take the ink lined drawings (on tracing paper) to the huge 'light box' with it's ultra violet lamps, sandwich the drawing (any size up to A1) under a sheet of photosensitive paper to the window off the light source for a timed period, roll it through the developer tank, then peg it up on a towel rail to dry.......long before the days of inkjet and lazer printers.

I can still smell the Ammonia even now

My stint in the drawing office lasted just 6 months and I'm very thankful for that (company went into administration) as sitting on my arse all day would not have worked for me. My time as an air conditioning & refrigeration engineer took me to places I'd have never seen otherwise. Some amazing, some scary like the mortuaries and medical collages

The drawing office consisted of me at 16 years of age and 6 other draftsmen all of which were 50+ which to me was ancient at that time. Their drafting instruments were equally aged and produced awful output. With my first weeks wages I splurged on a set of Marsmatic 700 drawing pens and that coupled to my 16 year old eyesight had the other draftsmen looking at me as though I was some kind of Demon due to the quality of my work. Within a couple of weeks they all had new ink pens

 

[Mr. Cricket]

If we remind ourselves that back then they did not have the design technology tools such as 3D imaging, then we can appreciate and understand more the importance of the S.O system. That said, some of the earlier design processes still cannot be improved upon, even to this day.

I'm pretty sure the story is true of a factory dog at the TVR factory that took a bite out of a clay design model of a TVR that they worked into the front grille design

 

[Mr. Cricket]

Well I nearly got it right. It was a foam model and they used the bite to model the front indicators it seems



I wonder if doggy got an extra treat

 

[split window coupe]

S.O. 10323 63 Harley Earl Convertible. Another variation of the special gearshift surround plate similar to the drawing you have. The panel surround surface has a grained effect and you will see that the S.O does not appear on the drawing legend. This suggests there is very possibly another copy drawing detailing this version, however, it could well be one of many that have been lost? GM Archives began transferring drawings to those awful micro- fische slides in the 70's - any of the guys remember those things from the parts departments and the like !! So many damaged destroyed or not properly marked with reference numbers - as I said previously, it is sometimes pure luck if you stumble on a link that you understand.
Note the chrome gear knob - GM Styling absolutely adored chrome finishes

 

[Mr. Cricket]

Ah yes as the '63 console was left bare metal. Don't know if that was the same for '64 but from '65 they were coloured.

My Nassau Blue '66


Ignore the paper bag, someone asked how clean white seats could be with regular maintenance

my '65

 

[Mr. Cricket]

Just found a pic of a Marina Blue '64 a mate had and yes they had painted console plates

 

[split window coupe]

I am guessing that the marketing guys must have liked the look for 64 production and that remained through to 67 I believe. I also think to improve the finished look they changed the gear shift etched pattern and raised it so that it was flush with the grain effect across the console panel. They had not considered that for the Harley Earl car. Maybe what we don't stop to fully appreciate is that even though the 63 car programme was a rush job from the outset and that would be putting it very lightly, engineers and designers still had the ability to look and plan ahead.

 

[split window coupe]

I will endeavour to shed a bit more light on Mr Cricket's drawings in connection with the last of the 3, relating to " Replacement Fuel Injection " emblems.
I know for a fact that the emblems were hand made sometime prior to the drawing date. This was often the case with the 63 car and it was not just connected to S.O projects and or prototypes. Often in production, the two principal plant engineers at St Louis were instrumental in authorising engineering production changes as the cars were being built. These changes were often instigated ahead of agreement with the senior engineers at Warren, such was the autonomy of Corvette at St.Louis. Alterations in such cases would be drawn up at later dates to officially record the engineer's recommendations. Hence the term ECR - Engineering Change recommendations. During the 63 production year there were almost 650 engineering changes - a staggering amount even for a new car! Perhaps this underlines and supports the rush by Chevrolet to get the 63 car into production ahead of Ford's Mustang.
So with reference to the drawing - I have been told by more than one ex GM engineer of the day that there was rumour back in mid 62, a little ahead of the start of production of the 63 Corvette Sting Ray, that such was the difficulty in supplying reliable 360hp fuelie engines from Flint, considerations were discussed about delaying the introduction of the engine option for the new car until the issues could be solved. There is no doubt that the new and larger Rochester F.I. plenum chamber was giving a lot of problems with consistent fueling and as a consequence, giving huge potential supply problems for the Flint engine plant to supply engines to the factory when production got into full swing. I have talked regularly with another senior staff member who was at St.Louis at the time, and he tells me that while he was aware of the rumour, he had no actual evidence to support it. However, he could confirm the problems the plant were having with the 360 hp power plant.
There are also documents to suggest that the European show cars were destined to have 340hp L76 engines, however, due to the insistence of Mr Duntov the cars were in fact fitted with the L84 Fuelie units. He wanted the fastest possible Corvettes to be shown and road tested, however, if the cars were to be sold, then the fuel injection units were to be removed. Such was the reliability issue.
There is only one pre production 63 Corvette that uses the emblems. GM Styling were always looking for the best look and location of emblems. Another variation of a 63 Styling buck without crossed flags taken in the Styling dome at the Tech Centre. And another of a 63 wind tunnel car showing a GT Grand Tourismo emblem on the rear deck. There could well be others. Unfortunately I have no info to share on the later mid year car emblems.

 

[Mr. Cricket]

650 engineering changes! Hardly seems possible there could be that many.

Interesting to see the SWC with knock Off wheels fitted as they were pulled from sale due to porosity issues and they were to have a two 'eared' spinner not the three eared I believe?

I have a mate with a SWC who will be fascinated with this info so I'll call him now.

Fantastic stuff swc please keep it coming.

btw, a few of us are having guesses who you might be while I still can check the member database (I leave the committee in July) I looked but you're not listed as a member searching on your website name.

 

[split window coupe]

The story behind the P48 wheels has been quite inaccurately reported over the years, however, you are correct in part with your comment on porosity issues. Only recently I stumbled upon information and one particular photograph which threw me a curved ball and I confess that I had to reconsider what I actually knew.
As many may know, prior to the release of the P48 Kelsey Hayes wheel there was a dispute between KH and The Dayton Wire wheel company over copyright to the drive design of a wheel which came to a head with GM involvement as mediator. GM were not the aggressor in this dispute as has been widely suggested over the years. Both companies were large suppliers to them at the time. A legal action was posted by Dayton against Kelsey Hayes for an infringement of their gear drive design.
Coincidentally, I was actually speaking with Gary Buckles the sales Manager of Dayton Wire earlier this year about this very subject and despite his 30 plus years with the company, both he and his colleagues were completely unaware of the dispute back in 62 and had absolutely no knowledge or account of the story behind it all !
I will sign off for now and before fiction becomes fact I will let you know more on what I know

 

[split window coupe]

The mystery that surrounds Kelsey Hayes and the 63 RPO P48 Aluminium knock off wheels and spinners.
On May 7 1962 Bunkie Knudsen, General Manager of Chevrolet went to the Chevrolet Engineering Centre to inspect the new Corvette aluminium wheels. Knudsen was key in all decision making on the new car. he said " it looked good ". We can be pretty sure that what he viewed was indeed the Kelsey Hayes designed P48 knock off - tooth or gear drive as we refer to it, with 3 eared spinner.
At some point, possibly prior to, although most likely after this date in May and the commencement of full line production at the St.Louis plant in the latter part of August, a law suit, for infringement of patent was initiated by the Dayton Wire Wheel Company against Kelsey Hayes. In addition, it was discovered that the first batch of wheels delivered were not holding air. Issues with porosity and non sealing rims. It appears that it is not known how far legalities extended, however, I am led to understand that Dayton Wire were awarded extended GM supply contracts. I did have a list of supposed contracts somewhere, however, it is not corroborated.
Supplies of wheels and Spinners were suspended. There were no parts department counter sales and it is not known accurately how many sets of wheels were supplied in the first batch and if any wheels were in fact returned to the manufacturer which seems highly plausible. That said, and as we know today, some sets of wheels did find their way out initially to the race teams.
Many will be familiar with a number of GM Chevrolet Design and Styling based marketing images of the 63 Corvette, those with Zora Duntov standing alongside the car for example. I think in all cases they show the complete Kelsey Hayes combo - the aluminium wheels with 3 eared spinners. No official Chevrolet photographs of 2 bar spinners? No 63 production photographs of Corvettes with P48 wheels?.................................??
Kelsey Hayes were actually quick at getting a re-designed P48 wheel re- manufactured incorporating the more tradional Rudge type splined hub adaptor. A number of sets of sample s were supplied to Chevrolet Engineering during early production. they had no cast part number and no date stamp just a " KH" rubber ink stamp on the inner face in a dark ox blood red. They still leaked ! Further reworked sets followed at a later date and these carried a Kelsey Hayes part number casting but no date stamp and they leaked. I was told by an ex GM engineer that the early sets of reworked wheels also highlighted a weakness in the splined part of the wheel itself and some were cracking.
It is said that the P48 was not officially re introduced until the early part of the 64 Corvette production and is widely thought that no P48 wheels were factory supplied throughout the 63 production year. I have no evidence or knowledge to counter those claims. I have heard of very late 63 cars with supposed factory supplied P48's but not verified.
I will leave 2 bar spinners for next time.

 

[Nassau65]

Great info. The amount of 63’s at shows with KO wheels on is tremendous, even at Bloomington events. All must be repro’s or later 1964 ones I suppose

 

[split window coupe]

Totally agree. It appears that the majority of genuine sets found on cars and that occasionally come up for sale are date stamped 65 so the numbers of 63 models and 64's with reproduction wheels must be staggering.
Now here is the curved ball photograph that I talked about, I have had it in my archive for years. Clearly I could not have paid much attention to it save that I know it is the clay of the 4 seat Corvette with 63 Coupe Styling car in the background. Taken in the Chevrolet design Studio at the GM tech centre. Looks like a genuine P48 with a 3 bar spinner to me. However, look at the date which is etched on the photograph April 61! A full year before Knudsen went to inspect the new Aluminium wheels ( they were his exact words I quoted) they are taken from his personal diary. I know that development of the 63 car was fluid to say the least but I find it incredible that issues both structural and legal, were not highlighted earlier. Was Knudsen and Chevrolet kept in the dark ?

 

[Mr. Cricket]

My mate I men

Great info. The amount of 63’s at shows with KO wheels on is tremendous, even at Bloomington events. All must be repro’s or later 1964 ones I suppose

My SWC owning mate mentioned earlier has KO wheels on his and they include a little addition. The car was raced in the UK by an American serviceman and to comply with rules the spinner had to be wired to a hole drilled in one of the wheel splines and one ear of the spinner as a secondary means of attachment and it's still like that today.

 

[split window coupe]

Yes a common practice back then. Mechanics and drivers of early competition 63's with P48's and 2 bars were saying the spinners in some cases were unwinding a small amount. ................................... So, the Kelsey Hayes 2 bar spinner
If we stop to think on it, having two spinner options for one type of wheel makes no logical sense, especially from a marketing perspective. However, as I have said previously the pace of development on the 63 car was so rapid things could alter almost daily, so I guess just about anything was possible and yes it appears that way. There can be little doubt that at one point the 2 bar was considered for final specification as an artists impression of the P48 wheel with 2 bar spinner was shown in the very first version of the New Corvette sales brochure. The very same brochure shows a photograph of a Coupe at speed with P 48 wheels with 3 bar spinners - all really confusing. That first brochure was quickly changed from a Red Coupe on the front cover to a Daytona Blue car and the same artists impression appears of the P48 option, only this time with 3 bar spinners!
Over the years, I have read all sorts of comments such as: there was no supply of 2 bar spinners so they used 3 bar spinners instead and they used 2 bar spinners on prototypes and pilot cars.
Personally, I think that both comments are inaccurate. Firstly, as I have mentioned previously, I have seen no confirming documentation or original GM/Chevrolet photographs to support P48 wheels with 2 or 3 bar spinners were used on pilot line or in factory production - nothing than can be verified. And secondly, the KH 3 bar spinners were not contested over design patent by Dayton Wire as far as I know, so I would think that they would have been free to manufacture as many as they wished.
I am pretty sure the 2 bar was first introduced for use on early Corvair in conjunction with a wire wheel option? The main centre cap was different in appearance- an outer band etched into it or something like it from memory? It was re-worked by KH for use on the 63 Corvette.
The attached photograph taken in the Chevrolet Engineering Centre garages clearly suggests that this alteration to the spinner for Corvette was carried out - a P48 gear drive wheel with a 2 bar spinner fitted on a wheel stand alongside an Engineering 63 up on a lift - the spinner has had the centre completely removed.
It is widely acknowledged that only a few sets of genuine KH Corvette 2 bar spinners were produced as you rightly said - most likely as an initial trial batch. Just how many sets I cannot answer and I am not sure we will ever know- I have been told 25 sets & 50 sets and even heard 100 sets were made, although I personally think this figure is way too high. As with the wheels a few sets got out for the race teams and then on into private hands later. For many years there has been a story about a guy back in the early 70's, selling Corvette 2 bar centre caps ( just the centres) at swap meets and the big auto jumbles and I believe the story to be true, however, I think highly likely reproductions. As a result there were many Corvair's seen running around with owners claiming they had genuine Corvette spinners fitted !!
I think all the mid year wheels look cool so have no problem with it.
To add a final extra piece of confusion to all this - there are a small number of auto show photographs, however, that clearly verify that one or two very early 63 Corvette coupes were indeed fitted with P48 wheels and 2 bar spinners with the revised Chevrolet centre caps. Not home market cars as one would expect. At European shows -arguably far enough away not to be questioned over air leaks and law suits ??

 

[Mr. Cricket]

At a show one time Chris Sale asked if I was interested in buying his KO wheels as he ran after-market maybe Torq Thrusts. They were pretty rough but he did me a good deal so I bought them. So bare Aluminium they would have been 1964 version or later copies of '64's but these were to go on my '65 coupe which are painted black in between the splines. A company named Alloy Hub took on the task of diamond cutting the surfaces to remove the hardened brake dust and smooth the cast Aluminium slightly, powder coat and clear coat. We had an agreed price of £750 for 5 wheels which I thought was pretty good value. On the day of collection the guy said whew lots more work that we thought so I figured the next line would be adding extra costs but fair play they stood by their price and I would highly reccommend them.

Started with:

After:

My mate Brian bought his first Corvette a '64 coupe and had new tyres installed straight away. Within a few days of ownership we had a club cruise to a restaurant for lunch of about 75 miles so 150 miles thereabouts. On the way back he diverted to in his words do some posing in Manchester city centre. He didn't make it and called me very distressed saying one of his wheels had fell off. I grabbed a jack and some tools and went to assist. The tyre fitters had removed the security pins and ditched them saying nothing to Brian. I got him back on the road and we nursed it back home stopping several times to tighten the spinner. He was lucky that feeling the vibration he pulled into a car park and was almost stopped when the wheel fell off and the hub sat in the inner wheel keeping the car just off the ground.

Then it was my turn to almost lose one. Leaving to drive to the Lake District for Corvettes at the Lakes as I left a round about I heard a faint metallic sound but never thought to pull over and check things. We had arranged to meet at some motorway service which was about 40 miles for me and as I pulled into the car park I felt a vibration as I came to a stop. Checked the wheels and the drivers side centre cap was missing as was the security pin so the wheel was winding itself off. I got lucky that day and with the help of a builder in a van who had an array of fixings we secured the spinner with a large self tapping screw. The cause was the previous owner had some stainless steel non tapered security pins made and as they wouldn't distort they weren't snugged in enough. Replacing them for the correct aluminium pins fixed the issue and I have 1,000's of miles with the KO's without further issues. Most Americans say the security pins or sometimes called anti theft pins are not required and the first year of KH KO's didn't have the holes for the pins but I feel happier to use them on my two Corvettes that have KO's

 

[Nassau65]

Here’s a add for the new 1964 from Lendrum & Hartman who were the main dealers for GM in the UK
Although a bit blurry, you can see the aluminium wheels with cones/spinners

 

[Nassau65]

The “new” bolt on KO wheels are a great innovation. The looks of the original KO wheels without any hassle. From what I’ve read they have become more popular than the actual KO’s in sales now.
A friend has just bought a set rather than the actual KO’s, he’s well pleased with them.

 

[Nassau65]

The knock off aluminium wheels ( or quick take off wheel) as Chevrolet called them is certainly the wheels of choice for mid year owners. Who can disagree with that, they do look soo good. Personally I’ve always liked “spinners” and the three eared swept corvette version is to me The best about.
When spinners were outlawed for the 1967 model year Chevrolet did a fantastic job in designing the all new starburst center cap for the existing wheel for use on the final mid years in 1967.
That particular wheel is widely thought of as the best ever wheel.