62 Corvette rebuild

[don long]

The Vette is FINALLY drivable
I installed the excelerator pedal and connected it to the cable after modifying
The cable connections. put the old seat in and we're ready to go.
I need to track down a power steering leak and put a switch on the hood actuator finish wiring up the headlites and build a grille for the car then put some miles on it before getting it ready for paint.

 

[drivesitfar]

Don: you look pretty damn happy sitting in your old VETTE.

best of luck finding the leak and i hope it's just a loose connection that needs a little tightening.

it looks like you are missing more that a few bits and pieces of your interior or is that the easy stuff to put back on your VETTE?

maybe use the VETTE to put on a few miles and head to the river to work on the deck or watch the crew if you hired it out?

hope you have some fun planned for this weekend or if you are just hanging around finishing up projects that's ok too.

 

[Chateau Slate 66]

Whether it's cars, motorcycles, or just playing out in the garage, that smile is why we all do this silly stuff. Congrats!

 

[jhn9840]

Congratulations, a most beautiful car. Your work is second to none.

jhn9840
John

 

[iajonesy]

Lookin' good, Don. That smile tells us all we need to know about the build.

Mike

 

[zmotorsports]

The Vette is looking great Don.

Mike.

 

[NASTYZEN]

Yeah Baby!

 

[rustyjames]

Thanks for posting this journey, Don. You spent a lot of time and effort keeping up with that process in itself! It's been enjoyable following it all come together. Your workmanship is outstanding!

 

[don long]

Thanks guys.
I plan on driving the beast next week

 

[pamike]

I would love to hear your story of how you got into the collision business, what exactly you did, who bought the business when you retired... you know...kinda your life story..

 

[akdiesel]

don

Agreed. It looks great. Hard to remove that smile when in the seat.

 

[Toolfool]

We know you're always smiling, but that smile is special. Enjoy.

 

[dpljmurphy]

Congrats Sir! That smile is contagious and inspiring at the same time, I WILL find time to get out to the shop and get going on the TDL before the plumber and septic guys show up (in two weeks). Thank you for the motivation and keep on smiling (and dare I say Truckin'). David

 

[Duker]

Don, it is looking great. I didn't think a classic could be improved but you sir have done it! I hope it gives you many miles of joy.


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[don long]

GREAT NEWS

The vette is drivable
I spent the last few days tidying up the wires under the dash and getting the lights to work (was reading the light switch diagram upside down and couldn't get juice to the headlites) an electrician friend needed a little help with his car today and while he was here I put him to work on the headlite switch wiring

 

[drivesitfar]

Don: fantastic news on the VETTE. don't you love it when the right guys with the right skills stop by at THE RIGHT TIMES?

speaking of good timing I've been considering driving down Highway 1 for a few years now and sort of easing my wife into the idea. since she grew up in California she doesn't want to go anywhere near that HIGHWAY. so you having a VETTE for years how many times have you driven that HIGHWAY from LA to SF? or were you to busy?

in any case i guess yesterday washed out the plans for me and probably you to drive it after this huge landslide. here's a video and write up by the LA Times.

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-big-sur-pch-mudslide-20170523-htmlstory.html

loving the progress with your Vette. sounds like maybe all that's left to do is PAINTING IT?

 

[don long]

Don: fantastic news on the VETTE. don't you love it when the right guys with the right skills stop by at THE RIGHT TIMES?

Yes sometimes the stars just line right up

speaking of good timing I've been considering driving down Highway 1 for a few years now and sort of easing my wife into the idea. since she grew up in California she doesn't want to go anywhere near that HIGHWAY. so you having a VETTE for years how many times have you driven that HIGHWAY from LA to SF? or were you to busy?

Drives
I've been up and down that road several times. It's (was) a very pretty drive.
I took the Viper on its maiden voyage up the coast. Had to stay in expensive hotels and give the valet an extra $20 to park the car where he could see it all night

in any case i guess yesterday washed out the plans for me and probably you to drive it after this huge landslide. here's a video and write up by the LA Times.

I hadn't heard about the slide until last night when you mentioned it

http://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-big-sur-pch-mudslide-20170523-htmlstory.html

loving the progress with your Vette. sounds like maybe all that's left to do is PAINTING IT?

I hope so, but I plan to drive it as my daily driver for a while to work out any rattles or bugs that show up first.

Thanks for dropping in Drives

 

[don long]

Bad news


Corvette motor sucked a valve
Stopped driving it til I get the motor back together. Damn

 

[larry4406]

Bad news


Corvette motor sucked a valve
Stopped driving it til I get the motor back together. Damn

Ouch! That um, well, ***** as you said.

 

[rmalkow2]

Sorry to hear that Don. Hoping the overall damage is not too bad.

 

[HOTFR8]

Ouch.

 

[drivesitfar]

Don: i hope it's a fairly easy fix, but doesn't sound good. any idea how that would have happened? driver or mechanic or a little of both?

good luck with the fix.

 

[jbmatth]

That is no fun, hopefully you get lucky and the piston is fine, but by the sounds of it probably not. Did it break the keeper, or just fall out?
JB

 

[larry_g]

Fess up now; At what RPM and are there a couple black stripes on the pavement to mark the spot?

Really hope that it is a easy fix for you and back on the road again.

lg
no neat sig line

 

[Bob Heine]

Don, maybe this is a less bad thing (obviously not a good thing). If I recall correctly that's a used LT1 you've had for quite a while so I know you're going to want to go through the whole thing and not just patch up one cylinder. Taking the engine apart with the body on risks damaging that gorgeous engine compartment you worked so hard on. You were going to blow it all apart for paint anyway so taking the body off again makes some sense. Maybe, in the interest of time, replace the long block with a guaranteed one. One example, with a pin-drive distributor setup that should just drop in your frame:
http://www.jegs.com/i/Blueprint-Eng...6&cadevice=c&gclid=CN6lxPO7n9QCFdG2wAoddN0FVw

 

[don long]

Taking a break for lunch so I thought I'd check in

Thanks for all the sympathy guys.
Yes I've had the motor for several years sitting on the vette frame.
I just fired it up when it popped. No pressure on the motor just idling in the driveway trying to put it up on the hoist. No burn outs. Didn't even have the gas pedal installed just pulling on the throttle cable by hand.
I have another one in the barn that I might have souped up a touch and put it in.
My mechanic is booked for a week or so. Then he will pull the head and see what is wrong. I didn't want to take the body off yet but it looks like it may have to happen.

On to another project!!!

 

[1/2 Cup]

Don, that's not nice.

Hopefully its an easy fix..

Regards

 

[don long]

Well I'm over the heart ache of the motor and it's back to finishing up the loose ends on the vette.
Today was spent working on dressing up the motor (hiding the wires on the motor.)
I had two engine covers that I had picked up at a swap meet a few years ago.
They needed to be modified to fit the LT1 motor due to the vintage Corvette valve covers I have on the motor.



After getting them to sit on the motor I didn't like the big gap at the rear of the covers so, I cut a cardboard pattern to fit the hole and took a flat piece of metal and started cutting and hammering out the pattern on my vice.


After fitting the piece several times, and I was satisfied with the shape. I got out the fiberglass material and started molding the part to be added to the original covers.

 

[dpljmurphy]

Don, sorry to hear about the valve/motor, glad you can move forward. Best wishes on all fronts, David

 

[rmalkow2]

Don,
Glad to hear the motor is back together and in the car again.
Regarding old valve covers on a newer smaller block. I assume you had to use adapters for the bolt pattern on the heads. Did you make your own or buy them and maybe have an opinion on how they worked? I'm looking to do the same thing and put some 6's era finned valve covers on a post '74 350 to give a bit of old school look and combined with an older intake that has the fill tube with breather.
I'm looking for recommendations on good adapters for the valve covers.

 

[don long]

Don, sorry to hear about the valve/motor, glad you can move forward. Best wishes on all fronts, David

Thanks David

Don,
Glad to hear the motor is back together and in the car again.
Regarding old valve covers on a newer smaller block. I assume you had to use adapters for the bolt pattern on the heads. Did you make your own or buy them and maybe have an opinion on how they worked? I'm looking to do the same thing and put some 6's era finned valve covers on a post '74 350 to give a bit of old school look and combined with an older intake that has the fill tube with breather.
I'm looking for recommendations on good adapters for the valve covers.

Sorry to say but the motor is still broke, I just decided to forget about it for a while and work on the rest of the car once in a while. Lol
I bought the valve cover adapters a few years ago and will say they fit well but haven't had the motor running long enough to see how well they work.
I bored a hole in my intake for the breather tube and made the tube.
You can see the cap in the picture above to the rear of the motor

 

[drivesitfar]

Don: sorry to hear you weren't at least having a little fun when the engine's rod did it's thing. best of luck with that.

i know you might have about 1,000 ways to form metal, but just in case you didn't know this one or one of the members watching your thread i've had some good luck forming some shapes on a wood stump in the past that had a sort of bowl shape cut out of it. i also just picked up a 3 inch thick 10x12 piece of steel plate that has a cut out in it that i can pound on some thick gauge steel to start forming it. i'll post pictures of the steel one if you don't have one to see what i'm talking about and my old stump has gone by the by so I might be needing to make another one.

i'm not exactly sure how you are going to place that piece around your engine, but it looks and sounds interesting.

good luck

 

[don long]

Drives
That piece will connect the two side covers at the rear of the motor covering up the fuel return valve and going around the breather tube.

I have a wood stump that I use the Leather bag with. I wanted some sharp lines on the metal so the vice worked well for that. My first thought was to build the filler panel out of the metal but after pounding and fitting the metal I decided to go with glass to better match the side panels.

The car is loaded on the trailer tonight to go back to the mechanic in the morning.

I appreciate every ones comments and concerns
Thanks guys

Don

 

[camarosrus69]

Hey Don,
I’ve read your party garage thread and really love your work. I noticed on a comment that you made to HD FLHX, that you had this Corvette rebuild and had to check it out. I started a couple days ago noticed it started in 2014. I hoped you would be done (as I’m sure you do) only to discover this heart-breaking turn of events. You’re sooooo close. Don’t let this discourage you. Obviously, this will set you back. Did you get any miles on it? Probably not, if you didn’t have a gas pedal. Is there any chance you’ll get on the road before your birthday? I kind of know what you’re feeling, but to a much lesser extent. I got my Camaro out this spring, for the first time in a couple years, only to shred a tire after about 30 miles. Just because an old tire looks good, doesn’t mean it is.

 

[don long]

Hey Don,
I’ve read your party garage thread and really love your work. I noticed on a comment that you made to HD FLHX, that you had this Corvette rebuild and had to check it out. I started a couple days ago noticed it started in 2014. I hoped you would be done (as I’m sure you do) only to discover this heart-breaking turn of events. You’re sooooo close. Don’t let this discourage you. Obviously, this will set you back. Did you get any miles on it? Probably not, if you didn’t have a gas pedal. Is there any chance you’ll get on the road before your birthday? I kind of know what you’re feeling, but to a much lesser extent. I got my Camaro out this spring, for the first time in a couple years, only to shred a tire after about 30 miles. Just because an old tire looks good, doesn’t mean it is.

Thanks for checking out the Vette thread camarosrus69
No time spent behind the wheel of the car yet and that wasn't very kind to remind me of how long I've been toying with the vette LOL
I don't think that I'll be driving it much before my bday because of other time constraints coming up.
We did find out what the problem was with the motor. After pulling off the right head we found a 3/8s bolt floating around in the engine we pulled the left head and found tracks where the bolt had been dancing over there as well. So the heads are in the machine shop and luckly there is no damage to the block.
I decided that as long as the front end of the motor is apart its time to polish up the aluminum parts again and bring the bling back into the motor compartment.

 

[SLC Shirt Lady]

Dad! This has been so fun to read!! I can't wait to see it! It looks AMAZING! I LOVE THIS CAR!
I'm trying to post pictures of us in it from back in the 80's but I can't figure out how.
Love you!

 

[drivesitfar]

Don: i like the idea of you polishing up the engine to give it the bling most of the stuff you show us has. best of luck with the engine repairs and happy to hear your issues weren't worse.

BEST OF LUCK!!

SLC: great to see that Don's daughter has joined the forum. if you'd like an even better read now that you can see the pictures you might want to go in the garage gallery and look at your parent's PARTY GARAGE that you've maybe been lucky enough to see in person and maybe help your DAD & MOM find and restore some of the things in there. it's more like a MUSEUM than a garage and just keeps getting better all the time.

as far as pictures there are several options to post pictures either thru online picture web sites like Photo bucket or i do it directly to GJ's site. see the paperclip just above where we write our posts in the middle? click on that and you can download up to 7 pictures per post that come up as thumbnails like the one i'm posting of my AVATAR made of old tools and scrap steel. then if the reader wants to see the picture full size they just need to click on the thumbnail 2 or 3 times. if you need more help just ask and I (we) are happy to help you.

Also WELCOME to the forum and i hope you'll like it as much as i do. your parents set the bar up pretty high, but there are a few other member's garages and collections that are pretty nice too now that you are a member you can click on them and just enjoy the pictures if you have time.

cheers

 

[don long]

Thought I'd give up an update on the Vette
I got the motor all put back together with all the bright parts repolished

Today we wired up the electric fan and tested to see if the motor would get hot
All was well so I mounted the custom grille that I made a few months ago and fired up the car and let it idle for about 10 minutes still no problem.
So I decided that today after 20 years of not driving this beast was the day for our maiden voyage (drove it about a mile)
All is great (a few rattles that need to be chased down but) it ran smooth and cool

The bling

IMG_1008 by don long, on Flickr

The new grille, Not polished yet

IMG_1006 by don long, on Flickr

A closeup of the grille

IMG_1007 by don long, on Flickr

 

[Duker]

Looks great Don!


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[MP&C]

Good to see it all together (for the most part) Don!