Mark's Monster Garage....3800 sq ft

[Omphaloskeptic]

Wow, I just love 'helping' other people spend their money! lol

I didn't know if my 'stance' comment above would be welcome or not; I'm glad you agree with my impression.

In the light of my 'constructive comment' being well-received (heh-heh), could I dare put forth some other comments/questions?

Since you are tasked with adding A/C and 'prettifying' the engine compartment would it be beneficial to consider the following ideas:

- I'm guessing the addition of the A/C will require some extra real estate in the bay. Would switching to an electric fan(s) set-up give you some 'room-to-ramba', clean-up the look of the engine front, and allow for some additional 'bling' to the front face of the block? I'm thinking a polished shroud, SS hoses, a buffed water pump, etc., etc., etc....

- Is the engine shop going to have some stuff polished/buffed/replaced? The stock valve covers are OK, but don't Vette owners have their own version of a Harley-Davidson 'Candy Store' for after-market jewelry for their babies? Are polished 'billet' valve covers for a Vette considered blasphemous?


Okay, I may have over-stepped what's considered proper GJ 'project etiquette', so I'll keep my ideas to just those two.

---------------------

Just a comment or two about your steam cleaning set-up.....

AWESOME! MONSTROUS! A SERIOUS PIECE OF SHOP EQUIPMENT!​

That machine deserves its own lift in a dedicated 'mud-room' to make every cleaning job a breeze. That beast must be a bear to get to all the nooks-and-crannies to do its thing!

-------------------

And finally, a quick shout-out to your guys who get down-and-dirty in prepping/cleaning a vehicle prior to all the finish work. That whole prep thing is nasty, dirty, hard work, but it is so necessary to the final result!

 

[Bob Heine]

We will rehab all the parts we can get our hands on. I am looking at possible a full coilover suspension. Otherwise we would sandblast the existing control arms and install new bushings. A new Griffen radiator will be ordered, new master cylinder, and brake system. I am sending the motor out to be looked over. Now its out we need to make sure it is freshened up if necessary.

This job started as a simple detail the engine compartment and is now growing.

Mark,

I'm in the process of doing a lot of the same things to my 1972 Corvette big block. My budget is limited but I'm able to put aside money over time to do it my way. I've been working on my Corvette since I was a young boy and am seriously trying to put it back together. Among the things I'm doing is coilovers. If you haven't already found them, Van Steel is right around the corner from you. He sells a full-on tubular control arm coilover setup for the front and an offset trailing arm setup for the rear.
http://www.vansteel.com/index.cfm?fu...&SubGroup=1971

Before I found Van Steel, I was just going to do a front coilover conversion. QA-1 makes a setup for the front that's a special coil spring and adjustable shock. I did buy tubular upper control arm from Vette Brakes & Performance for better caster adjustment. I think I spent about $800 so it isn't a huge leap to go for the full setup.

The setup supports the whole weight of the front of the car using the (drilled-out) lower a-arm shock mount. I decided it needed some bracing but it's pretty simple stuff, just a piece of 1-inch square tubing. I welded it in after taking this shot:

The Rear coilover is just plain beautiul.

Aside from swapping the trailing arm, the only modification to the car is a reinforcement for the shock mount and shortening a couple of the supplied mounting bolts (the square-head bolt in this shot was just to hold alignment while I welded the brace in).

 

[Bob Heine]

As has already been mentioned, DeWitts makes real nice exact fit aluminum radiators for Corvettes, including the one you are doing. They are happy to include a bung under the top radiator inlet for a temperature sensor if you're using (or thinking of using) the Spal electric fan setup.

My radiator is slightly different with the fill cap located on the overflow tank instead of the radiator.

I didn't care for the clamp-on tube that connects my stock radiator to the overflow tank. It's a silly upgrade but I wanted to use braided stainless line but with real AN fittings (the clamp covers are OK but no more effective than plain worm clamps).

When I asked them for a -6 AN bung instead of the standard tube, I expected an extra charge but it was included in the price of the radiator.

The swirls in my tank are from me -- too cheap to pay them to polish the radiator and that's the first Scotchbrite pass.

 

[Bob Heine]

- I'm guessing the addition of the A/C will require some extra real estate in the bay. Would switching to an electric fan(s) set-up give you some 'room-to-ramba', clean-up the look of the engine front, and allow for some additional 'bling' to the front face of the block? I'm thinking a polished shroud, SS hoses, a buffed water pump, etc., etc., etc....

- Is the engine shop going to have some stuff polished/buffed/replaced? The stock valve covers are OK, but don't Vette owners have their own version of a Harley-Davidson 'Candy Store' for after-market jewelry for their babies? Are polished 'billet' valve covers for a Vette considered blasphemous?

Okay, I may have over-stepped what's considered proper GJ 'project etiquette', so I'll keep my ideas to just those two.

As long as we're overstepping (please tell me to PM this if it's too much of a hijack)....

Vintage Air makes a system that fits inside the passenger compartment and doesn't intrude on the engine side. The stock A/C in my car is just the opposite.

[/URL]

I didn't notice if the car had power brakes but if it does, that big vacuum booster that touches the driver side valve cover can be replaced with a hydroboost unit. It's assist is from the power steering pump so there's plumbing involved. Another opportunity for braided Teflon lines (please excuse the dust, it's a work in progress):

Several companies offer the complete kit but I used Tallon Hydraulics because they offer the polished plate to mount the hydroboost to the firewall. They even make a plate to adapt manual brake Corvettes to hydroboost. The mounting bolts are totally different on manual and power brake cars.

 

[IGO2XS]

Lots of good helpful information here guys and thanks for the hi-jacking It is all very helpful......means I dont have to think as much. Ompha As Bob pointed out we are bringing in a Vintage Air system which will mount behind the passenger side glove compartment box. Other than the condenser and the compressor it is all out of sight. We are still mounting a custom radiator with electric fans to clean up the engine bay. We will be polishing the radiator, adding polished stainless steel radiator hoses, polished water pump and timing chain cover, jet hot coated headers, and a few other things. We are going to bead blast the intake manifold and polish the valve covers.

And yes, I love my steam cleaner!!

Bob Your technical information is awesome. It looks like we are heading down the same path. For now I am adding a Wilwood master cylinder without a booster. I have this set up on my 66 Vette and I am pretty happy with the manual brakes. The hydro-boost would be the next step. He now wants big brakes on this car so we are looking at either 13" or 14" Wilwood brakes

I am still up in the air on the radiator. I have a Be Cool radiator in my 66 and I am happy with it. I really want to eliminate the factory overflow tank because I dont like how it looks. I know that seems silly but if I thought someone made a factory polished tank I would reconsider. This is the only reason why I am thinking of the griffen radiator in addition the Griffen just looks a little more custom.....bad reasoning point #2!!

We are going with the full Van Steel coil over kit and narrowed trailing arms. I hope we get the engine bay painted tomorrow so we can get the vette back on the lift. I need to take off the factory trailing arms so I can get them up to Van Steel first of the week.

I was looking around the internet last night and saw a 67 vette where they glassed in the heater box hole. Yep, you guessed it first thing I told the guys to fill in that big hole. It will make a big difference in the smooth look of the firewall.

Here is the car the owner wants to model our project. We won't quite get here because we would need to tub our vette to get bigger wheels in the back but we will get as close as we can. We will do the red paint theme to match this car.

 

[IGO2XS]

Corvette progress

We had a little progress on the Corvette. We spent almost 4 days sanding and prepping the frame, firewall, and inner fenders. It was a lot more work than I thought but we have also worked on cleaner frames and firewalls. We are moving ahead on the coil over suspension and the narrowed trailing arms. We are going with the Van Steel product line. We are buying the 2 inch narrowed trailing arms, full coil overs front and rear, and new beefed up front and rear sway bars. Luckily they are close so I will run the old trailing arms up there. They charge $200 for each arm to install new bearings. I have never done it and think I might let them do it. Any thoughts???

We did however decided to remove the old trailing arms. I had never done this so I did what any other budding enthusiast would do...........I watched a few YOUTUBE videos on the process I was all prepared for the big nightmare of removing the trailing arms from the years of corrosion. It was claimed to take up to 8 hours for the average guy. Obviously my lift and tools made a impact on the removal. We were done in a little under 3 hours.

Now, if there are any Corvette enthusiast out there please stop reading at this point. Ha ha......although I am doing this build for a friend ...I have been given full reign to make decisions. I like big tires, big wheels, and big brakes. Although the C2 has its limitations we are going to squeeze what we can. I happened to have a 255/35-20 Nitto tire laying around so once we got the trailing arms off we mocked it up. Wow is my personal opinion. Looking for an 18" wheel up front in case we go with the 14" Wilwood brakes. I have also talked to Diamond Back and we are going to be putting red lines tires on this car. They have red lines up to 20" applied on Nitto Tires.

 

[OldH1]

That tire looks SWEET!! Good choice on size!!

 

[Buzz Lightyear]

That fills the arch up nicely.

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

I guess I'm just not getting that profile of tire; of course, I've never seen them on any car that makes them 'look' right for the car. Maybe I have a 'ghetto' complex. lol

I went image searching for an early Corvette with tires of that profile, found this (below), but it still reminds me of a glamorous classic movie actress wearing combat boots. Just seems wrong, but that's how I roll...

 

[OldH1]

I think it depends on the design of the rim...with the correct style (classic) on that tire you keep the classic look without it looking to retro...

 

[Wingnut65]

If you are going to start a project with some inspiration, this is Awesome!

Great work as usual.

 

[Bob Heine]

Corvette preservationists may be freaking out over you changing to 20-inch rear tires but the size you are considering is 27.01-inches tall and 9.92-inch section width (couldn't find tread width but it's pretty close to the section width). The stock replacement tire on a 1966 Corvette is a 205/75R15, which is 27.1-inches tall with 8.0-inch section width with a 5.7-inch tread width. So, the big difference is tread width and two inches more section width to get close to four inches more footprint width is pretty good.

You're probably already aware but those are offset trailing arms and could be attractive to someone who wants to keep the stock suspension but wants to put on bigger tires.

I like what you are doing. When you say "prepping the frame" I assume you are confining the prep work to the engine bay. As soon as you move further to the rear, you are on the slippery slope of a frame-off project.

 

[MHORTON79]

I took some pictures of the interior and the trunk today. Its a nice original interior and I love the red. I would like to at some point put some Autometer gauges in the dash.

I am pretty proud of the trunk area. I like sound and have subwoofers in about every car I own. I built the subwoofer boxes and had a friend of mine do the stitch work. The polished stainless tank is the air tank for the air ride. A lot of people think it is a nitrous tank.

Looks like JL Audio W6s or W7s. Can't tell what size. 10s or 12s? That's a slick trunk set up. I love JL. Can't go wrong with them.

 

[48windsor]

a man cannot have too much garage

 

[IGO2XS]

a man cannot have too much garage

Well said I wish I had built it bigger.

Looks like JL Audio W6s or W7s. Can't tell what size. 10s or 12s? That's a slick trunk set up. I love JL. Can't go wrong with them.

They are 12's and they kick pretty good!

Corvette preservationists may be freaking out over you changing to 20-inch rear tires but the size you are considering is 27.01-inches tall and 9.92-inch section width (couldn't find tread width but it's pretty close to the section width).

I like what you are doing. When you say "prepping the frame" I assume you are confining the prep work to the engine bay. As soon as you move further to the rear, you are on the slippery slope of a frame-off project.

Not only the Corvette enthusiast's but also our very ownOmphaloskeptic. I like the low profile tires and all this resto mod stuff. I think big brakes and big tires are cool.....even on vettes. Thanks for the tire data. I need to be careful on sizing the rear tires too big.

You will be glad to know I ordered the radiator from Dewitts today. It was in stock and it is being shipped.

If you are going to start a project with some inspiration, this is Awesome!
Great work as usual.

thanks Wingnut!!!

I think it depends on the design of the rim...with the correct style (classic) on that tire you keep the classic look without it looking to retro...

I think we are going a little more retro in this car. Thanks for your comment.

I guess I'm just not getting that profile of tire; of course, I've never seen them on any car that makes them 'look' right for the car. Maybe I have a 'ghetto' complex. lol

Well, we all cant have good taste can we If you will notice every car I own has air ride and low profile tires. The nice thing is we all dont have the same taste's and some of us just express ourselves a little different.

 

[OldH1]

Guaranteed when it is finished...we all would be smiling ear to ear if we were sitting in the passenger seat...regardless of what tires are on it!

 

[Wingnut65]

I think I first fell in love with Corvette Resto Mods was on Car Crazy when Barry Meguiar visited Corvette Mike. Here's the Car Crazy Episode. The Vette portion starts at about 13:42

I am hooked on that yellow 1960 Convertible!

 

[IGO2XS]

Corvette progress

I think I first fell in love with Corvette Resto Mods was on Car Crazy when Barry Meguiar visited Corvette Mike.

You need to get one Wingnut!!

We got the block and some parts painted for the Corvette last night and they look awesome. The imron has some thickness to it so the coverage is great. I picked up a nice RPC polished aluminum timing chain cover and a Weiand polished water pump. I spent about an hour on the old aluminum valve covers with the buffing wheel shining them up.

I wish I would have taken a before picture of the dual quad Edelbrock intake manifold. It had been on the car for some time and looked pretty bad. I picked up some glass beads and put the intake in my blasting cabinet. In 15 minutes or so I had the intake looking like new.

A decision has been made to put factory sidepipes on this car. I did a little research tonight and found the side pipe headers made by Headman and also found Classic Chambered Exhaust who makes some nice flowing side pipe mufflers. Anyone with any experience or advise on this. I used the picture Omphaloskeptic posted of the black vette to show the owner of the car. He loved it and decided to go with it.

 

[Bob Heine]

Re: Corvette progress

A decision has been made to put factory sidepipes on this car. I did a little research tonight and found the side pipe headers made by Headman and also found Classic Chambered Exhaust who makes some nice flowing side pipe mufflers. Anyone with any experience or advise on this. I used the picture Omphaloskeptic posted of the black vette to show the owner of the car. He loved it and decided to go with it.

Mark,

Stainless Works offers side pipe headers for 63-82 big block Corvettes. They are stainless steel so of course more expensive. Primary tubes are 2" compared to the Hedman 1-3/4 and the mounting flange is 3/8" instead of 1/4". Is it worth twice as much? I don't know but you did say price was no object (I think Stainless Works offers full polish for another $450 or so).

Hedman 68216 ($475.95):

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/hed-68216/overview/year/1966/make/chevrolet/model/corvette

Stainless Works 6382CBBSE ($1,090.00):

http://www.stainlessworks.net/1963-82-corvette-headers-big-block-side-exit.html

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

"Well, we all cant have good taste can we If you will notice every car I own has air ride and low profile tires. The nice thing is we all dont have the same taste's and some of us just express ourselves a little different. "


LOL Ya-ya, I hear you about not everybody having the same tastes; that's what makes the world go around (and keeps SEMA making big bucks)! I don't consider myself a narrow-minded stick-in-the-mud old fart (my daughter might just dispute that), but sometimes it takes a whack or two to my head to allow me to appreciate a different approach.

I thought you might like that vette pic I found via Google/images, especially since it closely resembled the rendering the owner had for a build reference.

The engine is really looking good! Does anyone make a high temp clear spray paint to preserve the shine, slow down oxidation, and make it harder for road grime to accumulate?

 

[Bob Heine]

Does anyone make a high temp clear spray paint to preserve the shine, slow down oxidation, and make it harder for road grime to accumulate?

Yes Sir,

It isn't for exhaust manifolds but clear powder-coat is readily available. I couldn't find polished aluminum pulleys for my big block so I had the stock steel pulleys powder-coated with silver.

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

Yes Sir,

It isn't for exhaust manifolds but clear powder-coat is readily available. I couldn't find polished aluminum pulleys for my big block so I had the stock steel pulleys powder-coated with silver.

Thanks! I'm thinking that DIY powder-coating should be added to my 'projects list'. lol

 

[IGO2XS]

Corvette progress

Bob Heine, you are a wealth of knowledge on these vettes. You are the official consultant on this car. Wow on the Stainless Works headers. That is a lot of nickels to buy those pipes.......are they worth it Thanks for the heads up and we'll answer this question this week. I am going to check out Classic Chambered exhaust on the sidepipe mufflers.

Omphaloskeptic thanks again for the picture and your comments. They are always welcomed and do provoke thought in my little tiny brain. It would be nice to have a coating for the intake manifold. The polished intake was almost $600 and just not worth it in my estimation so cleaning up the old was was decided. It is bare aluminum and subject to fuel spills, oil, oxidation and dirt. Not much we can do about it. Most of the aluminum pieces are bare aluminum and will need cleaning periodically. If you buy March pulleys they apply a clear powder coating over the polished aluminum which keeps them from oxidation.

Heading to Clearwater, Fl to Van Steel tomorrow morning and hope to bring back the new vette suspension.

 

[IGO2XS]

I spent an hour this morning at Van Steel in Clearwater. It is a nice candy store for corvette guys. Purchased the full coilover kit, tubular silver powder coated upper/lower control arms, full set of Wilwood 13" drilled/slotted rotors, and some other parts. It will be a few weeks until all the parts are ready to pick up. The Dewitt radiator for the Corvette came in today.....it is beautiful. I need to decide whether to polish it or not.






Check out this gadget......the owner of the speed shop I buy from gave it to me. It is used to measure wheel sizes and offsets for custom wheels. I have always measured using tape measures and straight edges but this devise does it all for you.

 

[shopnut]

Cool tire gadget. It seems a guy could make one of those if the funds were a bit short.

Nice progress on the cars and lots of good Corvette tips from the rest of the gang.

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

IGO2XS, when I read about the possibility of a radiator polish job, I thought - 'Oh-oh, I wonder if he is going to 'fit-check' it before he does the polish work?'. Then I realized whose thread this is, slapped my forehead, and said aloud - 'Of course Mark will do that as a matter of course; this is the 'Monster Garage' after all!'. lol

Hey, glad my ruminating ramblings are welcome here; my '900 number psychic/psychotherapist' thinks it might be doing me some good... maybe..... sort of.... possibly..... couldn't hurt (much)....

That gift from the speed shop owner is pretty nifty. I wonder if it's extendable enough to tell a customizer if a wheel/tire combination would limit steering without tubbing or flaring?

In regard to a high temp clear spray (krylon ?), I was thinking that if there was something like it on the market for a DIY guy, it might be a cheap way to keep porous parts from loading up with dirt and grime.

 

[Kevin54]

Yes Sir,

It isn't for exhaust manifolds but clear powder-coat is readily available. I couldn't find polished aluminum pulleys for my big block so I had the stock steel pulleys powder-coated with silver.

I don't know if you noticed, but your alternator is just a tad out of line, and you have a slight king in your water hose

Did you do the pulley's yourself, or have someone else do them?

 

[Fastphil]

I don't know if you noticed, but your alternator is just a tad out of line, and you have a slight king in your water hose

Did you do the pulley's yourself, or have someone else do them?

Come on man, don't you know that the intake-to-carburetor coolant hose is supposed to have a kink in it? If it doesn't, the engine floods!

 

[Bob Heine]

I don't know if you noticed, but your alternator is just a tad out of line, and you have a slight king in your water hose

Did you do the pulley's yourself, or have someone else do them?

Kevin,
Alternator and A/C compressor are power-robbing accessories. Only hooking them up when absolutely necessary. I'm looking into eliminating the cooling system altogether. Shouldn't be a problem as long as I limit my trips to 3 minutes or less.

Wife won't let me use the oven for anything but food so I had to farm out the powder coating.

Come on man, don't you know that the intake-to-carburetor coolant hose is supposed to have a kink in it? If it doesn't, the engine floods!

Phil,
You're right -- once the water pump impeller is free of coolant, the air it moves will be my low-pressure supercharger and the kink should prevent detonation.

 

[hippie2cams]

I just love these threads and comments that spew forth with wisdom and humour or some combination thereof be for the beholder

 

[IGO2XS]

Omphaloskeptic Not only is the wheel gauge extendable but it also comes with a wire to simulate the tire size. It bolts on to the wheel hubs so you could rotate it and check tire clearance. It is made by Percy's Wheel Rite and Summit Racing sells them.




shopnut I just checked the price and this product sells for $75. Not worth it for a one time use unless you mis-measure and cost your self $1000 worth of wheels.


Bob Heine I also see Bob has one of those new invisible A/C compressor brackets. I would advise all members to keep away from Bob if you need help diagnosing any engine problems.


hippie2cams We have been experiencing these outburst ever since they allowed laptops in area mental hospitals

 

[tskills10]

the percy's wheel fitment tool is a nice thing to have for measuring for those new wheels. I bought one a few years ago for a project and never ended up using it until just recently for my Mistress. And now a buddy is borrowing it. But it is somewhat expensive. Mark things are looking great.

 

[Omphaloskeptic]

I'll be dang'd! Well, I guess it just makes good sense to have the tool capable of checking not only wheel interference, but the tires' fit as well.

 

[KoJo]

Awesome garage!

 

[IGO2XS]

Corvette Engine Compartment

Awesome garage!

thank you and tskills10

We had a couple set backs on the Corvette engine compartment with some material problems but finally got it straightened out. I was very happy to see the back Imron layed out so nice. Now we have to detail everything we put back in there.

Full paint job in the works for this one so before we can assemble any further we are going to get the trim off the body and start sanding. I want to get the dirty work done before we start putting the interior and suspension back together. I have a big metal rolling frame we are going to try to convert to a dolly tomorrow so we can roll the vette around.




CORVETTE ENGINE COMPARTMENT IS PAINTED!!

 

[IGO2XS]

Question........do any of you guys crimp your own A/C lines? Just curious because i was looking at buying a crimping tool and am looking for some recommendations.

 

[fxr rider]

Wow now that is a garage!
enjoy reading about the projects you have on the go in there.envy would be the word to use here
As far as the A/C lines I am a retired Auto tech way back 20 years ago we used to crimp them dont know if they are still doing that. Here in the great white north(canada) it was or at least in the shop I was in not a common practice after the regulations changed regarding Freon leaks.Mind You we never did restorations like you do. My self I always preferred to use factory hoses.

 

[JCQuick]

A friend of mine has been crimping a bunch of A/C lines lately, he is using a machine from another friend I'll try and get some details tomorrow for you

 

[IGO2XS]

I have had a guy bugging me about helping out in the garage so I told him he could come by and i would find him something to do. He said he liked to do electrical work and mentioned he had restored a few dash boards in his time. Our Corvette dash was in poor shape paint wise. Someone had tried to restore it and used a brush to paint it. This seemed to be a perfect job for Peter. He did an excellent job and what I liked is he kept all of the parts very nicely organized. The glass lens were in perfect shape and all the gauges work. We stripped the dash of paint and will be painting in back as factory.







After the dash was done the new guy was still ready for more. We had removed the wiring harness while we were painting the engine compartment. We couldnt put the dirty old harness back in our pretty engine compartment so this seemed to be another pretty good job. He removed the factory tape around the wires and with a small brush cleaned all of the glue and dirt off of the wires. It made the harness look like new. I guess we will either put new vinyl looms on them or re-tape them.




As of yesterday the Corvette is getting a complete paint job. We were just painting the hood and fender but there are just too many issues with the existing paint work. We already had the motor out and the interior stripped so it really wasnt to much of a job to removed the emblems, bumpers, and trim. We are going to sand and get the car in primer, installed all of the new suspension and then paint it.

 

[IGO2XS]

WANTED.......are you or do you know of a master body man, fabricator, hot rod muscle car specialist, good pay, great work environment. PM me............looking for a special person