Bled out the brakes! We have a brake pedal! Put the wheels back on and took it out for its first test drive! Now it's just a question of working out the bugs. E brake works, gas gauge works. Headlights are sticky. I think thry need to be lubed up. Thsts next
This morning I messed around with the headlight doors. There are 4 pivots per side. Two diverter valves- the same one a 68-69 Riviera uses, two limit switches, stop bolts for up and down, three springs per side, a vacuum storage tank and two vacuum actuators....a little over complicated but I digress.... All the pivots needed to be taken apart, cleaned, wire wheeled and re greased. Now the doors are capable to going up and down. Out of the 4 headlights, only one worked. I saved the old headlights from the X, so I used them in the vette. Gave the car a wash. Basically knocked the big chinks off...literally. Cleaned the windows so you can actually see out of them. Gave the interior a vacuuming and a once over with simple green. So gross in there. At least now I can drive it without needing a shower afterwards You know a car is dirty when you have to hose the driveway down afterwards..
Thanks! I still have a long list of stuff to attend to before thst happens. But definitely getting closer. The brakes were a major stepping stone My poor challenger is being neglected. Next up is giving that poor car a bath.
Hi, I have a nice Beverly Hills car cover from my 73 Vette that I got rid of many years ago. It was a similar project like yours except I paid $5k for it back in 1985. I have no use for this cover and remembered I had it in storage. It was originally from a Camaro but it worked fine on the vette outside of the mirror pockets being off. It’s an exterior waterproof cover so I thought it so be good if you have to leave your project outside. Probably not extra $$’s you want to spend but rather see it used than sit around. Anyway if you’re interested you cover shipping and it’s yours. Pretty cool back story on my Vette. It was a L48 -4 speed all NM. I did a mild restoration back in late 80’s and drove the car daily. I sold the car in 2007 to a 18 year old in MI. Fast forward to 2022, he found me on linkedin and sent me pictures of the car after doing a frame of restoration. It was cool to see the car again and being taken car off. Thanks Fred.
From what I remember the headlights pivot points had plastic/nylon bushings. Sometimes the air tank would have pin holes. Luckey that back bumper is good as I do not think they make a replacement for it, or at least they didn't. One year only item. Looking good....
Updates- the engine had a slight missfire on the drivers bank when I started it. I wound up doing a half ass rebuild on it and thr miss went away! Ran far better. So off it came again and it's en route to Ken at Everyday Performance to work his magic on it. Since the carb is going to be away for a few weeks, I thought I'd start decontaminating the interior. Pulled the seats. Scrubbed with simple green, hosed off and left to dry in the sun Couple before and after pics. The beauty of it is its such a massive transformation and it's literally zero expense Before- After- Scrubbed the carpets too. Before- And after- Not perfect but much better! The interior is going to really shape up. I'm planning on getting a couple cans of Sen color coat in silver to freshen up some of the parts like the console, seat belt retractor housings and the plastic seat backs.
"Louie" stopped by the house today! Louie is an old school Corvette fiberglass guy. He's been doing corvettes for 50 years. Hes retired so he does cars at his leisure now judt because he like doing them. His specialty are the 53-54 Vettes. He looked it over and gave me an estimate which was very reasonable. He's going to do it on weekends right at my house.
I think so! He's my insurance guys friend. My insurance guy is a well known vette guy. Here's an article on the one he owns now https://www.corvette-mag.com/issues/130/articles/rare-and-to-go
Another little before and after for you guys. I picked up a can of Sem today and selectively painted a few parts and pieces. Even scrubbed, they simply looked dingy. So a lite dusting of some vinyl dye brightened them all up. Before- And after- For less than $20, it's the best bang for your buck as far as rejuvenating an interior. Not perfect, but 100 times better.
The interior is put back together. I think it came out really good. Smells a whole lot better too. I gave the front grills a scrubbing and a quick shot of Sem trim black. Again, not perfect but a whole lot better! I tackled removing the old urethane bumper retainers off the front and rear. Every single stud snapped except for about six. Those six I had to drill out Here are the retainers-
Bumpers are on the way home from New Hampshire..... How lucky is this- I find a guy selling 74 corvette bumpers. The rear bumper is a one year only deal because of the split. The front is 73-74 only. And a screaming deal at 350 for the pair. Perfect for this project too. I don't need to buy $1200 worth of bumpers from the Corvette suppliers....Anyway, the guy is in NH. I ask Jen, "when we're you gonna visit your mom in New Hamshire?" She says she was planning on going Friday. "Uh.....can you do me a favor?" LOL So she texted me this pic today-
the filth on that interior is amazing. I have a 25 yo dump truck that is much cleaner. Was the previous owner killing goats in there?
