Corvette project car

[280Z Turbo]

I'm officially down to one car, but I haven't given up working on old crap.



Instead of buying a new project car, I decided to invest some money into fixing up my dad's Corvette. I'm not planning a NCRS restoration, but I just want to get it running, driving, and maybe looking better too.

The car was horribly abused and repaired before my dad got it in 1978, but it still goes down the road. The engine is tired and the suspension could use some work.

I'm planning a stock rebuild on the motor this winter. Maybe a slightly hotter cam.

My first order of business is replacing the horrible Cragar S/S's with some Torq Thrust D style mags in the proper size and offset. Not only are these ugly, they are too wide and the offset is all wrong for a Corvette.



Probably going with these:
http://www.summitracing.com/parts/aew-1117-5734/overview/


It will be fun to learn about old Chevy small blocks and use the other side of my socket set for once.

[280Z Turbo]

I'm also thinking a front disc brake swap may be in the cards. Non power front drums can be kinda spooky.

[hotrodalex]

Holy sidewall.

I'm also thinking a front disc brake swap may be in the cards. Non power front drums can be kinda spooky.

That's what I started with, then I caught pro touring fever. Be warned. Or give in now. Giving in is much more fun.

[280Z Turbo]

Yeah, there was a bad conversion there from vintage tire size to metric.

The new tires will be 215/65-15s, down from 215/75-15s.

Also, got it started today. I think the accelerator pump was sticky, but it got better as it ran more.

[MX793]

I'm guessing that's a '64 based on what I can see?  IIRC, '65 got front discs, so you could just upgrade the brakes to '65 spec and still retain some level of 60s authenticity.

[280Z Turbo]

It's a 63

[MX793]

It's a 63

Interesting...  That's a 1964 hood.

[280Z Turbo]

Interesting...  That's a 1964 hood.

I know

[280Z Turbo]

I'm guessing that's a '64 based on what I can see?  IIRC, '65 got front discs, so you could just upgrade the brakes to '65 spec and still retain some level of 60s authenticity.

Most 1965 models got 4 wheel disc brakes, but it's probably cheaper just to buy an aftermarket kit. I don't know how many parts you have to gather up to make '65 brakes work.

http://www.summitracing.com/parts/ssb-a137-3/overview/year/1963/make/chevrolet/model/corvette

[FoMoJo]

Sounds like fun.  Good luck with it.

p.s.  These wheels would be perfect...

[280Z Turbo]

Sounds like fun.  Good luck with it.

p.s.  These wheels would be perfect...

Ok, you buy em.

[280Z Turbo]

I like the gray centers, but I think my dad likes the polished centers better. Boooo. I think the gray looks more 1960s.

I found some firestone tires that aren't white letter dog turds in 215/65-15, but I wish I had more selection. I could pay $300 more and get 17s but they just don't look period correct, IMO.

[MX793]

I like the gray centers, but I think my dad likes the polished centers better. Boooo. I think the gray looks more 1960s.

I found some firestone tires that aren't white letter dog turds in 215/65-15, but I wish I had more selection. I could pay $300 more and get 17s but they just don't look period correct, IMO.

Agree on the 17s.  I saw a resto-mod Vette with retro-styled 17s and it just looked... off.  Tires were just too low profile.

[280Z Turbo]

http://www.amazon.com/gp/aw/d/B0027IRJ3O/ref=mp_s_a_1_1?qid=1398727409&sr=8-1&pi=SY200_QL40

I think I like these better. Thoughts?

[280Z Turbo]

There's some debate on Corvette lower rear control arms (they call em strut rods) are more angled than the half shafts. The camber gain curve is pretty aggressive as it was made for bias ply tires. They sell a kit that lowers the inboard strut rod mounting points and makes the camber gain almost nothing.

Seems to me that this would make the handling worse and cause track changes. It also lowers the roll center, which is a can of worms in of itself.

[AutobahnSHO]

ANY amount of tinkering will affect things and even if you're an automotive engineer it's hit or miss how the changes will affect handling/ride....

I personally wouldn't be changing the stock setup (which was obviously tweaked by those who knew what they were doing) without some money available to fix any negative effects.....

[MrH]

I'll take a closer look tonight.  I know nothing about old vette suspensions, but a former GM vette developer and pooprod fanatic works with me.  He can break it all down for us.

[MrH]

ANY amount of tinkering will affect things and even if you're an automotive engineer it's hit or miss how the changes will affect handling/ride....

I personally wouldn't be changing the stock setup (which was obviously tweaked by those who knew what they were doing) without some money available to fix any negative effects.....

Keep in mind this car was developed a LONG time ago.  I don't think they even believed in crumple zones back then.  They tried to make the entire body of the car not crumple as much as possible.  An old worn corvette is far from being some finely tuned piece of engineering prowess.

[hotrodalex]

Yeah there's a lot of big gains that can be made with old 60's car suspensions. Not sure about this one, though.

[GoCougs]

There's more engineering in it than you probably think. Their test/analysis tools were very limited but they were clever bastards.

IMO it's going to be enough work just to get the car to factory specs - new u-joints, new bushings, new springs, new shocks, good set of tires - and it'll pay big dividends.

[hotrodalex]

C3 Vette's use a lower mounting position. I'd say moving to that bracket would be a good idea - is the one you're looking at more extreme than the stock C3?

[Soup DeVille]

It's my thought that the lower strut rod should be closer to parallel with the halfshafts, and that the distance between the center of the wheels and the lower strut mounting point should be roughly equal with the distance between the inner u-joints and the inner strut mounting point.

[280Z Turbo]

http://www.parts123.com/parts123/yb.dll?parta~dyndetail~Z5Z5Z50000050b~Z5Z5Z525876~P269.95~~~~S41U004S15982435993050~Z5Z5Z5~Z5Z5Z50000050B~~~

Here's the link to the kit.

[AutobahnSHO]

Keep in mind this car was developed a LONG time ago.  I don't think they even believed in crumple zones back then.  They tried to make the entire body of the car not crumple as much as possible.  An old worn corvette is far from being some finely tuned piece of engineering prowess.

True, and I don't doubt that tuners have figured out some pretty awesome stuff. Still, GM spent a LOT of money getting the best product they could to market, keeping costs down of course. So while there is definite room for tweakage, I still would be cautious.

[Rupert]

Every car is a compromise.

[MrH]

There's more engineering in it than you probably think. Their test/analysis tools were very limited but they were clever bastards.

IMO it's going to be enough work just to get the car to factory specs - new u-joints, new bushings, new springs, new shocks, good set of tires - and it'll pay big dividends.

GM aren't clever bastards now. They definitely weren't clever bastards half a century ago

[hotrodalex]

If they were that clever the pro touring scene wouldn't be so lucrative.

[hotrodalex]

What made you consider this upgrade?

If you plan on keeping the rest of the suspension stock and haven't had any issues with it, it might be best to save the money. If you've noticed it and want to fix the camber curve and don't mind a $200 order, go for it.

[280Z Turbo]

What made you consider this upgrade?

If you plan on keeping the rest of the suspension stock and haven't had any issues with it, it might be best to save the money. If you've noticed it and want to fix the camber curve and don't mind a $200 order, go for it.

Want to replace the strut rods anyways. One of them was bent.

[hotrodalex]

How much are normal strut rods?