Rat Sass I agree with Baron that Tubular Automotive is the way to go. Those are their headers on my avatar car with a BBC. Just make sure you remind them that the number one tube should be removable with a slip fit to go around the steering box (if you are using the stock box). They are the best headers I have had and they look and sound great. You wont be disappointed. Of course you have to move the battery from the stock location. Kind of a different front suspension on the 62, Enloe.
Thanks guys. I did talk with Dave @ TA today. We are going to collaborate on shortening them up a bit & let them dump down instead of turning toward the back of the car, if possible, for a more traditional Gasser look. He did tell me that he would incorporate a slip-tube for the steering column & my battery is already in the trunk, so I'm good there. Spent the day watching it rain & kinda getting to know the old girl. Really like what I see so far. Next thing is front axle but I'm gonna wait & talk to the guy that owned/raced it for 38 years before being sold to the 2 guys I bought it from. Should have some interesting stories to tell.
Sorry about that. Old info stored in my computer. Dave's a good guy. His father bought the business back in the seventies , and Dave has been there since he was a kid. His father passed away a few years ago and Dave is now running the show. Great to walk through the shop and see all the different header fixtures that have been used over the years. Lot of history. They made the headers and did the 3 inch mandrel bent exhaust on my 65 Chevy II. Excellent workmanship. I am sure he can do what ever you want for your car. Good luck. (corrected the number on my original post).
Finally was able to get a few pics. The hardtop is in the shop. I am very fortunate that a corvette restoration shop is just down the road from me.
Thanks guys. The '61/'62 body was always my favorite but I guess you can say the Crazy Grampa car was the one that really "converted" me. The more I looked at it the more I liked it. I was very fortunate to find this car as it already had a lot of the stuff I wanted. Now I have to decide if I want it to be a cruiser or a nostalgia racecar.
Looks pretty nice Rat Sass. You always could cruise a bit and hit some nostalgia meets. Which ever way you go it should be a fun car. I drug home the remains of an old 1960 Vette gasser from your neck of the woods a little over a year ago. It was run by Rickie Moore out of Athens. If you ever run across any old pics of a 60 Vette at the Alabama tracks let me know.
Rat Sass nice Corvette, it looks like it was a Gasser at one time and maybe updated for the street. Did that car come out of the Austin Texas area?
Yes it did come from the Austin, Texas area and yes it looks to have been raced as a Gasser in the past. Still has the '57 Pontiac rear complete with homemade traction/ladder bars & still has what appear to be straight axle brackets welded to the frame just behind the front tire. I intend to re-install a straight axle soon.
Enloe, probably not. So many things to do in summer and my calendar is starting to fill in. I am registered for the Meltdown though, so hopefully see you there.
Rat SASS Talked with Dave At TA, I am also building a big block gasser with a straight axle,, If you do pursue the fender well dump headers let me know. I like that look and hope he can build something suitable 502 592-1548 Cell
Will do Steve. Dave @ TA was very positive that he could make those headers from his existing fixtures.
Hey Enloe, you going to the Honest Charley Spring Cruise-In this weekend in Chattanooga? If you do, look me up. I'll have either the '57 or the '63 there.
I am planning on being there we will be in the ragged wagon. my son and I will be in Nashville tomorrow at the NRA national convention. we will head back early Saturday morning and go home to get the wagon. My cell # is 423-584-0421 give me a holler. here is a pic of the wagon.
Rat Sass as you know these early Vettes do not have a bunch of room and do make you feel comfy but there is a couple of things you can do to improve the room. The 57s had a seat metal frame and then the seat cushions sat on top of that and so it puts you pretty close to the wheel. The 61 and 62s had just a seat cushion that sat on tracks and give you more room than the 57s but still hard to put a helmet on if you are anywhere close to 6ft. What I did with my black 62 is I cut an old cushion from 5" to 3" and then bolted it to the floor rather than the tracks and picked up a lot of room. I am 6'1" and used to hit the hardtop and just got used to it. When I lowered the seat it allowed me to put a helmet on which I would have never thought was possible. If you look at some old drag pics you will see some big guys pretty crammed in there. In addition, Chuck Pelton in my neck of the woods makes a steering wheel that looks stock but is smaller in diameter and is leather wrapped. It surely helps if you have a gut and also helps give a little more room to kick the clutch. There is not a great deal of room but you can make them a bit roomier.
Looks great. I love these cars way better with the hardtops on. I like that "enclosed" feeling you get with the top on. Feels like your sitting in a chopped coupe. I bought a 15 inch steering wheel for mine. Makes it much easier to get in and out of the car as there is little room between the seat bottom and steering wheel. I had a friend of mine who was well over 6 ft. tall and he took the seat bottom right out of his 60 Corvette and sat on a boat cushion so he had the required clearance between his helmet and roll bar !
One more thing that I have seen people do to get more room is cut a few inches out of the steering column to shorten it up moving the steering wheel foreword.
The Jalopy Journal
