Projects Mid Life Crisis 62 Vette

Doing things to perfection is admirable but there is a point that good enough is good enough. Your progress on the 'Vette is impressive.

Time to drive it, enjoy it and race it! I hope to make a trip to see it in action at Bristol on the Drag Week tour and look forward to stopping by your pit spot to bother you for a few minutes.

Lynn

 

The soft top is because I think NHRA requires you to run it up to be legal? And so you can also drive cross country without roasting?!

 

Hey Hey, lookin' like it won't be long.
I propose a toast to your Vette doing what a Vette should do.
Make their heads turn.
*

 

Perfect is the enemy of good enough.

 

The perfectionists would be lucky to have Jim work on their cars.

 

And keep the rain out, and be able to close up the car at night while traveling, etc.

 

I went into town this morning to do some errands, and it started raining on the way home. The car leaks pretty well, I'll give it that. Which is what I expected.

 

Lol. There’s always pressurization.

 

Another inspirational Hot Rod build, very well done Jim.
I love it !

 

It might be useful, to have some of that wide "FLEX SEAL" tape, to cut small pieces, to fit over the leak areas on your up coming trip.
If applied to the inside rather than the outside, so the patch's wont be seen from the outside.
Your results may vary !

 

Jim, ... have you discovered any solutions to the 220+ engine temps?

 

I got a new radiator, and that seems to help. Also the weather has cooled off, and that really helped!

thanks for asking

Oh...on the subject of cooling system, I just swapped out the lower hose, the belt had cut a nice shallow groove in it. I made a metal plate to cover the hose, to protect the new one.



The problem stems from the weird 62 Corvette setup with the generator on the pass side, and the water pump being designed for driver side. They put the generator forward to use the front groove on the 2 groove lower pulley, so it would clear. But I put on an alternator using a later mounting bracket, and used a deep upper pulley, and the rear groove, so it was too close.

I'll come up with a better solution one of these days. Probably just get a 2 groove alt pulley and put the shallow water pump pulley on, and move the belt forward.

 

Not trying to side track your thread @squirrel, but did you happen to see the 4.56 gear with the 4 series carrier for the 55-64 rear end for sale here in the classifieds? Just something for you to ponder... like you don't have enough already, LOL!!! Might be fun on special occasions!

 

Not sure if what I am seeing on your fan shroud but in my situation it has been critical to have the fan slightly deeper into the shroud. Makes a big difference on temps in my car. A different brand of course.

 

My experience is half in half out.

 

Yeah, I could probably move the fan in a bit further....but as long as it's not overheating, I'll just leave it alone.

First try drag racing was humorous...I did end up running a sort of full pass, but only 16.32 at 86 mph. With a whopping 2.77 second 60 foot time, while I was trying to get moving.

Might try again next Friday, we'll see. Or maybe just not worry about trying to go fast, and enjoy the trip.

 

And if it rains too much, you can build a boat with it!

 

That's what SHE said...

 

Jim in regards to leaks I have on occasion heard some complaints from the wife on rainy days. I have found if the seals in the doors (especially leading edge) are good and the top of the windshield it helps a lot. I used some sticky weatherstrip foam tape on the top of the windshield and it compresses nicely and works pretty well IMO. Good for you on making a pass or two with the car. Still fun no matter what-plus it leaves you room for improvement.

Good idea on the lower hose. I wrap mine with thin aluminum and then use a couple of hose clamps to keep it in place. Has worked for years.

 

Might try again next Friday, we'll see. Or maybe just not worry about trying to go fast, and enjoy the trip.

Jim I vote for this statement.
The only time I won with the 56 is when the guy I lined up with was late off the line cuz he was staring at the large breasts of the pin up girl who was dropping the flags. I just have fun and enjoy the trip.
If you want to win take the Chevy II.

 

Well, A 16 second quarter mile pass will not get you sent back to tech!

 

What if you put a spacer on the pump to allow use of the outer crank pulley, that gets the fan into the shroud more. You mentioned moving the alternator out anyway so it’s worth a shot and you get to keep the deep groove pulley. IDK how much it will affect the coolant temp but it might help that too.

 

Looking forward to seeing the Vette on Drag Week. Fun meter will be pegged no matter the E T’s.

 

thanks for the suggestions!

btw, you never know who they'll let into a car show....this was in Bisbee this morning.

 

45 years ago you’d be telling your classmates how you were going to get it into the 15’s, then work it down from then.
Sitting at a table in the hamburger joint, writing it down on a napkin and making plans.
But since you have a 9? Second car now, so much easier to just enjoy the ride

 

This is great, you not only got it back on the road but you already got it to the drags. Very cool.
It’ll probably take a few runs to figure out the technique to get it off the line without spinning the tires or breaking stuff.
Slightly off topic, does anyone have info on Blowby? Looks like he hasn’t posted in quite a while.
I enjoyed his early Vette adventure too.

 

experiment: they had a stream going, that I didn't know about...here's the replay....my

first run is at 02:06:00

second 02:28:00

third 03:42:00

 

Always a good feeling when BOTH guys with mops wipe down your starting pad!
Brake light fixed between 1 and 2.
Still bogged on the 3rd, but best leave of the night.
Didn't watch the rest of the night, but open TNT nights always played havoc with slicks on 10 second and faster stuff. See first comment. Being that you are much slower, it probably wasn't slick downtrack, and it seems like it bogged at the line. Even great drivers have to find the right combo to get a good clutch/slick launch. I think you did well for a first time out. Didn't break either!

 

The other cars were leaking pretty well! mine doesn't leak anything, aside from rain water into the interior.

First pass I held the line lock button while I was staged, and forgot to let go! I decided I didn't need that complication, and only use it for burnout the next two passes.

I'm doing the burnout in 2nd gear, I have to concentrate to do it right. way too much for an old man to have to remember.