Features Corvette hot rods - picture thread

I know she's a "Fuelie", however, I stare at it and start thinking Evil Thoughts. Chop this, cut that, raise this, a little here a little there. HA!

 

^^^ Just too nice to wail on ^^^

 

Cragar S/S wheels would transform that car. IMO of course

 

The 62 fuelie is really nice for sure but admittedly if that was my car I would immediately remove the hubcaps and tires. Not a fan of whitewalls on a sports car and pretend spinner hubcaps was one of the silliest ideas that ever came out of GM. If I was going to keep that stance I would consider putting the real spinners on it (halibrand or at least halibrand knockoff replicas) which is what the General did with most of their special cars during that era.

I rode in my grandmother's 55 T bird hundreds of times that my grandfather bought her early in 55 but it never put me over the top-nice for sure but something was missing. The first sports car that really mesmerized me was a Ferrari owned by a friend of my grandfather and I remember standing next to that car and just admiring it. It had a sound that really interested me and my grandfather was a large car collector with many cars that sounded cool but nothing like that. I know now it was more than just the look (a sports car with blackwalls and cool wheels) but also and most importantly the sound.

The first Corvette that really stopped me in my tracks was a red 62 fuelie (with blackwalls) bought new by a neighbor in 62 with off road exhaust I believe (the sound from the factory was flat out cool in my book). He actually had owned a 61 270 hp but he had skinny whitewalls and the sound was pretty good but not like the 62. A cool car for sure but it did not hit me as hard as the 62. I ran into The owner a few years ago at a car show at Meadowbrook and he told me he still had his 62. I told him that it was his car that really hit me in a good way and is a big reason I love these early Vettes.

The funny deal I figured out a few years ago myself is that his 62 with the look and sound is what set the standard for my taste in the early Vettes. I see some early Vettes that look cool but unless they have blackwalls and "correct" wheels they do not really interest me. I also realize there is the other side of the coin. I remember being at a car show with my black 62 and I was standing next to it talking to a buddy and these two guys say "it is a nice car but it would look so much better with stock wheels". My buddy knew I heard it and told me what jerks they were but I just chuckled as I have learned that there are the stock guys and the hot rod guys and the two shall never see eye to eye.

 

Interesting comments, Jim, but I have to say this '62 sits just right with me even though I'm not a
"keep 'em stock" type of guy. The spinner caps work for me. Ford and Chrysler followed suit but not
to as good an effect. Even the whitewalls fit on this particular car, they break up all of that black. A
set of Cragars would be great as an optional set of wheels for those days that a tricked out Corvette is desired.

As you said, there are stock guys and hot rod guys but both can (and do) appreciate the work of the
other. Their comment was no worse than two hot rod guys discussing steelies or Torq Thrusts on a
'40 Ford coupe. Have a great day.

 

Quick 85 for years I had a restoration business where everything had to be done to stock specs and so I ran in those circles and certainly know and appreciate the work. Some makes are more deserving of the stock treatment but my history with modifying old Corvettes had an effect on what I do with them today. Most of my customers turned up their noses to my Corvettes in the shop. Corvettes were just cheap cars to them and me if the truth be told as you could not afford to pay high restoration costs on them in the 80s and 90s for the most part. It did not bother me but I suppose I do not look at them so much as collectables as others may. If I did I would not make the changes I have to mine. The quintessential hotrod early Vette to me though does not look right in whitewalls. Some of the stock Vettes in the 50s look OK with whitewalls (some not all-IMO). Customs look good often with whitewalls and 53s do as well but my point was sometime early on I came up with my idea of what a sports car/hotrod early Vette was to look like and whether right or wrong it stuck. Hard to change.

For the sake of brevity I did not go into detail about the two guys with the comment but I have talked to them several times since and they are a couple of characters. They are stock nazis to the extreme and cut me some slack because their real wrath is to the restomod guys. Their hatred of that whole scene knows no bounds. My buddy knew them well and they knew I was standing there and still gave what my buddy thought was a negative comment. I have been around the NCRS guys for a while so their comments are often expected. We all have our own ideas and idiosyncrasies and thank God we do not all like the same thing.

If I stumbled on a big brake tanker 62 with dog dish caps I would not change a thing and drive the hell out of it. It is probably one of the few I would leave totally as is. If the car above was at the foot of my driveway I would give him a wave and go back to cutting the lawn. Just me.

 

I am well aware of the focus on the traditional on the HAMB and that's why I drop in here. I also remember as a kid drooling over cars in Car Craft, Popular Hot Rodding etc. It was my impression then that in hot rodding there were no rules when building a car. A guy just built it the way he wanted it. Today some apply rules . Some hot rod traditionalists can be as intransigent as NCRS stock loving enthusiasts. Of note not all NCRS members are stuck in the totally stock and must be restored narrow minded philosophy.

Me I see cars in many car hobby genres that I like and some I don't. That's just personal taste. It's all good. Vive la differance. Otherwise we might all resemble something like the Chinese used to look with their black hair, grey Nehru like jackets riding bicycles.

 

I'm hip to the Corvette resto types from showing my '69. I've seen a few ridiculous arguments and
one fist fight because someone felt the other's Stingray wasn't quite right enough. Don't worry, I'd
never okay whitewalls on an MG-TC or a Ferrari 275 GTB, but they do work on the occasional 'vette.

I'm often dismayed (there's a word I never use) at the at***ude of some here at the HAMB.
It seems that there is a large closed mindedness towards many cars or mods. I was born in 1950
and have seen my share of rods, customs and street machines. None of the hot rods I saw were
purposely left unfinished, unpainted or had patina "because that's the way the old timers did it".
In my time as a teenager and into my adult years guys strived to have a *****in' car.

Hmm, I kind of went off course. Sorry about that.

 

Quick 85 we certainly agree on the patina bit and truth be told I do think whitewalls look good on an occasional Vette. I just don't understand the fake patina or patina due to neglect. Earned patina due to use over the years gets my thumbs up mostly. I have always been a shiny paint guy I suppose. When my grandfather had a restoration shop in the 50s (we were both born in 1950) there were hot rodders that worked there (mainly late 50s) and then the 60s. I spent time looking at their daily drivers in the parking lot. The hot stuff in my grandfather's shop parking when I really got hooked (probably 61/62) were mostly Pontiacs but there was one custom-a 49 Merc with black primer but the car was really nice. He gave me a ride but asked me not to tell my grandfather that he got on it-I kept my word. He would have been ashamed of patina as the guy was really particular about the car-always spotless. None of the cars that I grew up with or around were purposely left unfinished.

Right now I have a Corvette I am building in one bay that will be modified and I am rebuilding a 1903 Cadillac in the other available bay. Everything on the Cadillac including every weird nut and bolt (no longer available) will be recreated so it will look close to what it was originally. The problem with restoration today is that we restore them way beyond what they were when new and I will be guilty of that as well. I like attention to detail whether it is stock or modified but I still like the car to interest me nevertheless, as it makes it easier to work on. It is fun when I get to switch from one to the other. Keeps my head fresh I guess.

 

I did a lotta damage to my brain in my youth, however, this to me is much better!

 

Great shot of a great lookin '56 or 7. Really like the three wheels off the ground.

 

Jim, there was a '57 T-bird at Hershey that was black with black tires. I think it's the first T-bird I have ever seen without white walls and it looked very good for a change.

 

The blue Vette is Dustin Corn's 57, nicknamed Lumpy,s Vette. Dustin also runs a nostalgia Vette (non Hamb year) Funny car called Hi Jinx. I have seen a number of videos and pictures of Dustin's Lumpy Vette and it seems to always put on a great show pulling huge wheelstands.

 

1966 Autorama Detroit

 

'60, former basket case

 

Mkebaird I have seen your car before and it does look good. Your gaps on the trunk are really good and although I do like rear bumpers on a 58-60 I think I like the look better without bumpers. Something about the way it flows just looks right.

 

Very smooth looking.

 

That's a ***y ***.

 

Thanks for the compliments. Lots of hours getting it smooth, and lots of hours getting the gaps to look decent. Front view's not too shabby either.

 

Very cool!

 

Pic from my old 63 split window. Check out the sticker on the wing window. Not Correctly Restored Stingray

 

I wrote a while back on this thread that I felt any modified Corvette is a hot rod. That applies to this
one. A friend just ran across this pic he took at Blackhawk Farms Raceway many moons ago. I had to
post this one. Hmm, has it been restored and locked away in a temp controlled room?

 

Jim, I'm doing a 62 and have installed 4" spacers. After reading your thread, it dawned on me that I will need some spacers as well as the stock shim. How many do you think? What would you do?

Skip

 

Skip, I have played with both of my 62s in this regard and am planning on redoing the shims in the avatar car, as I still don’t have it right yet. I will give you my two cents for whatever it is worth. Both of my cars are around a 3" lift in front as opposed to the 4" route you are going. When these cars are at a stock stance the caster is not as critical as they are at a raised height as long as caster is a bit positive. When you lift these cars caster and camber needs to be addressed. When I first lifted my black 62, I was in a rush to take it for a drive and was all over the place when I exceeded 70mph. I found I had some positive camber (not a lot by the way) and it did not like it. I ended up making a tool to bend the spindle supports to rectify this. Up stance they like a little negative camber and a decent amount of positive caster.


I have run both of my cars on the track occasionally and the red car is still not right. The first time I took it to Milan it liked swapping lanes as my caster was all screwed up. The car was an old drag car and I believe some of the parts were bent so they have since been replaced. The strange deal is though that I have three shims in each side on both cars. I bought a Fast Track gauge and my black car has a reading of right around 5 ½* degrees on both sides which is fine. It runs pretty straight all the way through the ¼ mile (except for one time this past summer where the upper control arm threaded nuts backed out). The red car has 2 ½* on one side and 3* on the other. The reason I believe is that the stock shims are 2* shims and are about a ¼” at the rear and probably close to 1/16” at the leading edge. I have three of those original shims in the black car.


In the red car I bought reproduction shims and they are supposed to be 2* but I do not believe they are. Apparently my brain was asleep when I put them in originally and they are ¼” at the rear edge of the shim and around 1/8” at the leading edge (measurement is approximate-whatever the reproductions are fatter on the leading edge). What my plan is to either buy some original shims off of ebay or to sand down the leading edge of the shims I have to decrease the leading edge to about 1/16”. The red car is still a bit skiddish after 1000ft so I want to get it right.


I do not believe it is wise to continually just add more shims because with your 4” lift, three shims will add another 3/4” and so you don’t want to ruin your desired stance.


As you know (if you are using a stock suspension) the adjustment for the camber and caster is the threaded cam on the outside attaching point of the upper control arm. The maximum caster you can get (at least from my experience) from the cam is around .5*. With a stock 2* shim the cars handled fine at stock height.


If you want to experiment you may try at least 2 of the 2* shims (but keep in mind the reproductions are probably closer to 1* shims) so either sand them or get originals. Of course I do not know your baseline with your existing parts and the exact geometry of your spacer. If you already have some positive caster then 2 shims may be OK. Some guys suggest that you go 7* in drag racing applications, so three shims is not a bad idea (personally I believe it is a better idea to go 3)-if you can end up at 5*+. I have no problem with steering wheel return with 5 ½* so no problem there. Just for a point of reference, I have an old drag car with a stock front suspension that ran at stock height that ran in gas and modified production and the owner went around 9* with his own shims he made. The steering wheel return was not an issue as it was strictly a drag car.


Sorry for being so wordy but it is wise to get it right if you are going to run them at high speeds. Hope this is not confusing. Long story short I would add three stock dimension shims.

 

A couple updated pictures of my car. Changed to bias ply front tires and Rocket Strike wheels...made it drive much better than having radials on the front and bias ply slicks on the back. The car is down for the winter...rear end problems.

 

A local guy with a bad *** pieced together '57.
Has 354 Chrysler Hemi power.

Olds powered COE rollback is his too.
Has a few cool cars and always building something.



When I first met him, I said "cool way to screw up a Vette" (as a compliment). He took it the wrong way, pissed him off and he walked away. Now I'm driving a "screwed up" Vette too and very happy.

 

Mark I have seen the 57 you posted in various pictures and it appears to have shiny paint in some pictures and fake patina in others. Needless to say it is hard not to like the car with the shiny paint.

And by the way I do not believe either of you screwed up a Vette. You gave them the character they deserve.

Also cool to see the 64 being driven the way it was meant to when they built it.

 

Jim, it has shiny paint with fake patina. I would've skipped the patina especially since it was done through a nice paint job but it's still a cool car.