This has to be the funniest thing I’ve seen posted in this thread. Cold in Wisconsin at the end of July. The 57 should be fun.
Looks like a 78? Special Edition, Pace car maybe? I almost bought one of those in about 1980. Great find Brian. All I ever found in barns was cow shit.....
I remember as a kid one forth of july watching the parade in a winter coat and mittens it was so cold. Not alberta cold but still cold.
Im not sure what the starter is. The guy said a piece is missing for it. He is looking for it. I think a solenoid. He thinks its for the 57. I cant sell anything until i confirm what the parts are. If comes up for sale you get the first shot at it. The guy rebuilds starters and alternators. I will ask him if he has another. You cant believe the stuff in there.
yeah, that's the early starter, and yeah, it's missing the solenoid. The 58(?) and later starters, the linkage is enclosed inside the nose housing. I had one of those 57 starters recently, I don't remember if I kept it or it went in the auction...I found it laying on the ground not far from our house, on a vacant lot, years ago. The Delco starters and generators had tags riveted on them with part number and date code stuff, that Vette guys pay a lot of attention to.
I cleaned the hard top after i put it on the car. No need to stretch this one ha ha. The headliner looks cool. I need to clean it. All the glass on the car has the date codes. I waiting for a response on if its correct for the car. Now its on to buffing the passenger side; hood and top in all this heat. New daytona red seat covers and carpet along with tailpipes; gas pedal; heater air hose with clamps; engine harness were ordered today.
I did notice the newer Vette, I’ve been looking locally for the same wheels for my OT Vette for a few years.
For a guy that never and i mean never liked vettes im really warming up to this one. The more i find out about how original it is the more im determined to keep it a survivor. Several guys are helping out with private messages or phone calls. The spark plug and distributor guards look like alot of fun to put back on. I need to figure out how they go on first.
That car/find is soo cool! I know you have seat covers and carpet on order...but just wondering if there is any leather/vinyl conditioner that would let you save the seat covers (probably along with some careful re-stitching of seams if necessary)? Just part of the overall survivor vibe. As a side note, about 10-15 years or so ago at a local cruise night in Winnipeg an older guy with his extended family showed up with a late 50's Vette. It looked like it had the tar beat out of it back in the day, then it was put away for 30-40 years, and then drug out again to have some more tar beat out of it...(same owner...now with grand kids). The grand kids were sitting on the fenders eating and dripping ice cream all over it, the paint was dirty, faded and chipped, the old mags were rusty, the bias-plys were dry rotted, the glass was fogged, the engine looked untouched (dirty, rusty, greasy) etc...That car got more attention at the cruise night than any of the others...bar none!
Should have some kinda "L" shaped bracket on the exhaust bolts to attach the spark plug shields. Later ones used a wing nut, not sure about the 57's.
Always loved the solid axle Corvettes, but at 6’4” I just don’t fit. You have a real winner there in your find.
Great find, love the work you're doing on it. I've stretched many a third soft top and always had the best luck using the SUN and time and patience. Go slow it'll happen. And as others have said you probably won't be happy with it as it may start to disintegrate. Still worth a try, in my book. I rebuilt my Bird's soft top piece by piece and did the reupholstery and all new rubber as a couple of months project during COVID. Kept me really busy!
I will ask about the newer vette. I didnt know he even had one until i stopped to get the roof. This is a very private person. He is supposed to stop by tonight with more parts. I will try to remember to ask him. The seats have gone from daytona orange to a real dark red. The passenger seat has several tears. They will look funny against the new carpet. The red shag 70s carpet was removed. My friend does apholstery. He will change the covers. I will save them.
I see it has hood pins on it. Did you find the stock hood latches for it? Jeez, this is a neat old Corvette. Gonna ride like a log wagon and steer worse, just like it did when it was new in '57!
I got the hood pieces last night. I have all of the pieces except for one washer for the spring. He also brought over the original gas tank and sending unit early this morning. More parts are on the way. He is rebuilding the original generator we found last night.
Beautiful car. Keep up the good work, Im sure you are trying to keep most of its patina, use the least invasive procedures to clean or bring something back. Kinda sneak up on it, you cant go back but you can gradually go forward with bringing this prize back from the kicked to the curb status. Best of luck!
As i prepare for the new carpet i needed to pull the seats. The mouse had a neighbor in the passenger seat. When this gets disturbed the smell lasts for days. The dash got some attention today. Its looking better. The radio turns on. Its all static. I got the cowl vent to open. Its going to need some lube. The tail light lenses were pulled off. They were cleaned along with the bulbs and reflectors. Like everything else they were very dirty blocking the light. The back of the car needs all the light it can get. The buffing is done so the car was completely wiped down. The top will come off so i can address the gas tank issues.
Careful with the rodent crap...there are lots of toxins in it I suspect and driving around and bouncing on the seats may dislodge dust that may get whipped up into your nostrils...our Hobby is not without hidden dangers for instance the brake and clutches of the past with asbestoes... I'm all for time capsules and you mentioned you have an upholsterer available so perhaps new innards under the salvaged coverings might be in order at least there's only two seats and not 4... Homemade Hardtop just said he pulled the interior out of his newly acquired 34 as he said it smelt dead... I'm not sure I congratulated you on this new adventure Brian so have fun with it...certainly was a great year for these Factory Hotrods...
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