Projects Mid Life Crisis 62 Vette

thanks! I'm planning to leave the primed splotch alone. No need to fix it, really.

 

One thing about the roads here, the two lane heading to the next small town that has a Napa & a walmart .... the speed limit is 75 MPH .... everyone drives 80+ .... but there are nice wide shoulders for the farm equipment to use to get from one field to the next.
So a old Dodge truck traveling 50 mph would just pull over to the nice paved shoulder & use it while the cars p*** & then get back on the road.

We have higher speed limits, but there are provisions in place for slower moving vehicles .... you will not get a ticket for driving on the shoulder.

 

All of our former young ones.

 

That was one thing I always liked about driving in Texas! That and I also like highways designed with feeder and frontage roads. As long as you are on the main highway, traffic lights are few and far between. Around here, their idea of traffic management is a red light every 1/4 of a mile.

 

I love it. Tell folks that it is "In memory of Gray Baskerville".

Russ

 

Mine is one, big primered splotch...

 

I'm impressed at the sheer size of your nuts! I've told @scotty t and @lumpy 63 and @Moriarity , now you and squirrel, it takes a helluva man to take what many consider an icon and just hot rod the **** out of it!

 

I'm gonna get you guys some shirts made that say "NCRS ****S!"

 

Looks like something Darth Vader might drive . . .

 

Hey Jim, maybe I missed or forgot it, but is that the original paint you brought back, or was it redone in the past?
Sure looks sharp.

 

It's at least the 3rd paint job. The car was white, looks to have been repainted white at least once, then root beer brown, then red. It was going to be Fawn Beige if they'd ever got around to the complete restoration that was planned.

Red is fine with me.

 

Little red corvettes are definitely cool

 

I started working on the convertible top. I pulled off the old vinyl and other stuff, to make sure I didn't need to order any more parts than I had planned. It looks like it'll be OK with new tack strips, pads, and straps, along with the top and weatherstrip I already got for it.

I do need to find a bushing for one of the pivots.

 

Would you freaking stop man!! If my wife sees how much you're doing, she's gonna know I'm full of **** and jump all over me! Lmao!

 

Just tell her that plastic cars are the like little models you did as a kid.... a little glue here, a little glue there..... REAL metal cars (and trucks) take more "expertise" and time. With your B.S. ability, she'll believe you!

 

I don't include a corvette in the plastic car group. That's the 32 Frauds and such that don't impress me. And I know all about fake cars and pseudo cartoon g***ers!

 

Absolutely love this car !! And the way you put it together as a reliable fun driver .

my only question is when is the blown , nitro injected big block getting stuffed in !!

 

Dang @Moriarity didn’t even notice the shaved handles on your ‘vette .

just a sweet low key custom , love it !!!!

 

Leave the top off...you don't need door handles.

 

Too bad he couldn’t have incorporated a little George Jones in that song. “Hotter than a two dollar pistol…”

 

I've been tinkering some more. I got the carb ventilation system installed...computer fan in front of the radiator support, blowing into the heater fresh air hose. The other end of the hose is sitting on top of the valve cover, hose pointing at carb. Timer switch under dash turns on fan, it runs till the timer quits. The idea is to blow cooler air on the carb, so it won't vapor lock/boil over when parked for a little while. It's something I found on the corvette forum...



Also got the radio installed, but not yet wired. I just bought an FM-AM converter on ebay, maybe I'll be able to get some stations, or listen to another device using an FM transmitter thingy. Quite a kluge, just to have a proper volume control!



And I ordered a new radiator, big bucks, hope it cools better.

 

Radio looks like it fit right in. What year/model Chevy is it from?

 

But does the thermostat housing leak?

 

I saw a little stain of coolant coming from it, I think I need to tighten the hose clamp since the hoses settled in....

The radio is from a Corvair, says my brother who gave it to me. But I got it wired up, the speaker clicked when I turned it no, but no other sound, the smoke started coming out of it. Oops. He said it had been working. Oh well, I'll either fix it or gut it and put an amplifier in it to play muzak off another device.

 

I'm sure you already know, lay the top out in the sun a few hrs, preferably on the conv top frame. Goes 100 miles toward a better easier job.

 

thanks, another guy told me that, too.

I'll probably be waiting for some other parts for a while, at least a couple weeks, I should get the top out and let it get used to not being in a box.

 

Keep your eyes open for one of these Audiovox FMX20 FM stereo radios. The item in this ad is not a converter but a stand-alone self powered FM radio. It's not much bigger than the FM converter.

https://www.ebay.com/p/1532406040?iid=324290078608

Some of them are a bit spendy on eBay but the owner of this one apparently doesn't realize it's not just a converter. I have one of these somewhere that I used to power a pair bookshelf speakers in the garage with a 12 volt power pack. Surprisingly good sound.

 

Oh no!! Smoke, is your radio from an English Corvair? Sorry, I couldn’t resist. The Corvette looks fantastic!

 

thanks.

turns out I think I wired it up wrong...ooops.