Projects '62 Corvette Gasser project barn find

I thought I'd start a thread about a project that I recently purchased from a friend. I'm also looking for some opinions on how I should continue with the build. I'd like to race this car (Meltdowns, etc.), but I don't want to change it any more than I need to in order to make it safe/ o.k. to race.
The history of this car is as follows: The original owner (whom I've been in contact with) decided to turn this car into a drag car somewhere around 1966. The car had 34,000 miles on it when it was torn apart for the build. The chrome and trim pieces were wrapped in newspapers dated August 7,1966. The work was done in Kenosha, Wisconsin by R&B Ch***is (Dennis Rollain, John ****era).
According to the owner (if I have this correct), he was having the car built to run in B/A cl*** which allowed for a 25% engine setback. His plan was to run a Hilborn injected 427 which was a new engine at the time. What didn't make sense to me, was that he said he was going to use a torqueflite transmission. Evidently the rules changed sometime during the build which eliminated the cl*** and the 25% setback. He said that all he could run the car in then was fuel altered cl*** (which was too expensive at the time). I might have some of the details off (this happened way before my time), but close to what I remember him telling me. That's when the project stopped and was put in his mother's garage. My buddy brought the car around 2012 and was finally pulled out of the garage. It's been sitting in storage until I purchased it.
I'm going to start on it this winter, but I could use some advice as to how I should continue with the build. I know the cage is going to have to be changed. I'm around 6'3, and there's no way I will fit in it the way it is now. It also has some nice 12 spoke Palamides front wheels, but obviously no front brakes.
I'll post up some pictures and see what you guys think. Thanks in advance!

 

More pictures.

 

You definitely have our attention!

 

He may have meant Clutchflite, which was based on a Mopar Torqueflite but used a clutch and flywheel instead of a torque converter. http://www.moparwiki.com/index.php?***le=Clutchflite

Great start to a killer Corvette. Glad to see someone finally getting around to finishing it.

 

I posted a picture of these wheels in the vintage wheel thread. They say "Palamides" instead of "American Racing". German tires that have been sitting since '66-'67 that are not dry rotted or weather checked at all, and still holding air.

 

Very nice. Nose up 'Vettes look so right!

 

Baldi it is great to see another old Vette drag car and great that you want to run it at the Meltdown. I have attended the last three years and it is a great weekend-one of the real highlights of the summer.

First of all at 6'3" you will be able to fit in the car. I am 6'1" and fit fine with room to spare. I have a friend that is 6'4" who told me he would not fit but he was surprised when he found out he did. You have to make your seat cushion about three inches thick (2" if you want and it is only for short trips) and bolt it to the floor instead of a track and move it all the way back. You also have to go with the smaller steering wheel. If it is too tight you could rocker the seat cushion a bit but I think you will be OK.

To answer about the torqueflite that was not all that unusual. Pron***o a 57 ran B/G with a push****on torqueflite in 68 before switching to a clutchflite.

I see he kept the basic frame but obviously made some changes. I am not sure which way you want to go in terms of engine and drivetrain but the tech inspectors want the car to be safe moreso that to protect your desire to not make too many changes. I am not sure I would go 25% back unless you want to pull the wheels with ease. I would really think what kind of times you want to run and then make a plan to make it as safe as possible.

Quain Stott who has run at the Meltdown the last few years was going to do a build (hopefully) on a 62 for his Southeastern G***er series and if he did that would be a great source of information.

I have a 61 Vette with a straightaxle that ran a BBC and was built for the 68 season and it too has spindle mags and no front brakes. It is more B/A car than a B/G car in reality. By the way the guy that drove the car was allegedly 6"3" or 4" and the car has a chopped top. He rockered the seat so it was like sitting back in a rocking chair but my car had a four speed so that may have been fun. I am not sure how the tech inspectors would be without front brakes today. We ran a Vette back in the day without front brakes and it was no big deal to the inspectors but today it will probably be different. With those front wheels it may be a challenge to adapt front brakes but there are a bunch of talented people and there may be a way.

I think one of your first steps may be to set a goal of what vintage cl*** you are shooting for which engine and drivetrain or ET you are shooting for and then build the car as professionally as you can. There are a whole bunch of talented people on this forum and in the vintage racing community that will ***ist you in the build. If you do not nail down which way you are going the advice may be entertaining but may be all over the map.

Here is a B/A 62 Vette that was talked about on this forum some time ago. You have a great piece there and I can't wait to see it at the Meltdown.

 

Jim, thanks forthe advice. I really enjoy reading your posts and learning from your knowledge. I'm thinking about possibly using some Radir spindle mount front wheels that have a provision for brakes. I'd hate to mess the original wheels up. I don't think I'll be going back 25%. It would put the engine too far back inside the car for my liking. I'll post some more pictures of the rear suspension and Olds rear axle. I plan on leaving that pretty much as is, unless there is something that is better/safer. I guess the next step is to figure out what cl*** I want to run it in, and go from there. Thanks again.

 

Oh man, is that a find. Congratulations.

 

Holy ****! That's an awesome piece. From what I recall Torqueflights behind Chevy's kinda filled a void after Hydro's, but before race development of Turbo400's and Pglides.Sounds like you have a neat plan. Love the "Little John" connection; I'll be following! Enjoy!

 

That is going to be a very cool build can't wait to see it through! Joe

 

Well obviously if you are too tall then you can and probably will move the engine forward, maybe if you shoot for a 10% or less setback you can run in a /MS or /GS cl*** if someone runs one those cl***es.

If you stay with a Chevy mill a small block and a big block land on the same motor mounts. the difference in length is from the motor mount forward, so if you set it up with a small block and then go to big block your setback will be less with the big block.

Other then that a chute and set up your roll bar/cage properly will get you in the door. The other safety equipment hasn't changed much. Get someone's rule book and go to town.

The original builder may have been going to run a clutch-flite, basically a torque-flite with a clutch instead of a torque converter. That was a popular ****** for a race car at the time. The torque-flite and the 4 speed hydro were the popular automatics of the time. So the decision to go torque-flite may have been based on that fact the hydro is a heavy pig and the torque-flite is not by comparison.

if you want to remain period I have a period engine and hydro to go with it that I am going to have the get ride of. It will never ever run on pump gas but it is a viable option for a gas cl*** vette. We can discuss it over PM if you like. Sorry for the shameless spam.

By the way neat project, there are things that I would do with it that others would not but I am not building it. What ever you do I am sure it will be bad to the ****in bone.

 

Roman Palamides is the founder of American Racing Wheels. Those were made before the birth of American and therefore worth even more money. I'd agree with others, that the car was probably gonna get a new for 1966, and very trick for its time, clutch ***isted Torque Flight.., "ClutchFlight".

 

Wow - great find - amazing the stuff that is still hidden away all over the place.

 

Nice, super street freak!

 

Great Find! Not that it matters now and I read what the previous told you but the Altered cl*** was not eliminated what was canceled around that time was the M/SP cl*** which was allowed a 25% engine set back. Those cars wound up in the Altered cl***es and at some tracks were mistakenly put into the Gas cl***. The car in my avatar which I still have and race ran BM/SP until around 66/67 then C/A it ran B/G at NY National Speedway once during that time. Good luck and build it so you can race it that's what it's about. Watch the ET cut off for things like roll bar as opposed to full roll cage with an open car.

Pat

 

Baldi I agree with you on the wheels- I would save them and use some others that can be easily adapted to your project. With the placement of the rollbar he did have it in place for an engine setback. He cut out the center portion of the frame but you can make new and make provisions for whether you are going to use ladder bars, trans mount, driveshaft loop. etc. The Olds/Pontiac rears are of course good stuff and period correct.

I see the clutch ball tower is still in the stock location in case you use a manual trans. Setback in those days they thought was the trick setup, which it worked and was cool but with today's tires and track prep it is not all that hard to hook so stock engine placement is not all bad (unless you have your heart set on period setback).

If I were you I would see if you could find a floor pan, even in tough shape. I am making much of the forward floor and firewall on a 58 now and it can be a bit of work. I may be able to ***ist with pictures, etc.

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions. Good to see another Vette drag car-there can't ever be too many.

 

Hey you fellas are way up on gas cl*** cars for the time and those that will still make the cut, I was hoping that you would chime in. Any advice you give on the build should be very well taken.

 

If you're going to race it to have fun, you don't need to worry about front brakes. They aren't required, and running without them is the right look. You can always buy new set of Radirs if you don't want to use the Palamides but I don't see any reason not to use them. Otherwise they're just wall hangers. Get some new tires though.

That'll be a blast with a small block and stick. It would be very easy to run low 10s and avoid the ch***is certification, though even that wouldn't be difficult since you're starting with factory frame and pretty much a clean slate.

 

As far as the brakes go (if I was just using rears), I was thinking about using a set of Aerospace components rear discs. They make them with two calipers per side, and I was thinking about plumbing them with a dual master cylinder and separate lines for the front/rear calipers. At least that way, you'd still have some braking if a component should fail.
Thanks for all the comments/information , I'm soaking it up like a sponge .

 

It's going to be a pretty light car. Stock type discs will work. They last 100s of thousands of miles on 2 ton full size cars. We used a metric Chevrolet disc kit from Speedway. It works great with no front brakes and doesn't cost near as much. Either way its going to be very cool.

 

Any updates on this one?

 

I've been working on the project quite a bit lately. I'm currently working on the roll cage and will try to post some pics shortly. I also moved the front axle forward 3" and made some aluminum door hinges. I'll get some pictures up soon.

 

Finally got a little time, so here's a few pictures of what I've been working on. I'm planning on running a blower motor, and even with the engine set back, I didn't have enough clearance for the front pulleys and the existing front suspension mount. I decided to move the front spring mount directly under the round crossmember. This moved the axle forward about three inches, and gave me the needed clearance in addition to eliminating the twisting force on the front crossmember.

 

Here's a couple side view pictures of before /after the axle move.

 

Another thing I worked on, was the factory door hinges. They were way too heavy for the now gutted doors, so I fabricated new ones out of 6061 aluminum and saved a few pounds.

 

Next was the narrowed Olds rear axle housing. I didn't like the way the axle tubes were cut/ **** welded. I also didn't like the ladder bars and mounts, so I decided to fix it. When I pulled the housing out, I noticed somebody wrote "G***hopper"on the inside of the housing.

One of the housing ends wasn't welded in alignment, so I cut both ends off, put them in my lathe, and squared/chamfered them. I made up a jig, and welded them back on after installing new ladder bar mounts.
This is one of the existing ladder bars that I'm going to recreate out of a little larger 4130 with rod ends instead of welded in aircraft clevises. The originals were made out of 1" .058 wall 4130, and I don't feel they'd hold up with welded clevises and today's traction capibilities.

 

It's got a wicked stance, keep up the good work.

 

This is going to be a cool build. If you decide on just rear brakes. stick with the dual set up. Friend of mine son lost the brakes on their dragster, he was lucky and had the dual set up with a separate brake handle. If he hadn't, it'd been ugly.