....: Firewall and Inner Fender Repair Work Continues

19 April 2011

Firewall and Inner Fender Repair Work Continues

The more work I do in the engine compartment, the more areas I find that need repair. Of course, the best time to do them is now while the body is off frame. I can do all the work while seated comfortably on my rolling shop stool and I can access all the areas. It has been frustrating and disappointing because I had planned to have the body mounted on the frame and have had most of any mechanical issues worked out two weeks ago.

However, I have made progress in some areas; figured out how to mount the DBW gas pedal, removed ALL the interior, allowing easy access to the power brake booster, removed the AC/heater box and assembly, etc., etc., yada, yada, yada!

I've been learning fiberglass repair and I'd like to thank Dub, owner of Corvettes Etc. in Charlotte, NC, for taking the time to give me tutorials over the phone and internet. His knowledge and advice have been invaluable and he has helped me get past my demoralized moments when I would think a task was in the too hard to do category.

Some, not all, areas follow:

Under the left fender. The front of the rocker panel attaches here. It should look like the fender section in the next pic. I got it to patch in, but Dub convinced me to spot repair rather than compromise the intergrity of the fender by cutting the section into it.

I built the area up with fiberglass and I'll will get to work on it with the grinder, filler and Dremel tool.

Sections of the firewall separating.

Old adhesive chipped out and the seam is ready for bonding.

The inside of the side scoop on the left fender was delaminated from a poor repair job.

The old repair job exposed after grinding.

Making a mold to lay in new fiberglass.

Holes in the firewall.

Holes patched

A hole in the fender well ready for patching.

Checking the the drive by wire (DBW) gas pedal for fitment. The upper mounting hole fits the existing hole in the frirewall and I drilled one for the lower. The lower hole was below the existing metal mounting plate so I fabbed a new one and molded it into the firewall just above the big firewall patch (two pics up) by extending the patch far enough upward to mold in the plate.

I couldn't stop myself. Once I started pulling the interior out, I figured the more stuff out of the way, the easier to work on things. I pulled out the brake and clutch pedal and the rest of the wiring harness after I took this pic.

3 comments:

Anonymous21 April, 2011 19:38
Keep up the great information stream. I have a 73 coupe, and I am behind you insofar as progress, but with very similar plans. The pictures are helpful, and you are making significant progress. Keep it up!!
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CarlF22 April, 2011 08:06
Anon,

Thanks. If you have any specific questions, let me know. I can't post all the details of everything I do and there are a lot of small things that I don't post. I'll be glad to discuss specifics or pass you on to someone who helped me with advice. Are you on corvetteforum? There are a couple good threads on the LSx conversion.
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Anonymous17 June, 2011 16:02
Things are always more involved than they first seem. Kudos for doing it right, even though it takes more time and effort. Can you advise what company you used for your LS-2 conversion engine mounts? And did you order your Tremec with the LS-2 in mind? I purchased my Tremec 5 speed with the idea of using a 502, but I am now more interested in the LS-3 since everything is being replaced anyway, and the mileage, weight ratio issues would be much better with the aluminum LS series engine.
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1973 Corvette Project

This blog will chronicle the tale of my '73 Vette project car. I've been a Corvette hobbyist since my first vette, a 1973 silver with black leather interior, L-48, 4 spd coupe. It was my first, and only new, Corvette. Subsequently, I owned a total of seven Corvettes; a '77 coupe, '68 roadster, '80 L48 4spd, '73 coupe, '94 coupe and this '73 project.

It's obvious that the '73 is a favorite of mine. I found this one in an AutoTrader in October of '06. After talking and negotiating via email, I decided to buy it. It was an original BB, 4 spd car with 52,184 miles on the O'meter.

Now this is all according to the guy I bought it from. History of the car:

The seller's uncle bought it from the original owner when it was six months old. He pulled the BB and hot rodded it with a SBC for years, garbaged out the interior by cutting holes in the door panels and rear compartment doors and back of the compartment for speakers. I shouldn't bad mouth him, though. I cut a hole in the passenger side dash panel of my first '73 to mount an eight track (yes, I'm that old!!) player so it would look factory.

Then he passed away and the seller's older brother had it for years until my seller got it. He pulled the SBC but never told me what he did with it. He installed the following: new 4-core radiator, new shocks, new calipers and rotors, new rubber bushings in the suspension (missed the trailing arm mounting and control arm bushings, though), all new heavy duty u-joints, new windshield, and pulled the gas tank and had it cleaned and sealed. It had the CenterLine wheels you see in one of the pictures and the aftermarket hood scoop.

It was located in East Mesa, AZ in a desert suburb of Phoenix and I towed to my house in Flagstaff, a distance of about 160 miles from a elevation of around 1,000' to 7,200'. The trusty old Dakota made it.

The first thing I did was buy a set of '72 stock ralleys, rings, and center caps from a guy on the corvette forum and mounted 234/15 BFG Radial TAs on them. I will eventually put a set of 17x8 Vintage Wheel copies of ARE TorqueThroust Originals on it. I found a stock '75 hood to replace the existing hood w/scoop. When they put the scoop on, they cut a hole in the stock hood for the air cleaner, making it impractical to glass back to original.

Then I towed it on a U-Haul trailer 2,500 miles to CT it with the poor old 2000 Dakota that had 184,000 miles on it.

My plans: My original intent was to put an old school SBC in it. Then I thought about a GMPP Ramjet 350. I just sold a '94 Vette with an LT1 in it that I was going to upgrade to a LT4. I have the LT4 heads, hot cam kit w/1.6 rr, and an LT4 intake that I had the top ribs polished and cleared. So I planned to build an LT4 to drop into the '73. Meanwhile, I'd been watching EBay for LT and LS motors. I've also been following a thread on the corvette forum on LS-C3 conversions.

Well, I bid on on EBay for a LS2 w/5,800 miles on it that was still in the '07 vette, won, started a dialog with the owner, Ray, and started doing more research. Ray just installed a custom built LS7 last week in his '07 and pulled my motor last week and crated it for shipping. I used some FF miles I had to fly to Seattle to see the LS2 and rode in Ray's car. I'm sure Ray will post some info and pics of his new motor and ride.

Ray has been a great guy and a source of a ton of advice on the LS2. I talked to Dan at Vetteworks, the folks at SpeedHound and SuperPowers, Josh, from the corvette forum. Josh and I have pm'd and spoken on the phone about my conversion and he has really been an absolute wealth of information.

I'd like to thank Josh and all the other gear heads who pioneered the LS-C3 conversion and who are making this project a lot less a blind drive like I thought it would be.

I'll install a T56 6 spd, upgrade the suspension and steering, redo the interior (I bought a set of '04 ZO6 black leather searts for it, too), do some minor glass work and try to paint it myself.

Okay, from here on my updates will be on posts. Jump in with comments and suggestions. Any one in the SW CT area who has some knowledge, wrenching skill, cold beer, or the need to supervise, give me a shout - an extra wrench and a torso that can bench press a t56 6 spd are always welcome.