....: Work goes, but with some one step forward and two steps back incidents-!!!!!!

29 January 2012

Work goes, but with some one step forward and two steps back incidents-!!!!!!

I feel like I'm making some progress this week!

Still waiting on the rest of the custom wiring; security and remote lock/unlock and the rest of the interior wiring from VettAid. Meanwhile I've been installing what I can in preparation for my next test start. This time I plan to run complete systems tests; adjust the clutch, heater and radiator hoses for leaks, gauges, heater/ac controls, etc.

Things I got done today. Okay, call me anal, but I removed the lower firewall heat shields and lined them with thermal barrier from Eastwood and taped the edges with multi-purpose aluminum tape.. I figure it couldn't hurt and just might help keep some heat out of the cabin:

Heat shield re-installed on the driver side.

...and the passenger side, hard to see under/behind the heater hoses. I wire-tied sections of heater hose around the hoses where they touch the top edge of the heat shield to protect them from abrasion. Looks sloppy but they will be hidden once I install the heater pump/AC box.

Then I installed the dash harness/fuse box and the engine /headlight/horn/etc.harness. These harnesses are the ones that are stock for this car. However, they've been modified by VettAid to integrate with the LS2 ECM harness, new instruments/gauges and the upgrades/mods (remote security, push button start, retro-fit pwr door locks, etc.).

The dash harness is on the left and the ECM harness is on the right. The ECM is wrapped in bubble wrap and wrapped in blue tape for protection. The ECM and ECM harness is not indigenous to this car. The dash harness is highly modified to integrate with the ECM harness and the new gauges/speedo/tach. It normally would have a number of instrument light sockets hanging off it. They will connect at several places. Jody at VettAid is drawing wiring diagrams for this custom setup.

The dash harness connects to the fuse box and connects through the firewall to the....

....stock engine harness (highly modified).

Earlier this week I got a Motive pressure bleeder and tried to bleed the brakes. The rear calipers bled well. but I couldn't get the fronts to even flow brake fluid. I used the original proportioning valve and master cylinder (MC). Trying to save a few bucks, you know. Brake fluid is leaking from the fittings on the proportioning valve and even after over a day of leaving the bleeder fittings open and letting them gravity bleed still nothing flowing to the front calipers. I have a new valve and MC on order. Right now I'm trying to decide if I want to use the OEM style power booster or install the new Hydroboost unit I have. It will require additional hose making and routing into the power steering system since it uses pressure from the ps pump to assist the brakes.

Two Steps Back:

I wasn't comfortable with the heater hoses I made from the 7/16" Russell fuel line. I don't think they would supply adequate flow and the car designers had to have a reason for using different size hoses, 3/4" and 5/8". I originally used these hose fittings

and jury-rigged this set up to mate the Russell lines to the 3/4" and 5/8" heater core tubes. I am worried of the possibility of leaks here.

I went to NAPA and got these fittings and used Spectre heater hose in the correct ID.

The blue part of the forward hose clamp housing is touching the inside of the control arm. I have a feeling I'll wind up removing the housing. Although that's the pivot point of the arm, the squared corner will rotate and scrape the blue collar of the housing.

Temporary clamps until I find some better ones.

A few weeks ago I removed all the chrome stainless trim and molding around the windshield and T-top supports for two reasons. I had seen a little surface rust under the top windshield frame and since C3s are notorious for leaking in this area, I wanted to ensure there was no rust damage under the trim.

Also, I'm considering powder coating all the trim black. Well, who knew the two screws that attach the two outer top windshield frame chrome covers CAN'T BE REMOVED UNLESS THE #^##!%&;*&;!!! WINDSHIELD IS REMOOOOVED!!!!!!!! I thought it was just a close fit.

Guess what, windshields must be designed to tolerate more stress on the surface than on the edges!!!!! The side of the screwdriver shaft applied just enough stress to crack the windshield. So I had to remove it and NOW I can access all of the windshield frame I want.........!

No comments:

Post a Comment

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.