64 Vette….Rebuild 2.0

[76zimmer]

Car is 60 years old today! I was hoping to go for a drive today…but off and on rain ruintit. Maybe tomorrow?
The old brass (not original) radiator has been repaired/reconditioned twice since Ive owned it, so figured time for a more efficient unit. A Dewitts pro original fit unit. All aluminum, should chill things nicely, still running the electric fan, which has worked nicely for the last 15 years.
I still have to get a couple things (shocks), then I have most everything to make the rear trailing arm/31 spline hd axles/4 wheel disc swap happen. Once those parts are in place I can see what tire/wheel combo will fit in the fenders. Hoping to get an 8” tread under the car. Was going to go to the track last weekend, but rain cancelled that…again! Now its driving season, so not sure when I’ll take the car apart for the upgrades.

 

[1-ton]

I like the look of those Gen-2 Stingrays with the front bumpers removed. I bet you have to remind everybody that gets into and out of your Stingray to watchout for burning themselves on those side pipes. My wife gets annoyed with me having all the pictures I have of my son either standing next to my square body, or holding one of my guns. She says "don't you take any pictures of him standing next to some flowers or something? Why does it always have to be a race car, truck, gun or something".

 

[76zimmer]

Mostly its the grandkids that ride w me, and yeah they know! The first year I had the car back on the road I went to a car show and was parked between two other cars. The car on my drivers side had his door mostly open and I had to be careful not to bang doors w his, so I had to step out one leg at a time. Had shorts on, and its like throwing meat on a griddle. Only once!

 

[ZooMad75]

I was talking to my boss here at the shop about his Dad’s ‘66 big block vette. We were talking about wheels and he mentioned how limited the C2 cars are on width. His dad had some Colorado Custom billet units made and the widest they could go with the stock suspension and body was 7”.

That car had wider wheels when he bought it a couple decades earlier but someone flared the wheel arches to fit the wheels/tires.

 

[1-ton]

I was talking to my boss here at the shop about his Dad’s ‘66 big block vette.

I have a friend that I have known since high school back in the 70's. Back in the early 80's he bought a 1965 Stingray with a 396. The original 396 in it was clapped out, and unrebuildable. I had just bought a 1968 C20 Suburban with a 396 that was in good condition, and had never been rebuilt. He bought the whole truck from me just to get the 396 in it. That 396 is still in his 1965 Stingray to this day.

 

[76zimmer]

The sound of a midyear fiberglass door closing. I've heard many and they all sound very similar. Different than say a squarebody door, especially from the 70’s.

 

[tRustyK5]

Closes nice, and sounds surprisingly solid...

 

[76zimmer]

Those doors are pretty lightweight!

I changed frames on this car, as the original was rotted pretty good when I took it apart. They say each frame has its own set of bodymount shims, which I didnt get with this frame. I was careful to log each location from the original frame and the body sat on milk crates and jackstands while rebuilding everything in the frame. So when the replacement frame was “married” to the body I used new shims and compared them to the original shim packs, and only had to minimally adjust a couple locations. I got pretty lucky as when I started to do bodywork everything was lining up really nicely. I adjusted the doors for a good fit before doing any panel replacement, and it still closes so good. Convertibles are nowhere near as solid as a coupe, due to the inner birdcage structure of a coupe. Under dragstrip launches, Ive seen the gap at the top of a convertible door open up by over 1/4”. Another reason Im not wild about verts.

 

[SPLATT]

Those old GM cars definitely had a satisfying solid sound shutting the doors.

 

[82355]

The Coupes look soooooooooo much better than the Convertibles!

Martin

 

[tRustyK5]

agree 100%

 

[shady]

Not a convertible fan myself

 

[76zimmer]

FAST drags…
4 laps, changed after two runs to the Brawler carb, definte improvement in ET, but not 60’?
Not sure if the 3400 stall convertor (from a 2600) is making a difference or not?
D/A is about 1800-2000’ higher than my best 12.07/116 pass. Maybe if I can get that cool dense air again, I can get my 11.xx time slip…

 

[76zimmer]

Changed to the Brawler carb, had a hesitation, so I launched at 1800 rpm.
next pass I changed the rear squirter from 31 to 40. Helped w the hesitation, but feel I need to change the front as well, didn’t have the tools to do it, as the choke plate is in the way, and the possibility of dropping the screw or washers down the carb wasn't worth the risk. Launched at 1500 rpm.

 

[76zimmer]

 

[Bent77]

Sounds good

 

[folkenheath]

Nice runs!

What was your 60 ft before Zim?

The AD makes a big difference.

Were your tires holding you back, or just the squirters? You didn't try launching higher, or the brakes couldn't hold it?

My app shows a new timeslip of 11.93 if you get back to a 1.0 PCF instead of 1.054 with that weather. Do you now what was the weather during your 12.07? I can tell you what the PCF would of been and convert the 12.13 timeslip with my app.

 

[Big Ray]

Mostly its the grandkids that ride w me, and yeah they know! The first year I had the car back on the road I went to a car show and was parked between two other cars. The car on my drivers side had his door mostly open and I had to be careful not to bang doors w his, so I had to step out one leg at a time. Had shorts on, and its like throwing meat on a griddle. Only once!

Same with harleys and shorts!
I was doing maintainment on mine. Finished up and test ran it. Test sat. Rolled up in the garage, leg hit the pipes, yowzah!!
Like man said, that'll wake you up in the morning!!

 

[imiceman44]

Same with harleys and shorts!
I was doing maintainment on mine. Finished up and test ran it. Test sat. Rolled up in the garage, leg hit the pipes, yowzah!!
Like man said, that'll wake you up in the morning!!

Been there done that. Some marks still show 25 years later

 

[76zimmer]

Nice runs!

What was your 60 ft before Zim?

The AD makes a big difference.

Were your tires holding you back, or just the squirters? You didn't try launching higher, or the brakes couldn't hold it?

My app shows a new timeslip of 11.93 if you get back to a 1.0 PCF instead of 1.054 with that weather. Do you now what was the weather during your 12.07? I can tell you what the PCF would of been and convert the 12.13 timeslip with my app.

Best run was 10/22.
run #2, and 3
Traction was great, never spun. They prepped it real good.
No hesitation at 1800 launch w the Brawler and 31/40 squirters. Not sure what the jetting is.