Graham’s Corvette Blog and Studebaker bits ‘n’ bobs

The carb linkages were exposed to moisture in the air and they are all corroded and seized. I sprayed a liberal coat of Fluid Film over everything, but still no luck in getting the linkages moving. It’ll have to come off and gone over on the bench.

Carb came out easily. The base gasket is still usable with just a little damage on the back side. I’ll use a bit of silicone on it when I do the install.;

Top off and it’s dry and corrosion free on the inside – likely thanks to the air cleaner being on the car and its storage in a building with a wood floor. It was a little tricky using a thin utility knife to ease the upper gasket off. A bit of a pain putting the top back on. The primary needles (centre of the carb front section) are spring loaded and want to pop out of the jets. Only the gasket keeps them in place. The accelerator pump wants to push the gasket up. So three hands would be helpful to hole the accelerator pump rod down and then wiggle the top to fit in the gasket holes. That’s the only pain. Other than that they are pretty easy to clean and kit. The one now on the Corvette works real nice. No ‘bogging’ when the pedal is floored, just smooth acceleration. Air flow to the big back venturies is controlled by with the upper plates so that the air increase is gradual.

Back together and ready to go. It took a lot of penetrating oil to get the butterflies loose and operating freely. It could use a good dunking in carb cleaner, but I only need the carb to run for a short time to start and warm up the engine.

Time the hood was taken off. I’ll need to actually sit inside the engine compartment to work on the distrubutor. The engine bay is like a half-ton truck!

I hate pulling distributors because it’s so easy to mess up the timing. You need to note the location of the rotor before and after it is slipped by the cam gear. So you need to slowly pull the unit out. This unit was sticking on the gummy dried out oil. It too some sharpe snaps to get it out and of course I wasn’t sure of the final location of the rotor.

I had earlier drained the pan and removed the old filter. Now I’ll add new Motomaster 10W30 high mileage oil, some STP and a new filter. The engine has just over 100k miles so it is bound to be worn. The STP should help with piston ring and lifter sealing and maybe keep the cam going for a bit longer.

I picked up this Chev small block oil pump primer for a few bucks on Amazon. I popped it in place and spun the oil pump for at least a minute. When I removed it there was lots of oil in the valve lifter gallery – the end of the gallery can be seen through the distributor hole.

Nothing special to be done to the distributor just cleaning and grease. I cleaned the old oil residue from the shaft bushings and sprayed some white grease on the advance unit weights and springs.

Next: final steps before starting the engine.

I started the engine prep by removing the AC unit and PS pump and brackets. The AC pump is frozen, but I’ll keep it as a core.. The PS pump turns freely so I will keep it aside for a backup. Plugs all came out nicely and they were all firing well when the engine was finally stopped.

Next I fogged each cylinder with Motomaster Engine storage spray.

I then put the car up on jack stands and removed the plastic cover from the front of the transmission exposing the ring gear and torque converter.

Using a short pry bar I was able to easily turn the ring gear. So good so far. I don’t want to turn the engine too much with dry bearings. I’ll prime the oil pump first before turning the engine fully to be sure something isn’t stuck.

The heater hoses are showing their age and the one going to the heat control valve actually broke off.

Using a new piece of hose I simply joined up the heater intake and outlet fittings. Should be fine for the engine start.

Next: more prep for starup

The ’83 Caprice that has a 305 4bbl engine with a 700R4 trans. It’s been sitting for over 20 years so the engine may be stuck.

Getting the Caprice out of the shed and onto the trailer wasn’t too difficult. Friend Don kindly supplied the Dodge diesel and hauler with winch. 350 km round trip to get the car home.

Home and in the garage. I’ll now begin the pre-start work.

The engine is un-molested and the breather is in place – less corrosion with it on. The AC pump is frozen. The belt was removed, so not in use when the car was stopped. Might be good for a core.

The cruise transducer. It is a three wire resume unit. If I can use it I will need to find a three wire resume/signal switch lever to install it in the Corvette. Unfortunately the one in the Caprice won’t transfer over.

Next: Getting the engine ready to test if it is seized.

Parts in from Corvette Depot. Rocker trim screw kit, rear window clips, antenna support and two motor mounts. I”ll tackle the rocker trim screw kit first.

For some reason the old rocker panel screws were different from those sent from Corvette Depot. The new screws are listed on their package as being for a ’79 model. However the original screws (on the right) are 1/4″ vs the new ones that are 3/16″. This only affects the three centre screws on each side. The new screws seemed to grab OK on the left side, but I had to reuse the old screws on the right side. Not a problem for me as they will be all covered by a black pin stripe in the end.

I did manage to squeeze three new clips for broken originals, but I destroyed three and those that I did get in place are not likely to hold the trim very well. Fortunately there are enough original metal clips (the replacements are all plastic) to hold the trim in place. Looks good with the black accent stripe.

When I next have the trim off I will remove the interior trim around the window and then attempt to use small bolts to hold new plastic clips in place. It will take a very fine bolt to fit inside the plastic trim hole with the bolt head inside the car and a fine nut on the outside.

Rockers much improved with the 3/8″ pin stripe covering the attaching bolts.

Back on the floor and ready for the road 🙂

In the meantime I replaced the steel wheels on my engine stand with larger rubber units that will hopefully not damage my wood floor so badly. I also have attached similar wheels that rotate to the both long arms of my engine ‘cherry picker’. I need to do this so that I can move the picker sideways as the C3’s engine has to be picked up from the side and then moved sideways out of the car.

Next: I won’t have too much to report on until I make arrangements to bring the ’83 Caprice home. I should have some news in April I hope.

Last small defects filled with spot putty.

I actually moved the tape about 1/4″ back on the hood. That’s so I wouldn’t have a grey primer line on the hood when the tape is removed. I sanded the extra hood space so the paint should stick OK. Three coats of Dupli-color satin black.

Before….

Body work is not my thing so less than perfect, but a whole lot better than it was!

Wheels torqued and ready for the road. It’s getting its battery topped up for the start of the season. The radio’s pre-sets use up a bit of juice so I top up the battery a couple of times over the winter with a float charger.

The Chevy will come down off the quick jack once I have the rocker trim in place with new screws and bolts. Then I can re-install the rear window trim and it will be ready for the road too.

Next: parts for the Chevy are in the mail so hopefully I can get the winter work completed soon. The first nice driving days are just around the corner!

Shiny new steering wheel in place:-)

Seat adjuster levers in place with seat matching covers.

I applied a layer of two part epoxy filler and then used a bit of spot filler for the last couple of low spots. Careful final sanding with #320 grit paper.

Two coats of primer.

I got a notice that my parts have been shipped from Corvette Depot – Hooray!

Can’t always be working on the old cars. The Chevy is ready for the road as is the Studie almost so time to do some maintenance. When I had the garage built I had tongue and groove 3/4″ plywood installed on the floor over the concrete. I prefer to work on a softer wood surface. Unfortunately the plywood has started to delaminate in areas where I rolled heavy stuff, like engines, around. Time to fix those spots. I used a belt sander with course belts to grind away loose wood. I then used two part epoxy resin to re-fix the laminate.

Next I used two part epoxy body filler with short tiger hair as a filler. I’ve done some grinding here and will add epoxy to any low spots I missed and then grind flat before priming and painting in the summer when the temp is up and the Chevy can be moved to the car port.

It’s not quite spring and a few weeks from driving season so I decided to tackle a nasty dent at the front left of the Studie’s hood. It had been fixed, but water got under the body filler and rust started. I’ve started the sanding here. I’m looking for the bare metal around the damaged spots.

Turns out there was more filler than expected. The main damage is at the bottom right. I cleaned out as much of the rust as possible using sandpaper, a grinding wheel and even a dental pick.

Next I gave the rusty area a good coat of Rust Converter and let it dry. It’s supposed to turn the rust to a primer. Hopefully this will help the new tiger hair epoxy filler to stick.

A couple of other jobs left on the Studie. First is to replace the cracked and sun distorted steering wheel.

The old wheel is on the right. The colour match looks pretty good in the photo, but up close there is a slight variance which is understandable.

The second leftover job is painting up the bucket seat adjuster levers. They aren’t perfect, but a bit of paint will help.

Nice a shiny with two coats of reflex silver and two clear coats.

Next up, a bit more on the Studie work.

Last piece of trim to paint. I’m using long screws to hold it up in three spots. Kinda flimsy, but I think it will hold enough to paint.

Weather is breaking and I’m looking forward to bringing home a donor ’83 Caprice with a high mileage 305 similar to the one above.

The Caprice has a 4BBL 305 engine which will be a nice temporary fix for the Chevy. The Chevy’s engine has a burnt valve and so doesn’t sound or run the best. I don’t want to pull the motor and end up having the car off the road for an extended length of time. Also I don’t want to be rushed with the rebuild. So I’ll put in a donor engine to keep me cruising in the meantime.

The Caprice may have other items of use. I need a transducer for the cruise control that I want to add to the Chevy. I have all the other parts for a 2 wire unit, but I may have to buy another cruise/signal lever for the steering column if it turns out to be a 3 wire unit. Also the brake booster might fit, PS components, AC components, etc.

Finished rear window trim with a 1/4″ black accent pin stripe. Waiting on Corvette Depot for some trim clips for the rear window. I can install with the clips already there ,but it will be that much more secure if I can replace the 5 missing/broken clips. Supposedly you need to remove the glass to get the clips in place. I’ll have to see if I can get them in with the glass in place.

Running a tap into the six mounting holes for the rocker trim. There are also three other holes on each side that take bolts. Here too I’m waiting on Corvette Depot for a new screw/bolt kit for the rocker trim.

I decided to install the rockers using a couple of the old screws on each side. That keeps the rockers safer than hanging up in the garage. I’ll install the new screws/bolts then apply a 3/8″ pin stripe in the screw/bolt channel which will accent the piece and cover the screw/bolt heads.

Next: another steering wheel install. This time on the Studie. Winter seems to have broken so it will be time to get the Chevy on it’s tires and ready for the road! I just need a few parts from Corvette Depot: a screw kit, rear window clips and two new front engine mounts for the 305 Caprice swap.

Time to get the rockers prepped. Here I’ve sanded them down and scraped away any old paint.

Two coats of primer, two coats of Reflex Silver and two coats of clear. I’m using Dupli-Color paint. Came out nice. I’ll be applying a 3/8″ pin stripe after they have been installed, to cover the screws.

Time to install the steering wheel.

Of course nothing is easy or simple it seems. I put the horn parts in place, but the horn didn’t want to blow. I went back and checked the fuse and the horn relay and all is good. There is some surface rusting on the spring and attaching parts so I sanded and sand blasted the parts. Should be good for another 40 years!

All looks good but the horn still didn’t want to work properly..

In the end it came down to how the spring was installed on this insulating plate further in the steering column. The image is upside down. The small spring end coil needs to be fed under the large tab – in the top of this photo. That holds the spring against the two brass horn contacts in the lower assembly. Once that was done the horn was consistent.

All that is left of the painting is the two trim pieces for the rear window. It will be the same process as for the rockers. I may use a 1/4″ black pin stripe for accent after the paint is dry.

Thinking about removing the engine from the Chevy – this is a screen shot from one of the many U – tubes online that cover engine and trans removal. You can opt to remove the engine alone or with the trans. I’ve pretty well decided to remove the engine only. The trans is working OK and I plan to use it with the donor 305 I’ll be picking up in the spring.

Another screen shot. The engine needs to be removed from the side. Unfortunately my ‘cherry picker’ doesn’t have swivel casters on the ends of the long arms under the car. I’ll have to make that modification before trying to pull the engine. With that done it shouldn’t be too hard to extract the old 350 and install the donor 305. Just thinking ahead and what needs to be done beforehand.

Next: waiting for parts from Corvette Depot and other stuff.

The steering wheel has some ugly patches so I thought I’d try and clean it up. I lightly sanded it with 80 grit and then with 300 grit to smooth out the leather roughness. I tried not to expose the leather where possible as it will be harder to cover.

At the same time I decided to clean up the rocker areas. Just some scale rust to be scraped and sanded. I’ll give the original light colour paint (from the factory paint job) a coat of satin black.l

Wheel looking good. The vinyl paint is very thin and so I ended up with some runs after two coats. I let it dry and sanded out the runs and gave the whole wheel a sanding with 600 grit paper. Another two careful coats and it’s done. It too four coats to cover where the leather was exposed. I’ll have to wait and see how well it wears. If it doesn’t I can always buy a replacement or and aftermarket unit.

I also have a new steering wheel for the Studie. It came out nice with a coat of primer, two coats of matching CarQuest paint and two coats of Duplicolor clear coat. I’ll let both steering wheels cure for a few days before installing them.

I painted the fibreglass, etc with satin black paint and then the frame with CarQuest PromForma rockguard. The rock guard is more tolerant of leftover grease or oil.

Meanwhile it’s time to tackle the Chevy’s rocker panels.