Made up the frt lower shock mounts today and welded them to the axle saddles. Decided to mount them to the rear of the axle. Little cleaner looking and better spot on the chassis to attach the upper mount. I didn't like how low the tie rod assembly sat, so I re-tapered the steering arms so the tie rod assemble comes in from the top. This raised the tie rod about three inches and will also give me better angle for the drag link to the pitman arm. Tomorrow it will be back on its wheels, and able to roll back on the lift to work on it. This working/welding on the floor with jack stands gets old pretty quick.
Great progress.........now ya went an got me sparked up to get on with my 62 , although I can't do anything yet until the big barn is built. This spring looks positive.
Finished the front shackle mount/frame brackets today. Spent a fair amount of time making these a bolt in unit. I also made the front shackle bracket adjustable for proper shackle location ,once the front end drops down with the weight of the motor, etc. Next step will be to drop my dummy BB. This will let me cut the inner fender panels for header clearance, and once the drivers side is bolted on, I'll locate the steering box and mount. Hoping I'm able to set it up for rear steer. Time will tell.
The Hayseed (Doug Jounis ) is what started this love affair with these early Corvettes back in the late sixties.
Installed the side mounts for the motor today. Tomorrow I'll throw on a set of old heads and start cutting and trimming the inner fender panels to fit the Tubular Automotive fender-well exit headers. Looks like I'll be able to use a mechanical fuel pump.
Makes no difference as long as your using cross steering. I set my 55 Chevy up this way and the car goes straight as an arrow and rides and drives great. Finished welding the motor mounts today and cleaned up the welds. Bolted in the clutch bell crank after cutting a notch in the bottom to clear block in the oil filter area.
Trimmed the inner fender panels for header clearance. Left side came out good. Right side I wound up cutting more than I needed to, so I re-cut the panel and glassed it back in. I'll finish them off once the dummy motor is out. Everything fits as its supposed to.
Thanks Phil. I did tack my steering box mount in place yesterday. Need to shorten the extra column and shaft I have ,bolt them back into the car and see what kind of angle I have coming out of the firewall to the box. Will clear the header fine, and the drag link position looks good.
Located the steering box to it's final position and welded the mount the chassis. Was able to connect the column to the box with two Borgeson joints . With the new 15 inch repro wheel and the seat in place, the seating /steering position worked out well.
Steering is pretty much done. Still need the drag link and tie rod ends. I also have to make a bracket to hold the firewall end of the column to the firewall. Nice that there is a lot of room in the engine compartment in these C1 Corvettes, even with a BB Chevy.
orvette almost died after '54, but Ford came to the rescue by bringing out the '55 Thunderbird, which sold like 15,000 cars to about 700 for the '55 "Vette (I think there were too many unsold '54s on dealers' back lots!). GM said "Holy sh*t, we gotta do something!" And they made V-8s standard in the restyled '56, along with roll-up windows and other refinements that made the car as livable on the street as it was fast everywhere. 1957 saw fuel injection and a four-speed, totally outclassing the T-Bird, and it just kept getting better (aside from hiccups in the '70s and '80s) to today!
Steering is done. I'll paint the column,shaft, joints etc.when I pull it all apart for the final time. The 15 inch wheel makes it a lot easier to get in and out of the car. And the Vega box takes about 1/2 the effort the stock Corvette box did.
Not a big fan of these fake scoops and tomorrow they are going. Being an after-market nose, they do not have the provisions to install the stock trim/inserts as the original nose did. Last pic is one with them removed. Much cleaner looking without them.
Finally nailed down the color it is going to be. 1961 Corvette Jewel Blue. One year only, and only 855 were sold this blue. Two gallons of lacquer should arrive this week. Choosing a color has been one of the toughest decisions of the build. Here is a sample of the color.
Thats a great color, Baron! You gonna do all in blue or tutone the cove? Had a hometown buddy who had a '61 with that color, white cove, when I had my '62. Still have a pic someplace in my scrapbook somewhere. His was a dual quad four speed car. We used to run SP class at Dover Dragstrip with a third guy that had a '57 bird with dual quads and three speed.
Thanks guys. John. Right now I am leaning towards all blue. Never been a fan of the two tone cars, but the last few days the idea of possible silver coves with a silver hard top might be a good look. I'll do a little Photoshop playing with two tone trying it in silver, white, and ???. Jim. Thanks for the info on the early Olds/Pontiac rear ends. Really a better choice for the car. See you tomorrow in Hudson.
Baron.....I vote for the all blue, no two tone. Just sayin' My '58 was a light silver blue (stock color) when I bought it. It had a white hardtop. Looked horrible. I had my painter strip and refinish the top to match the silver blue color of the body. Looked waay better as a single tone car.
Love the color cant wait to see it. Are you going to have it done by summer? You should try to make the Trifive Nationals in Bowling Green Ky. It going to be the Woodstock for Trifives. Ron
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