Projects 1958 Corvette (I'm the new tire fryer)

Lookin' good Mark! I'll try to swing by next week to see it. Looks way better with the 90s engine bay stuff removed and modified.

 

I got a ton of paperwork and pictures with the car.

Included is a signature from Bob Tindle (former Orange Crate owner) when his car lot was still downtown. I stopped in there plenty of times just to look back then. Bought a 67 Camaro SS350 from him in 1973 for my girlfriend, then wife. That was after he moved to Canyon Road.


A newspaper page from July 1980 Columbia County Chronicle (6 weeks after Mt St. Helens erupted) Mentions lack of participants because of volcanic ash and eruption concerns.






My friend Doug which owned the car before me is guy with the beard.
I'm taking good care of your car buddy!

 

Headed out to the garage, nothing exciting
Picked up some stainless bolts yesterday to replace rusty stuff.
Gonna sand and polish the new ones.

Cleaning up the front of the engine some.
Fan, radiator, water pump & pulley, crank pulley, motor mount.
Found a chrome alternator pulley in my stash, might stick it on.

 

Mark pretty cool stuff. Always good to have history on your car. They thought it was a cool car as well when they owned it (more than likely).

 

1981 Portland Roadster Show
The black reader board to the right of the car is still with it.



It won 1st in class that year.
I'm still chasing trophies this car won in it's earlier life.
Some were at the drags.



Had original dual quad carbs on it back then.
Now it's a Holley 750dp on an Edelbrock C3B intake which is how I've always known it.


See the road flares behind the white water can?
They were still mounted but I removed 'em since they were all leaking.

 

Terrible to lose a good friend but it appears that you will carry on his love for the car and it has gone to a good home.

 

Cool story......his legacy will carry on!!!

 

Lowcat, just curious but how do you get the tach to work if you don't have a tach drive cable?

 

It has a tach drive distributor which is calibrated wrong. Seems like it shows 1/2 of what it should be.

Another thing on my "to do" list is an electronic conversion for the original tach. I see them advertised for C1 Vettes at $179 and seem to have excellent reviews.

 

Here is what I have...the '57 generator and the tach drive cable. FWIW

 

Nice vette! Even cooler to have all those historical pieces and memories with it too. I like your small improvements so far.
With a title like that I hope you fried the tyres at least once already?!!

 

The first day and nearly every drive since.
A lightweight car with 4:10 gears so it "wants" to fry 'em.

Got a 1962 Corvette ignition shield top off Craigslist for a great deal.

The seller was a cool guy and we talked rods for a while. His friend bought a Harley from my Corvette's previous owner and told him about the car. He called but I'd already made the deal on it. Had a Vette he restored and sold, so my shield was a leftover. Now looking for another 58-62 Vette.



Had some tiny dents and scratches so I banged 'em out and gave it a buff.
Gonna look great on the car and will cover the tan colored Accel distributor cap.
Ordered the correct support brackets for the shielding from Corvette Central.
Should be here in a week.


Pulled off the hood to finish the wiring covers in front of the radiator.
Also buffing out that area as it can't be done with the hood on.
Painting the top radiator tank as well.



Out with the old and in with the new.

Getting the new '58 hood ready to install. Very nice press molded hood but going to require a bunch of prep work where the upper and lower sections were bonded together before it's ready for paint.

Test fitting today.

 

The generator drive tachs are a different ratio than the distributor drive tachs. I would guess you still have the generator based tach?

 

Yes, original tach in the car. It has an alternator conversion and I won't be changing back to generator. Going to an electronic conversion on the original tach. A new lens kit for all the gauges came with the car so maybe this winter I can get all of that done.

Almost forgot, yesterday was my Vette's 60th birthday. 10/14/57
26th car off the line on the first day of 1958 production.
5 more cars were built that day for 31 total.

 

Had to try the ignition shield top on. Not sure if I'll be able to use the vertical shields as they're meant to route the plug wires under the exhaust manifolds. Probably be too long and will need trimmed off.

 

Lovin it! My buddy, Willard had a white, killer 58 up in The Dalles in the early-mid 70s. Had a later 327/4 speed that was stupid fast. I was so impressed I bought this 64 coupe from a mister Booth on about 145th and Division. It was red when I bought it and I had all the stress cracks fixed, new bumpers installed had the paint changed to black, in and out. It had a fast 327/4 speed/4.10 posi but not as fast as Willard's 58. Great old days, for sure! 'scuse the photo....it lived in my wallet for many years.
Taken in 1972.

 

Had a couple days into fitting the reproduction '58 hood.
On and off a few times.

Needed to scribe and file about 3/4 of the way around the perimeter. Also had to slot the holes on the hinges but got it fitting reasonably well. Replaced all of the attaching bolts with polished stainless.

I noticed a 12/20/1980 delivery date on the box that contained the new hood. Maybe previous owner tried it on and gave up or never took it out of the box. Anyway, it tells me he wasn't fond of the cowl induction hood either.

I do like it much better.





Ordered a map/package tray from Corvette Central which wasn't original for a 1958 but were on 1959-62. There's really no storage in these cars so it'll be a good addition. You can see it below the grab bar on the red car.



After I fit the package tray, it'll get dropped off next week with the hood for paint. They'll go to New Start Auto Works in Vancouver, WA. Not the fastest shop around but top notch quality.

I'm going to keep an eye out for another hood scoop to replace the one on the original hood. I'd really like to install tri-power with Rochester 2G carbs and 1966 GTO air cleaners. I know that setup would't fit under a stock hood.

UPS guy delivered the package tray just now, so time for me to head out to the garage.

 

here's a teaser pic for ya, more info at the corvette forum.By the way i'm loving the improvements you're making, especially the hood.

 

Love that air cleaner, and the repro hood looks superb, not a fan of the cowl hood. Beautiful car!

 

Here's the latest additions.

The car had an extra added leaf spring and coil assisted shocks in the back so rode pretty harsh. I removed the leaf, shocks and added some 3/4" drop blocks to get the rear down a little. Now rides much nicer. Also installed some new air shocks as I plan on pulling a small travel trailer. Yanked off the old "slapper" traction bars and tossed 'em in the parts stash.




Pedal on the left is stock.
One on the right is from a '57 Pontiac Safari wagon I parted 35 years ago.
Been saving for the "right" car. This car is it.
I really like the stainless trim.




I used to call the gas pedal the "loud" pedal .
Looks like it will be the "power" pedal from now on.




I have these original blue Corvette seat belts I was hoping to use. They've been through the black dye bath 3 times and sat in it for a week each time. Now they're really really dark purple so I gave up. Went through my parts stash and found a pair of new, black, flip-buckle belts I'd forgotten about. Bought them for a project years ago but sold the car before installation happened.




New belts.
Built a cup holder because holding a can between your legs doesn't really work when you have a 4 speed.

The holder was made out of a large plastic pan that I cut the ends off of since it had the correct shape and width. Turned the ends vertical and attached them together. Then used a cheapo carpeted floor mat and some black pleather to cover it. Pulls out in 2 seconds so can be removed for show.




Picked up a new GM trunk/nose emblem on eBay for 60% off retail. The production line emblems had gold lettering where the replacement is silver. The gold ones are reproduced but I like silver better on a black car.




All Vettes from 58-62 used this emblem but in 1962 only, the concave backing plate was black instead of silver. I have a black one from my old '62 of 25 years ago that I'm going to try on the '58.




I think the black backing plate will look better on this car.

Scotty, thanks for motivation to get my trailer hitch built.

 

nice Vette, like what your doing... the cowl induction hood was awful..

 

PLEASE never re-upholster those seats! the diamond tuck is awesome.

 

Those little touches will make it extra special, it'll be fun to see how many notice. I know we are enjoying this, how about you?

 

I waited 25 years to own another solid axle Vette and I'm having a BLAST!!
Can't wait for the weekends to roll around so I can get out and tinker on it.

I was going to buy this 1954 a friend inherited from 2nd owner. All original drivetrain, never been wrecked or damaged. Also included 2 different aftermarket hardtops. High quality repaint and custom matching interior in early 1962. Been pretty much sitting since then because owner bought a new 63 FI coupe in late '62. I have an L79/327 and a Muncie M21 which is where I was headed but then my good friend's car became available. The '54 is really too nice to modify and about 15% more money than my '58 that's already a hot rod.





Has original 2 pot air cleaner but was off because of a leaky carb.

 

Better shots of the new lowered rear stance
Still waiting for my hood to come back from paint.





Got the front and rear emblem backing plates done in black.
Looks better huh?

 

Looking good. Any interest in selling the rear leafs you removed ? The rear springs in my 57 could use an added leaf.

 

Sorry about your friend but lucky dog . Nice car. Always liked those early vettes .

 

Probably not something you'd want as they seem to have different arcs. I think you could use 49-54 full size car leafs and these might be just that.

Forgot to show some NOS 327 emblems I added. These were for a Chevelle and never installed on a Vette. No drilling, ground the studs off the back of the emblem and used clear double sided tape trimmed to fit.

 

Haven't done much on the Vette lately but did get the entire electrical system and lights working properly which also included a New Port Engineering wiper motor so now I have delay and 2 speeds.
What an improvement.



Also installed some new pedal pads for the clutch and brake pedals that were meant for a 1965-70 Chevy Impala. They have stainless trim so kinda match the 56-57? Pontiac Safari gas pedal I put in.

BEFORE


AFTER


Going to give the body a rub down tomorrow for the upcoming convertible car season.

 

Now I've gotta find one of those gas pedals for my 56 chivy, thanks for contributing to my sickness.