Projects '62 Corvette gets '63 Latham Supercharger

I hear ya. When I go to car shows I don't even look at Corvettes anymore

 

I too nave a couple of Lathams, one of which scheduled for a Buick nailhead build for my '37 Chevy pickup. A friend here who is a machinist, and whose brother also has a Latham, solved the belt tracking issue by machining a slight crown in the middle of the blower pulley.

 

Don’t get me wrong, I’m open to any little suggestions or insights but NCRS on this car is purely being used as guidance. Thankfully this car had a bunch of original items in tact.
And I am doing fun things like overspray on the hood catches whilst blacking out the engine compartment and the dark grey stripe on the coil springs but that’s just cuz I like it!

 

Wow, that sounds interesting and tricky experimental. “Slight crown”, as in .002” or .005”?
Not that I’ll jump right in and do it but it would be nice info to have.
Thanks for sharing the info.

 

I too am holding the info in reserve for my build, to be used only in case of need. The belts that came with my Latham show no edge wear.

I should see my machinist friend at this Sunday morning geezer coffee cruise-in and I'll ask him for details. We are both regular attendees of what I call "The League of Extraordinary Assholes" that gather every Sunday.

 

Front suspension rebuild kits? It's interesting to me how very few parts are accurately remade as bolt on parts. Black when it's supposed to raw, zinc when it's supposed to be cadmium etc etc etc. So this is just FYI for whom ever when ever...check your stuff before ordering because with a little work it may be just fine!!! I ordered a beautiful 100% complete front suspension kit from Paragon and it truly was nice and I also spent $75.49 in return shipping yesterday for said kit, not cool. It was a bummer that tie rod tubes were black, grease caps were black and unstamped, A-arm tubes in black etc etc.
I simply ordered their #2484K Pivot Shaft A-Frame Tube Seals Kit and scrubbed all my parts and bead blasted cast items, I like having all the GM stamped grease caps. It now looks like it did in '62(less paint swipes).
Just lucky I reckon that my parts weren't worn out.

 

That's a good plan. You have a nice ride. I have the same frame of mind with my "32." It has the original floor and I'm not going to cut it to install a quick change or tail lights in the body. The mechanical items have been changed but the body is untouched. Sometimes I wish I had a rough one so I wouldn't hesitate cutting it up.

 

Suspension lift complete...thanks Jim, your insight truly made this one happen!
No engine weight yet but it's looking good!

 

Looking good so far for sure. Thanks for taking us along on the transformation.

 

Looks nice!!!!
I would use a self locking nut on the mounting points, but I thend to overthink.

 

They just don’t work very well in this condition!
Now all is new and routed/sealed properly plus the additional ground wire to the frame.

 

Radiator core support block was simply made from some leftover 2.5" aluminum. Nothing fancy just functional. I decided to extend the original support bolts which allowed me to use the closed block concept.

 

Little things during mock up...that could help someone, someday. I'll probably edit this post as I go, cuz there's more coming!
~~~The old gaskets were neat to see but sucking air is probably not good.
~~~I wanted to use the factory fuel injection coil mount but the Latham plate needed some modification.
~~~Funny little engineering items were overlooked...the intake manifold bolts can't be installed/removed without removing the compressor plate. This didn't seem worth grinding since it rarely gets removed. They have to go in before tightening the plate to intake.
~~~Well that was unexpected! I must have the wrong generator bracket because there's no way these carbs are going to mount up currently. The original instructions did mention using a piece of radiator hose for the front right air cleaner if needed.
Reckon since I'm pretending it's '63/'64 I should just use a stock alternator anyways and mothball this freshly refurbished numbers matching generator...it'll remove a few pounds also! That'll take some looking into. Cutting and welding brackets may be coming up?
~~~Instructions noted to use the supplied fan spacer to clear the pulleys. Well they’re no where to be found, a 3/8” spacer was created.
~~~Latham’s opinion was the Corvette’s “...action was too quick coming off from closed throttle.” I don’t know but I figured since I was building stuff I might as well do this as well. See photos of lingo, linkage and plate.

 

I hope when you get this running you make a video so we can hear it run

 

Absolutely, I actually did a short video of the old engine before pulling it, so I should be able to post the two clips side by side...it was mainly curiosity for me and for all us motor heads out there!

 

I'm striking out finding a matching pair of vintage gauges...do ya all have any leads or friends that collect gauges perhaps. I need a fuel pressure and manifold pressure gauge.
Thanks for any help!

 

Trying to match them will be a challenge.
My fuel pressure is in the engine compartment and the boost/vacuum is under the dash. So matching isn't a problem.

For the Fuel I use the Marshall CF00015, 0-15, 1.5" dia., it looks vintage. You can buy them on Ebay $20.00 . Only problem, if you mount them by the motor, once they get warm the needle drops to zero.

For the manifold pressure: That's going to be a tuffy. My S.Co.T. creates vacuum till you get your foot into it, then it starts to boost. So I needed a gauge to swing both ways past 0. I drilled and tapped the manifold below the blower to plumb it. Anything above the blower will be vacuum only. Your Latham is probably works the same. I'm using a "57" Studebaker gauge.

 

Thanks for the insight, I thinking of letting the period correct aspect go on this subject for now.
One day I'll run across a pair but for now I think a pair of SW or ISSPRO gauges will work just fine.
Planning on a radio delete anyhow, so perhaps these will easily go in the radio delete plate?
Thanks again

 

That is what I did with my avatar car. The engine makes so much noise (that I enjoy) so there is no need for a radio anyways. I took a piece of aluminum and made an insert that goes right where the radio heater assembly fits in. I have toggle switches above the gauges and the little red light tells me when I have the line lock activated.

 

Well that’s all confirming, thanks!

 

I didn’t realize your car was such a show piece either…so very nice Jim.
SW gauges are on their way.

 

Thanks, it was an old drag car that was abused so when I redid it I tried to make it look good as well as run pretty decent (427BBC). It is a driver that I drag race occasionally and has done pretty well at shows as well. This picture was just prior to Autorama in 2013 when I finished it. Took a 3rd behind two high dollar resto mods. The 1st place resto mod was a 58 Vette done by Troy Trepanier-the second place car was a 6 figure car as well.

It is painted with a PPG tri coat candy apple red and the funny thing is I have had two girls ask me the color as they would like a nail polish in the same color.

 

Sounds great based on the competition.
I’m sure the color is gorgeous!
I’m thinking of Arctic Blue perhaps when the time comes.
BTW, I found some ‘60s Ansen Torq Thrust wheels and they’re on their way. Very clean, never painted or blasted! Should work for now.

 

I had a friend run the torq thrust on his 61 in the 60s-certainly a cool and period correct wheel. Arctic blue would be a good choice. I often wondered why GM did not offer a blue in 1962 when they did every other year other than the first Vettes all in white in 53. I like all of the blue shades on the early cars (54-67). Regal Touquoise on the 58 I find to be really striking though-not sure I would paint my car with it but I like it for sure. The 58s may have had the best color selection IMO. I also am a fan of the yellow with white cove 58-but I suppose I should not get this thread off track. You are paying attention to detail and I am sure the car will reflect that when it is completed.

 

If he lives here and is into cars more than likely I have met him.Here is a pic of my car for the last 25 years.

 

Nice Safari, too bad you ran out of room to put more stuff on it!

 

SW gauges for manifold and fuel pressure are good to go and vintage enough looking for now.

 

Staying true to the period with the original ‘63 Corvette valve covers that had to be notched for the original Latham installation.
Just needed to back date the oil fill cap, now they’re good.
And one couldn’t ask for a more traditional paint scheme!

 

Vintage Ansen Top Eliminators did exactly what I wanted!
And got some rough plumbing done over the weekend whilst being patiently impatient with machine shop

 

Your vintage Ansen Top Eliminators with their round spokes are perfect.

Are they 15x6 or 15x7?