My Biggest Headache Of The Year

Hobo,NC

Well-known Member
Location
Sanford, NC
I had a Guy clear off some land for me when it came time to settle up he wanted to trade the work out. I did my best to pay him so I did have not work on this P.O.S. I did not know it was a total loss that was being resurrected :twisted: It has set outside for years all the screws etc were broken off. There is probably a gallon bucket of various sheet metal screws holding the interior together (just kidding but you would think it). The fun part they hand built these cars nuttin fits you have to make it fit... To make it worst a 68 Vette is a one off there are allot of things they redesigned after that (for the better but they are all a P.O.S.... In most cases I had to make the later stuff work... I Found the piece I was looking for today "The Last Damm Piece" It was the horn button :D

He has to get someone to do some work on it so I can get the drivers side rear quarter panel something to bite to... The Wiper door mounts are broken out of the fiewall I told him to get it to his house I will pull it out and rework the linkage he then could get a good body man to fiberglass the supports back in...

This is the 5th one I have done I hope its my last... This is how I got it... It has set on one on my lifts 4 mounts I have about 100/115hr. of time into it...

LARRYS%20VETT%206-29-15%20002_zpsom6ahjjd.jpg


I did leave out the part somewhere along the line the clutch blew apart and cam threw the floorboard warping the ell out of everything in its path...

Done, he's spose to haul it off tomorrow afternoon... 1968 Corvette 427 4 speed...

larrys%20Vette%20interior%20finished%20007_zpsz5bxlpce.jpg

larrys%20Vette%20interior%20finished%20005_zps99wtz0rv.jpg
 
Hobo........awe yes, the glass coffin. The 427 is a boat anchor, the 350 (nee 287) is a singer and much more pleasant to work on plus availability of parts (and prices) At least it has the 4-speed tranny 'stedda the power-glide. (all glide and NO power) Remember the original Corvette with Blue-Flame inline-6 with dual Rochester carbs that nobody could adjust?

I'm haffin' lottza fun with my midlife crisis (1976 MGB sports car) the IRS made me buy. 'stedda them weird SU floating needle carbs, it has a 2-choke Webber DGV carb thats been mounted sidewize with a jury-rigged linkage. Once I gitt that straightened out, gonna make a health and welfare visit to my Alzheimer'd sister in Farmington N Mex. (1200mi from Seattle) Usually takes me 2-days in my Dodge Diesel pick'em-up 'cuz I kenn sleep crosswize in the front seat. And since my good Australian Shepherd dog died a couple of months ago, I only haffta make pit stops fer me. Dang peeeeee pills. .......weak bladder Dell
 
I didn't know you could sew! LOL
Looks good from the pictures.
I have to agree though, I'm not a Corvette fan.
"America's sports car" is more like an over priced muscle car.
Doesn't live up to the title of "sports car".
At least not through the 70's models that I drove.
I haven't driven the new ones. Don't even like the looks.
But, if someone has a '53 they want to give away..... LOL
 
Hobo, I can't make my mind up if you are a genius or an idiot! :O)

That guy must have cleaned that place up really good for you?????

Zane
 

That's a great advertisement for your services Hobo. So good that when you are done with that little headache I'll drop by with another one for you to work your magic on. A nice chance to polish your body panel replacement skills. No sheet metal screws holding this one together- the PO REALLY liked his little wire feed welder. Too bad he didn't have a clue how to use it and figured gobs of bondo and rubberized undercoating would hide the bodged metal work ;-)

TOH

PS> Dell- in it's youth it cowered at the sight of that Vette but ate MG's for breakfast. Right now it's eating my bank account :roll:

IMG_2242.jpg
 
nice job
whew...I see the work though....might have been further
ahead to go back to the Kubota dealer and buy a matching excavator to go with your tractor and clear your land yourself :)

nice car, though I'm not really a corvette fan.
A camaro or mustang with half the money invested will stay with it.
But, it's like green tractors I guess...cost more to buy, to fix,
but when they are done, they get the oohs and ahhs, even if they ain't really any better than an equal of another color.

ps always been curious on how fiberglass, no top cars can handle the off the line twisting forces of a big block?(with no race track mods)
 
My dad would have took that on and lost his arse doing it but it keep him sober 8) Drinking did not kill him but his hobby body shop did...

Royce, I farmed the sew'N out the rest is store brought are a matter of fix'N are machining to make modern parts adapt to the owners liking...

One of my worst battles was getting the vacuum/electrical gremlins figgered out on the windshield wiper system. It was a simple fix "add a dedicated ground to the base of the wiper switch"... DUH :!:
Grounds are hard to come by on a plastic car (reminds me of my boating days) It got its ground by stacking parts on top of each other :shock:

Wilcox Corvette has some good youtube videos on this system...
After a week of scratching my head and never resolving my question of were does the wiper system get its ground I found a video on "Testing a 68-76 Corvette Wiper Motor Switch".... At the 1:15 mark sec he answered my question...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6Fnjr9T7cao
 
(quoted from post at 20:33:21 10/04/15) Me next??

Cuda :?:

I have read Chrysler's are the worst to bring back... There running gear is as EZ as it gets the body must be a nightmare...

Repair shops run away from repairing a torsion bar set up why I dunno... I will take rebuilding that set up over any other out there...
 

Nice offer from a friend!
He must know that you take care of what you borrow and that you probably send it back better than when you borrowed it.
I have a friend like that; he's the only person I'd ever lend a piece of machinery too and he feels the same.

I stopped liking Corvettes when the wipers started dropping down out of sight into that gaping black hole. But like everything, I seem to draw the line at 1960. As sport cars go, the only one that fit me was my 1960 TR3. The early Mustang fit me pretty good too.

Cheers,
T


T
 
Yup. 68 Cuda vert and yup the sheet metal is tuff to work with. The torsion bars are a simple setup but for better handling I am going with a tubular coilover front suspension.
 
Sorry, Dell, but anyone who was around in the day well knows that the Chevrolet 427 was not a boat anchor (nor was the 409). BTDT.

Chevrolet did not make a 287 small block, though they did make a 283 and (IIRC) a 267. The only small block engine offered in the 68 Corvette was the 350 (various performance packages topping out at 350 HP).

IIRC, Chevrolet did not offer the Powerglide transmission in the 68 Corvette, big block or small, though it was offered in prior year Corvettes. That said, the Powerglide transmission was an extraordinary transmission, one of the most successful designs in history. It was available in 409 CI Chevrolets, 389 GTOs, etc., and well up to the task. Though a two speed design (as were high volume units from competitive manufacturers) the torque multiplication of the torque converter was extraordinary). I well remember sitting in the back seat of a friends 65 GTO (335 HP four barrell (no Tri power), automatic) Powerglide while he shut down another friends 66 Charger with HP 383 Magnum and (three speed) Torqueflite three out of three. The two speed GTO pulled the Charger out of the hole and remained ahead all three times. You doubt? More research is in order.

Finally, the 53, 54 and 55 (yes, 55) Corvette Blue Flame 6 cylinder engines had 3 side draft Carter carburetors rather than dual Rochesters.

Dean
 
. I well remember sitting in the back seat of a friends 65 GTO (335 HP four barrell (no Tri power), automatic) Powerglide while he shut down another friends 66 Charger with HP 383 Magnum and (three speed) Torqueflite three out of three. The two speed GTO pulled the Charger out of the hole and remained ahead all three times. You doubt? More research is in order.

1966 Charger wouldn't have a 383 magnum, just a 383 with a 4 barrel. The magnum (383 version) came out in 67/8 depending who you believe. Different heads 906 casting, bigger exhaust valves, open chamber, bigger cam. As for who won a street race, gears and driver were always more important if the cars were closely matched. In my opinion though, the 727 torqueflight was a pile of junk, especially for dragging. I've always run 4 speeds in mopars.
 
Dean........notta Chevy/Corvette historian/specialist. Just goin' by memory. O.K. 287-V8 was in my 1965 GlassBack Barracuda with 4-speed. Knew the 6-cyl BlueFlame had multiple carbs and were b*tches to adjust. I think the small block Chevy-V8 is one of the most successful designs ever, otherwize there wouldn't be all the Hot-Rod accessories fer sale........respectfully, Dell who otta stick to Ford N-Tractors, eh?
 
(quoted from post at 14:39:38 10/04/15) Dean........notta Chevy/Corvette historian/specialist. Just goin' by memory. O.K. 287-V8 was in my 1965 GlassBack Barracuda with 4-speed. Knew the 6-cyl BlueFlame had multiple carbs and were b*tches to adjust. I think the small block Chevy-V8 is one of the most successful designs ever, otherwize there wouldn't be all the Hot-Rod accessories fer sale........respectfully, Dell who otta stick to Ford N-Tractors, eh?
Lol, yep, stick to the Fords. Plymouth-273 cubic, AMC had a 287. Chevy had the 283, ford 260/289.
 
IIRC here in NY welding the suspension areas of the frame was a NO-NO and, at least at one time, wouldn't pass inspection. Here in Syracuse (AKA Salt City) the torsion bar would twist it's mount free from the tranny cross member. Another place they would rot out was where the front inner wheelwall was attached to the firewall and since is part of the frame many other wise great cars were scrapped.
 
"I think the small block Chevy-V8 is one of the most successful designs ever...."

Agreed. Zora Arkus Dontov was a visionary and largely responsible for the popularity of the SB Chevy these past 50+ years.

I am a small block Chevy specialist and built several for drag racing back in the day. When street racing, I never lost to a big block Pontiac, Olds, Ford, etc., but did loose to some (not all) of the BB Chevrolets that I tested.

Dean
 
(quoted from post at 05:21:30 10/05/15) IIRC here in NY welding the suspension areas of the frame was a NO-NO and, at least at one time, wouldn't pass inspection. Here in Syracuse (AKA Salt City) the torsion bar would twist it's mount free from the tranny cross member. Another place they would rot out was where the front inner wheelwall was attached to the firewall and since is part of the frame many other wise great cars were scrapped.

:shock: I have welded my share of K-frames I have even went as far as to make tool'N to nail it together to do a nice job... This is were the bar broke out of the K-frame...

I am not bragging I just never gave the liability a thought... I am not saying there set up is a good one just its as EZ as it gets to repair... Ell yel If a man has the funds upgrade it...
 
I can feel your anxiety release as you said, "dang, glad to get out of that"

Never again right
 

We sell tractor parts! We have the parts you need to repair your tractor - the right parts. Our low prices and years of research make us your best choice when you need parts. Shop Online Today.

Back
Top