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Sunday, May 8, 2011

Odds and (Rear) Ends

Two years ago this week we took delivery of our 1963 Split Window Coupe.
Oh my...


Today...

Preparations are being made for Cool Desert Nights 2011, a local car show we've attended the last few years.  The engine compartment is mostly stock now, even the gauges are gone..


Gauges are now in a temporary dash cluster.  The starter switches have been moved as well.


All repairs have been made to the drivers door and it has it's first coat of primer.


Sand blasting removed some of the fiberglass matting.  The voids left by the matting have been filled with primer as shown.  Although this looks rough it's actually very smooth.


The green ribbons of primer are filling shallow depressions left by the grinder.  As above, this area is very smooth.  One final heavy coat of primer for the whole door then a light sanding and we are ready for color.


Several months ago we had a poll asking which rear end we should install.  The choices were 1975 (the one in the car), 1965 (one on our shelf), or go buy a 1963.  The 1963 won by a huge margin.  After months of looking here it is.  This differential was assembled late 1962 and is perfect for our early 1963 Corvette.


Here are the date stamps (upside down).  The majority of fuel injected Corvettes in 1963 were sold with 4-11 gears and that's what we have.  This differential is perfect for our fuelie.

Thanks for watching.

6 comments:

  1. Holy crap! Forgot what it looked like way back then! What a transformation. Once the doors are done,what comes next ? Jimp

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  2. The game plan is to paint the doors, install the rubber gaskets then test fit the doors to the door openings. When the door openings are correct we will paint the door jambs. The doors will take a long time to complete since my weekends are limited for a while. Keep watching though!

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  3. Another two questions. When you say you will paint the doors, you must mean the inside and ends of the door.....and not the actual outsode door skin correct ?I can't imagine your going to paint that outside door skin, until you are painting the entire car. Second question, on the photo of the car the day you got it, the glass all seems foggy. Is the glass bad, and if so, how the heck are you going to find replacements ? Jimp

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  4. Yes, I am only talking about painting the inside of the doors, not the outside. The windows are fine. That is condensation you see. The car was washed the day it arrived to pretty it up. :0)

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  5. Was looking at a photo down on the blog. Is the car's stance at about where it should be ? Just curious if the front and rear are low, high, or spot on from where it will be long term. Jimp

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  6. Jim,

    The stance on the car is probably a little taller than most people will remember. The car is currently set up with the heavy duty suspension, stiffer springs, and thicker (.94") front sway bar, all of which would have been found on a 1963 Z06 Corvette. If the stance needs to be adjusted we have the parts to do so. For now we will leave it as is until we can drive it a little.

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