Dash Cluster

Here is our 63 dash cluster shortly after the gauges were removed.

Everything below was done twice.  The first time I used rattle can paint which had ugly results.  The paint was too thick, too shiny and the masking tape left marks.  I sandblasted everything off then started again. 

The bezels, simulated leather backing, outer trim, switch receptacles and lettering are one piece of aluminum.  There are no pieces.  In this picture I taped off the simulated leather backing then spray painted the same House of Kolor 2 part epoxy primer I used on the car.  

All the bezels were sanded smooth.  You can see where the primer filled in the pot marks and blemishes.  This gets another coat to make sure all the metal has primer.  But first...

I need to prep the back side for paint.  This area was painted light green at the factory.  I believe this is what gives the gauges a green glow at night.  The color is close to our primer so I'll just use that. 

This is after the second coat of primer.  It has already been sanded smooth.

Next is two coats of primer sealer.  This will keep the final color from turning dull over time.  

The backside turned out very nice.

To simulate chrome I used House of Kolor silver striping paint with a hardener.  I also used a reducer so I could shoot it with an airbrush.  3 full coats were used then allowed to dry and harden.

 

The masking tape was removed from the simulated leather backing then I masked everything that I wanted to stay silver.   I taped over all the openings so that the back side wouldn't get painted.

The semi-gloss paint I used previously was too glossy.  I tried some satin black but it also was too glossy.  I decided on Eastwood's Rust Encapsulator, the same paint I used on the frame.  The finish is perfect and it should be able to stand-up to a lot of key abuse.  I airbrushed around the bezels to insure good coverage up against the silver then I used a regular HVLP spray gun to insure uniformity.  The texture and gloss is exactly what I wanted.

Before the black paint dried I used an eraser on the raised lettering.  That removed the black and exposed the silver beneath.  It turned out very nice.  Click on the picture and check it out.

Now all I have to do is stuff the cluster with this.

Thanks for watching.

Firewall, Steering Column and Grounding

The firewall insulation on our heater delete Corvette is 3 pieces.  The largest piece shown required the removal of the steering column, clutch rod and the hood release.  The fuse box did not have to be removed.

The second, or middle piece, is the smallest and the third piece covers the heater delete opening.

Not many heater delete options were sold so I was surprised to find this piece available new.

All pieces are held in place with these rubber push plugs.  A T-handle allen wrench worked great as the installation tool.  A dab of white lithium grease helped too. 

This is a view of the heater delete block-off panel as viewed from inside the engine compartment.  You can see the pointed rubber fasteners from this side. 

New topic.

On the inside of each of the door openings are 3 clips that hold down a long 1" wide cover for the wiring.  All 6 had to be replaced as they were either gone, rusted or broken.  This one is broken.

Here is the new one.  I used a steel taper headed rivet to fasten it.  It's strong and lays flat.

New topic.

About 6 months ago I bought a Flaming River tilting steering column.  This weekend is the first time I was able to test fit it.  I wanted to check out the blinkers, however...

The steering column electric plug in my hand does not fit the plug on my new wiring harness.  I called Flaming River and they recommended I cut the plug on the harness and wire it to their plug.  I don't think so.  I then called Lectric Limited, the people that supplied the new wiring harness.  They were very familiar with this issue and they have an adaptor that connects each.  It's in the mail.

New topic.

Grounding.  Because the Corvette's body is fiberglass the car requires special grounding.  Three in total.  This one is viewed from below the motor looking up.  It connects the motor to the frame at the passenger side motor mount.  That's the fuel pump on the left.

This one connects the frame to the bird cage.  It's located inside the engine bay below the brake master cylinder.

(Jim Q.  There's the O2 bung I welded to the exhaust.  I'll use it to adjust the air/fuel mixture.)

This is the third ground strap.  It connects the throttle linkage to the engine block.

And finally.

Here's a picture I thought was worth sharing.  Early Saturday morning I found a ray of sun light sneaking through the mini blinds shining on the car.  It gives you a good idea how the Cobalt Candy over Lapis Blue paint changes color with various light sources.  Click on the picture, check it out.   

Thanks for watching.

Super Bowl Sunday

Preparations for Super Bowl started a few days before the game.  It included starting the car as part of its routine maintenance.  I did a 360 walk around while it was running.  Check out the video here:

360 Walk Around

Jan and Anna M. were the first couple to arrive.  Both were extremely pleased with the Corvette.  Jan was speechless with the quality of the paint job.  I kept trying to get him to say great or pretty.  He finally spoke and said, "It's stunning."  I like that!

Dennis K. and Dewayne J. spent time talking about the car too.  Dennis sees the car frequently, but it's been awhile for Dewayne.  Dewayne was very pleased with the progress.

About 25 people showed up for the game.  All had to take a look at the car and all were impressed.  It's interesting to note that I asked everyone what color the car was.  Half said blue, half said purple.

The garage worked great.  It was meant for overflow but the guys spent most of their time in the Man Cave.  Who could blame them?  My Harley was the back drop for the TV, the Corvette was eye candy, ice cold beer was plentiful and the garage smelled like solvent and gasoline.  It can't get much better than that.  Oh yeah, the game was pretty good too.

By the way, the video gives away what the next post will contain.  Did you pick up on it?

Thanks for watching.

Wiring Harness

The wiring harness arrived and it includes 4 major pieces, bulbs for the dash, glass fuses and a laminated wiring diagram.  This is a complete set purchased from Lectric Limited, Inc. which has been supplying quality reproduction wiring harnesses to members of the National Corvette Restorers Society for years.  It's correct down to the smallest detail.  Lets get started...

Once again I am reminded of the wisdom behind Ty's insistence that I not throw anything away, including the old wiring harness.  The old harness is in the foreground and I used it as a templet to pre-bend the new harness before installation.  You can't imagine how valuable that was.

After I had the dash wiring harness in position it was time to identify each of the wires.  This is a tedious exercise that still isn't complete.  In this picture you can see I am using the GM Assembly Manual, Corvette dash cluster and the laminated wiring diagram to help with the identification.

It's amazing how many wires go to the dash cluster.  I am labeling each with green masking tape.  Notice how the harness floats in the air.  It gets positioned up and underneath the dash pad.

The dash wiring harness includes the fuse box which is authentic right down to the glass fuses.

The next harness runs along the firewall and over the passenger inner fender.  It serves the coil, alternator, voltage regulator and the horns.  I've circled some of the clips used to hold the harness in place.  The white clips along the firewall were used on early 63 Corvettes only.  The color changed to black later in the year and continued for several years.  Special clips were used on the inner wheel well too.  The car never had zip-ties.

This harness runs along the drivers side wheel well and powers the headlights and headlight motors.  To make these connections the front bumpers and grill must be removed.  I'll wait until I get the correct horns before I do that though.

The last harness powers the rear blinkers, stop lights, gas gauge and license plate light.  This is a picture of the backside of the left side brake light, looking up.  The connectors, including the dust boots, are correct for our car.

The only thing I actually wired up so far is the license plate light.  The wiring harness installation, including all the connections, will take a lot of time and research.  I have to determine the correct harness routing (above, under, through, behind), research the proper clip types and clip location.  After that the testing begins.  I'll verify everything is wired correctly before I actually start the car.

Switching gears, the brackets for the drivers seat needed to be replaced due to rust.  The passenger side was fine and only needed to be refurbished.  

The results are great.  Click on the photo and check them out.

Here's a current picture of the car.  We're having 25 people over for Superbowl and the garage will be used for overflow.  I'll post some pictures later and let you know what everybody said about the car.

As always, thanks for watching.

Dynamat and Coil Springs (revised)

If you thought I was just going to Dynamat the floors then both you and I were mistaken.  Gerri kept coming out to the garage saying, "It's beautiful, keep going".  So I did.  As you can see there are lots of nooks and crannies in the luggage area of our 63 Corvette.

I have to admit it has a space ship kind of look to it.

Without air conditioning the roof insulation will be extra nice on those hot summer days.  

The luggage stop is suppose to be riveted to the body but when I went to install it I found that the frame was in the way.  It should have been riveted before the body was installed.  No worries, I just got out my trusty Rivet Nut tool and installed threaded fittings.  Stainless screws were used.  

The interior looks nice from the front...

... and it looks great from the side.

New topic.

My friend and fellow Corvette enthusiast Jim Q has hinted a couple times that the front end sits a little too proud.  So I did some research at the National Corvette Restorers website and it turns out Jim Q was right.  The heavy duty F40/F41 front suspension has a much heavier spring rate but it lowers the front end 1 1/2" from stock.  They refer to the stance as "Being in the weeds".  We are definately not in the weeds so I thought I'd better take a look.

What I found is a 6 coil spring with a free length of 14".  That's the wrong spring for our car.  The correct spring has 7 coils, a 12" free length and it has .668 wire.  Part # is 3832518.  The one in the picture is wrong.

So, thanks to Jim Q and Ebay, the front end is now down in the weeds.

I do like the California rake look but wheel clearance may be an issue.  I did full turn clearance checks and it's OK, but when the car is driven we may have issues.  The maximum wheel width on a 63 is suppose to be 6.5 inches.  We're running 7's.  We will just have to wait and see.  

The wiring harness is on order but I have no idea when it will be delivered.  It will most likely be the topic our my next posting though.  Should be fun.

Many thanks for watching.  We're at 80,000 views if you haven't noticed.

Post Script

The coil springs discussed in this post are also incorrect.  See the correct springs posted on March 10, 2013 or just follow this link:  Coil Springs and Carpet

Dynamat

2013 marks the 50th year anniversary for the 1963 Corvette.  Happy anniversary!

 I am installing Dynamat Xtreme, a butyl and aluminum vibration dampener that is typically applied to floors and doors.  Before I start installation I make sure the floor is as clean as possible.  The floor has dried carpet adhesive from the factory so I used my Dewalt with an aggressive wire brush to remove loose particles. 

That was followed by a thorough cleaning using HOK wax and grease remover.

The process is pretty simple but does take time, especially if you're particular about details.  It's easy to get caught up trying to make the logos face the same way.  It's not important though. 

Switching to the drivers side, one might be compelled to make all the cuts a mirror image of the other side.  Again, it's not important.

Only early 63 Corvettes have this tub area.  No one knows for sure why they were installed or subsequently removed.  There was a period when Chevrolet was considering a 4 seat Corvette but that was short lived.  Some think this tub is the floor area for the back seat passengers.  Whatever the reason, the tubs require a lot of cutting.  There is no way a single sheet can be used here. 

The driver and passenger sides are done in this picture.  Time for the luggage area.

Not installed is a luggage stop that spans the width of the car just behind the seats.  I have to keep that in mind as I install the Dynamat.  I'll install the luggage stop just before carpet. 

The technique is to first install large sheets then fill in the voids with small pieces.  The Dynamat is best cut with a utility knife then rolled smooth.  My joints are butted against each other, nothing overlaps.

Finishing tape goes over the seams and covers the sticky butyl rubber.  It gives a nice finished look too.

I will continue working on the luggage area and will probably do the walls and roof also.  Since our car is a Heater Delete the roof insulation will be welcomed on those hot summer days.   

After the Dynamat is installed it will be time to purchase/install the wiring harness and that will be followed by lots of other purchased items.  To give you an idea of the cost associated with the interior, the wiring harness, dash pads, re-upholstered seats and instrument cluster will cost around $1000 each.  That means the completion of the interior will be governed by budget, not by hours spent in the shop.  As such, weekly postings are no longer practical.  I suspect monthly postings will be more appropriate.  So, for you die hard followers, you should look for an update around the first of each month.  I may post more frequently, but I'll at least post monthly.

As always, thanks for watching and have a great new year!