Keeping it Real

It's nice to see the rolling chassis again.  Before we covered it up a few months ago we had a list of things we needed to fix, repair and replace.  Lets get started.

Last year we drove our Corvette a total of maybe 15 miles.  During that time we noticed the rear end made a clunking noise, especially on turns.  Clunking can occur when the differential sits for several years and the internals dry out.  The fix can be as simple as doing a series of figure 8's with the car.  Unfortunately, that fix didn't correct our problem.  Since the rear end still had a clunk and because it wasn't date coded for 1963, we decided to replace it.  In this picture Ty is just starting the removal.

An hour or so later the troubled rear end had been removed.  It would have been a nightmare to do this had the body been installed.  Ty made it look simple but we know better.

The gray unit is the one that was removed.  The black one is its replacement and it was purchased on EBay about 6 months ago.  It's date coded early 1963, which ours is, and it has 4-11 gears.  In 1963 the vast majority of all fuelies came with 4-11 gears so it's perfect for our car.

Dennis K stopped by and helped Ty with the installation.  There was a lot of moaning, groaning and cursing needed to install the differential.  When it was all done we rolled the car around and verified the clunking noise was gone.  Excellent!

1963 Corvettes did not use bearing caps, they used U-bolts like the one I am holding.  Since I don't have a full set they will have to be ordered.  I'll install them as soon as I get them.

Dewayne J also stopped by.  We had an oil leak somewhere between the engine and the bell housing so Dewayne removed the tranny and bell housing for inspection.  There wasn't any oil behind the flywheel so we think the leak is coming from the rear of the oil pan.  We'll fix that shortly.

While the transmission was out we swapped clutch forks.  1963 clutch forks were unique because they used a ball and socket push rod.  The one that's installed now is correct for 1963.  All other years are like the one I am holding.

In early 1963 Corvettes used a Borg Warner T10 4-speed transmission.  That's what we have and it's correct for our car.  Later in 1963 the transmissions were changed to Muncie.  One of the issues with the early T10's was they often popped out of 2nd gear.  Ours does the same.  There are a few things that could cause this, a worn shift fork is one possibility.  A new set of these forks are on order and they are easily installed via the transmissions side cover.  If that doesn't fix the problem then this tranny will have to be removed and rebuilt.  Our fingers are crossed for the shift forks.

The steering on our car was a little sloppy so we decided to remove and rebuild the steering box.  When we disassembled the box it had thick grease inside, it should have had 90 weight gear oil.  Turns out over the years the exhaust pipe is so close to the steering box that it can cook the oil turning it to grease.  We soaked everything in carburetor cleaner for a couple hours then replaced all the bearings and seals and filled it with a high quality 90 weight synthetic gear oil.

It's interesting to note that the carburetor cleaner removed all the black paint but was unable to remove the green House of Kolor primer.  That's the same primer we have on our car.  It's tough stuff!

The steering box was reinstalled and it's as smooth as silk. It should operate just like it did when new.  Note the location of the exhaust pipe.

We will continue to work-off our punch-list items.  The body will be reinstalled soon so it's important to make these fixes now while access is good.

Thanks for watching.

Second Guide Coat

We're finally down to fixing little things.  The car has about a dozen of these blemishes.  I decided to fix them with glazing compound followed by a second guide coat.

They are tiny but they have to be fixed during the primer stage.  Once we apply color no further repairs will be possible.

This is the drivers side front fender.  The color saturation of this photo has been modified so you can better see the difference between these three repairs.  As you know this fender had fire damage several years ago and because of that this fender gets extra attention.  When I saw this fender had blemishes I decided to grind into the fiberglass to make sure we didn't have bigger problems.  The repair in the middle had good fiberglass but the other two had issues.  You can see the difference in texture and color of the shavings.  White is right.

Both bad areas were ground until good fiberglass was exposed.  The bad spots were each about the size and thickness of a silver dollar.  All three areas were masked off then fresh fiberglass and resin was applied.

The fiberglass was ground smooth then a thin coat of Bondo was applied.

The Bondo was sanded smooth then glazing compound was applied.

All three areas were block sanded until smooth to the touch.  They turned out very nice.

As stated earlier, all the other blemishes only needed a little glazing compound.

After the blemishes were fixed the whole car received a second guide coat.

Then the block sanding began (again).  So far everything looks and feels good and there are only a few spots where we sanded through the primer.  The body is really looking nice.

Block sanding is about half done now but it's very tedious and boring work.

So I think we need to do something different.  How about some knuckle crunching, finger smashing, knee scrapping, back breaking work on the rolling chassis?  I think that would be fun.  And I think I'll get some of my good friends to participate.  How about Ty T, Dewayne J, and Dennis K?

Stay tuned!

Paint - Primer - Second Coat

Check out that masking!  I am getting better.

This is a cool product.  It's folded plastic rolled on a stick with masking tape running along one edge.  You position the tape then unfold the plastic. 

The car received it's official second coat of primer.  Once again the paint booth worked great.

Everything is looking pretty good if I do say so.

Beautiful body lines.  You'd never know those wheel wells had been cut out.

Everything looks good to my eye.

Ty, I think your dad would be proud of our work.

It's a beautiful thing...

 It looks really good and I am very pleased.

But we're not finished.  We get to do it all again.  Guide coat, glazing, then we sand the whole car again.  Our objective is to finish the next guide coat process with a lot less exposed fiberglass.

Wish us luck!

Glazing with Icing

Ty and I have spent many hours sanding on the body since we sprayed on our first guide coat.  We added filler (Bondo) where needed then block sanded everything.  We're done with the Bondo and I estimate there's only a pint or two that actually ended up on the car.

Now it's time for glazing.  Glazing is a catalyzed filler like Bondo but it has a much smoother consistency like toothpaste.  There are several brands on the market, we chose the one shown below.  Icing is used to fill pin holes and other minor imperfections.  It can be applied over fiberglass or primer which is perfect for us.

We made a couple test batches to find out how long it takes the glazing to set.  It's about 3 minutes.  Since we're looking for pin holes and set time is short, I decided to examine the car first and put a small piece of tape next to anything that needed glazing.  Our glazing is white and it has already been applied in this picture.

Both door jambs had several areas that needed help.  As you recall we did a lot of fiberglass repair in these areas.

Here's the passenger side.

The glazing worked great in the corners on both front fender louvers.

After the glazing hardened the tape was removed and the sanding began. 

It took a few hours to complete the car.

Every inch of the car was inspected and glazed as needed.  Much of this was done while scooting around on a floor creeper.  The good news is the first round of glazing is now done.

Next we re-shoot the car with primer.  I promise!