Half Shafts, Battery and Oil Filter Adaptor

The 1963 rear end won the poll which means we don't have to install the 1965. And since we don't have a 1963 rear end in hand we are in no hurry to remove the 1975 that's currently installed. We can install the correct half shafts though. This is a picture of the 1975 rear end with 1975 half shafts. We will replace these half shafts with the correct smaller diameter shafts from 1963. The swap is half done in this photo. The 1963 half shaft is on the left and the 1975 is on the right.

Here is a side-by-side comparison. Left is the 1975, right is the 1963.  Universal joints are identical in size for both.

All done.

We also installed a new reproduction of the 1963 battery box.

This is an adaptor that lets us use screw on oil filters instead of the original oil canister. It will be a lot easier to deal with when it's time to change the oil.

Max H. likes to see an occasional "big picture" of what's going on in the garage. Here you go Max.

More on the fuel injection should be next. Stay tuned!

327 - Fuel Injection Diagnosis

This is a 1 minute video describing the basic function of the fuel delivery system on a fuel injection unit for a 1963 Corvette. This is a video so be sure to push the play button. In the previous post I indicated we had an assembly error that would have made the initial start-up of our 327 impossible. I've circled the area of concern in this photo. This connection is on the the fuel delivery side of the high pressure fuel pump and the connection is cross threaded and it's no where near tight. I removed the fuel meter to make the repair. The fitting is not only cross threaded and improperly tightened, the O-ring underneath was found cut in half. Identical O-rings were purchased, threads were cleaned up and the fitting and fuel meter were reinstalled. In this picture you can see the fitting is fully engaged to the fuel meter (it's directly below the bolt near the center of the picture). The fuel delivery system was then bench tested and it failed miserably. Something was still wrong.

This is a picture of our fitting and O-ring sitting on top of an enlarged photograph of an original GM fitting with it's original rubber seal. The seal is not an O-ring. Not only is the seal not an O-ring, take note that it isn't any wider than the brass flange that holds it in place. Our O-ring extends past the flange and this is the reason the O-ring was damaged. It was sheared when the fitting was tightened because it was too large to fit in its seat.

So, the fuel injection unit is temporarily on hold. I have located a supplier that has the proper viton "O-rings" and a set is on the way. While we wait I'll probably install the 1963 half shafts next. Thanks for watching.