Ta da!
Thursday, January 13, 2011
Friday, January 7, 2011
Body Alignment, Engine Timing, and a Cracked Exhaust Manifold
Now that the body is back on the frame we are able to see how much work will be needed to align the doors and the hood. Both doors look real nice, especially along the roof line.
The hood may require attention but we are not certain. There are two support rods and two brackets that fit under the nose to help support the electric motors for the headlights. We have the rods but not the brackets. We should get the brackets this week and hopefully the misalignment you see will be corrected. Fingers are crossed on this one.
Proper timing has been questionable since the first time the engine was started. The vacuum advance canister would either hit the FI unit or the coil bracket depending on which tooth the distributor was sitting on. We were never able to get the required 10 to 12 degrees before TDC. It was like we were 1/2 tooth off.
It turns out that the distributor can be indexed in half tooth increments by rotating the distributor drive gear 180 degrees. This is not something you will find in any service manual, you get this type of information from people that live and breath Corvettes.
I get technical and mechanical help from members of the National Corvette Restorers Society, or NCRS. See their response to my timing issue here http://www.ncrs.org/forums/showthread.php?p=528533&uid=2516 . The engine runs great thanks to their help.
And finally, when I sand blasted and painted the drivers side exhaust manifold I spotted a crack at one of the threaded holes where the manifold and exhaust pipe join. You can see it on the silver manifold on the left side if you double click the picture. These are very rare manifolds and I was bumbed when I found the crack. Fortunately, I was able to find another manifold in excellent condition. It's the one in the foreground, still unpainted.
After painting the new manifold the swap was made and it looks just like the other one. Only better.
We will start attaching parts to the body next and we will begin with the clutch and brake pedal assembly. Brother Jim, this will be the bench top work you suggested.
The hood may require attention but we are not certain. There are two support rods and two brackets that fit under the nose to help support the electric motors for the headlights. We have the rods but not the brackets. We should get the brackets this week and hopefully the misalignment you see will be corrected. Fingers are crossed on this one.
Proper timing has been questionable since the first time the engine was started. The vacuum advance canister would either hit the FI unit or the coil bracket depending on which tooth the distributor was sitting on. We were never able to get the required 10 to 12 degrees before TDC. It was like we were 1/2 tooth off.
It turns out that the distributor can be indexed in half tooth increments by rotating the distributor drive gear 180 degrees. This is not something you will find in any service manual, you get this type of information from people that live and breath Corvettes.
I get technical and mechanical help from members of the National Corvette Restorers Society, or NCRS. See their response to my timing issue here http://www.ncrs.org/forums/showthread.php?p=528533&uid=2516 . The engine runs great thanks to their help.
And finally, when I sand blasted and painted the drivers side exhaust manifold I spotted a crack at one of the threaded holes where the manifold and exhaust pipe join. You can see it on the silver manifold on the left side if you double click the picture. These are very rare manifolds and I was bumbed when I found the crack. Fortunately, I was able to find another manifold in excellent condition. It's the one in the foreground, still unpainted.
After painting the new manifold the swap was made and it looks just like the other one. Only better.
We will start attaching parts to the body next and we will begin with the clutch and brake pedal assembly. Brother Jim, this will be the bench top work you suggested.
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