Mated up the subframe and the body...

Bruce dropped off a load of parts earlier today - gardener exhaust, complete interior, radiator etc I am getting excited!

Looking great!

Am I crazy or is that fan mounted backward on the clutch?


Jason

You're not crazy...

you guys are WAAYYY too observant! My fault - not James.

Any luck mate ?

More photos - gardner chambered exhaust, all the cocktail shakers and the spatter paint.

Sweet Progress!

looking good James

More photos - the RS hose kits do not have a orange striped hose which is what the originals had so I restriped the actuator hose orange and fixed the yellow on the hoses as well.

NOS Trico splitter -

The bottle of electrical joint compound which I use on all grounds and wire plugs.

The tail lamp housings sometimes are deformed and will not hold the lenses very well. I submerge them in boiling water for a few minutes then use a clamp to pull them in - then set the change using cold water in a pump up spray bottle.

As always amazing work James.

Replated the 1-2 & 3-4 levers yellow dichromate.

Striped the driveshaft -

Installed red plastic plug in the clutch cross shaft.

Removed the binding between the front seat bolts as original cars were.

What technic (gun) do you use for the splatter paint on the trunk? It looks amazing. Well done. Also great tip on the tail light housings.

I should show this thread to my friend with the BBC pace car that's been all part for 25 years. I have him partially convinced to sell it I think. He knows he could never personally do the work to give his car the resto it deserves.

The NOALOX is one of the biggest improvements in ensuring grounds and electrical connections I have found. It's specifically made for bimetallic electrical connections which often develop galvanic corrosion if left exposed.
Most of our muscle car connections are brass on brass however there are a number which are brass on steel or brass on zinc.

The Spatter paint is a mix I make using a not quite black Enamel with Catalyst and a waterbased aqua pickling tint from MINWAX.
I spray it using a pressure fed gun which mixes two products internally and has separate controls for the volume of each. I believe it was originally for Gelcoat or similar viscous liquid.

Excellent technique.

Question for the group - my understanding is that there were 3,675 1969 Pace Car replicas produced.

- Does anyone know (or has anyone estimated) how many of those Pace Cars came from the factory with the L78 engine? (my estimate is 61)
- do we know how many L78 Pace Cars survive today? (my estimate is 20)
- Of the surviving L78 Pace Cars, how many L78, M22 Pace Cars survive today? (my estimate is 1 or 2).

We are preparing the Pace Car for display at MCACN 2022, and want to make sure that we get the production/surviving numbers as accurate as possible. It's also important that the numbers include only factory documented and/or certified cars.

Any help would be appreciated.

Certainly L-78 Pace Cars are rare, but have never seen a breakdown or by transmission.
Mine is M-20 with 3.55 gears. Great combination.

My GTO and LT1 both are M20 3.55 cars, which I consider one of the best all encompassing street combos around.
M20 with 3.55 gives you about the same effective first gear ratio as a M21 with a 4.10 rear.

2.52 x 3.55 = 8.946
2.20 x 4.10 = 9.02

PLUS with the 3.55 you can cruise at 60 MPH around 33-3500RPM.

If Jvrdcall, Kurt from CRG said there were 4 or 5 M-22 pacers known.

Certified with the original M-22 in place? Or just Pacers with L78 & M22 but not necessarily originally M22?

James what is the paint system on this car?

Incredible detail,well done.

I dontcrecall now..I think he said M-22 cars. But maybe he will chime in .

Kurt S ??

Has anyone heard from James within the past week? He's been preping the Pace Car for MCACN unveiling, but I haven't been able to get ahold of him via phone or text for the past week. Last I heard, he came down with Covid - so getting worried.

I hope someone lives close...and can check in on him....

Looks like he was online 2 days ago FWIW.

last on this site 8/18. Maybe another site?

Says 8/23 at 7:55pm on his profile.

Ahhh - yes, I was looking at the date of his last post. Still….anybody heard from him?

OK folks - something is wrong. James still hasn't responded to multiple texts/calls. He's not responding on here either. Some of you (Dave) are friends of his. Can someone check on him? Find out how he is?

Any word on James?

Nothing - Dave Beem is a friend - surprised he hasn’t checked on him. James is in Easley SC if anyone is in that area I can PM you his address.

FYI, James' profile indicates he was logged into the site yesterday.

Any update on James?

Shows:


Last Activity: 09-03-2022 11:44 PM

He has been active here and other sites. Just being shy for whatever reason.

Seems to be on line occasionally, but hasn't returned calls, texts, or PMs. It's been 3 weeks of trying to get ahold of him with no response. It's a 10 hour drive down there. What would you guys do?

I'd have already been in the car!!!!

Pick the car up so it can be finished in time for MCACN. Wasn't this supposed to debut at MCACN last year...

He posted on the Corvette Forum 2 days ago.