1971 Corvette Hot Rod Build

[RPOLS3]

Originally Posted by Arrowsmith

Hood? Probably an original air box L88.

Schwing!

[Arrowsmith]

[QUOTE=RPOLS3;1685428]Schwing![/

Thanks! Way back when (geez…50 + years ago…Yikes!) that was the plan on my blue LS6, although I never got to it. I think it will be a good look but boy, hoods were sure cheaper then

[Arrowsmith]

Completed a small project over New Year’s day: I fabricated a mount for the MSD box (actually I fabbed two because I made a mistake on the first one…”no job is worth doing unless you can do it twice”….L-O-L). Anyway, the idea was to install the MSD box in the same location as the recently removed charcoal vapour cannister.

First things first: I sprayed the cannister fastener heads with black paint and immediately transferred that to some card stock.


I made a pattern and taped it to a ¼-inch thick piece of black plastic (similar to nylon) sheet I had in my parts stash.


The sheet was roughed out with a hacksaw and then trimmed with files.


Corners were checked with a small square….


And then deburred with 80 grit and 320 grit sand paper.


I rounded the corners too. Here’s the finished basic ignition board. FYI, I use this same process with all MSD mounts, but some are much larger than this.


Here’s the Ultra 6AL mounted on the board.


With the side grille removed from the Corvette fender, access is awesome. You can see the three OEM holes for the charcoal cannister. I wanted to use the same holes basically because I hate drilling into a car unless it’s absolutely necessary. BTW...you can see more evidence of what the Corvette is like here....Even though the car has had its share of challenges, I'm pretty much over the moon with it. I've owned and worked on some really nice clean cars over the years, but this one is the best by a long shot...


Here’s the board installed. I used aircraft AN fasteners for the install.


The Ultra 6AL was test fit before I removed it. The reason is, I have no need for all of the features (and wiring) in this particular box. I’ll use the “less fussy” Ultra 6A. It doesn’t have a start retard, three rev limiters, step retard and more.


Done. I can go back to tinkering with the console. It presented some challenges. I’ll show the progress down the road.

W

[napa68]

I love your work Wayne

[Arrowsmith]

Originally Posted by napa68

I love your work Wayne

Thank you. If we were closer I’d buy ya a beer!🍺

[Arrowsmith]

I haven’t done anything major on the Corvette, but I did take care of a few things:

First things first. One place I didn’t check for blunders was the wiper system at the cowl. No surprise, I found some loose fasteners – some that were basically started by one thread and then untouched. I fixed those, but in the process, I also removed the cowl vent panel.





One of the eight machine screws that affix the cowl vent panel was obviously stripped. Here’s the “restorer’s” fix. Body caulk on a cheap machine nut (his version of a lock nut…L-O-L):



There was no way to re-tap the threads larger and still have a screw head small enough to fit within the vent for installation. My easy fix is this (AN ½-height lock nut):



Then I went back to work on the center console. I didn’t like the previous owner’s version of detailing the big die cast console piece. I couldn’t come up with a clean fix plus the “restorer” used lacquer (without primer) for the repaint. If you looked at the console wrong, it would scratch. So, I replaced it with a new piece from Trim Parts. It’s a really (Really!) nice reproduction. While I was at it, I added a more appropriate console data plate and a new soft leather shifter boot. The old boot is hard as a rock.



I had a real dilemma getting the heater control to fit cleanly. Under the heater controls is a stamped steel bracket that sandwiches between the console and the heater control. It also incorporates the vent control levers. I spent a lot of time pondering it. As it turns out, the previous owner had bent the steel bracket. It took me a number of tries to get it right but I eventually had success. While I was at it, I replaced the plastic slides that guide the vent levers. Not shown: I have fresh, fresh air vent knobs to install.

Once the time comes to reinstall the console, it will have to be partially disassembled, but after a week or two of fiddling with it, I’m pretty confident I can get it apart and together one more time…L-O-L.



I’ve shown this before, but here’s the complete e-brake console section (complete with power window switches).



I’m slowly inching forward. So far so good. I’m confident, considering the train wreck it was originally, the Corvette will turn out nicely.

Right now, I have to wait for my budget to catch up. I’m pretty sure others can relate. 

W