Car Thread

[robert.]

Let me guess a 62. My friend inherited a white 62 soft top. original paint. All he can think about is having it restored. I spend hous telling him don't do it. I was told a good deal of lemon juice in your rinse water will stop mineral spotting.
Murph, your dealer probably washes your car every time they service it.

[Rufus T. Firefly]

I was told a good deal of lemon juice in your rinse water will stop mineral spotting.

So will vinegar - the acid is either will dissolve most alkali metals that are in water that leave deposits on surfaces. Now, you have a car that smells like lemon or one that smells like a pickle.

Murph, your dealer probably washes your car every time they service it.

Almost certainly. The Subaru dealer used to wash my Outback and vac the interior after every service back when it was under warranty.

[up148]

UP148
We need more pictures and details on the Vette. What year, engine, tranny and anything else.

1962, 327/300, 4spd. Original engine and rear end, but Borg Warner T-10 replaced by Muncie M-21 close ratio, which is a better transmission, just not disclosed by the dealer and it needs an O/H. Original 3:36 gears replaced by 4:11 and again not disclosed by the dealer.

It is not restored and could use a restoration, but not what I want to do and waaaaaaay to expensive. I had no idea just how expensive fixing these cars up can be. I just wanted a good driver that was fun, but got a car that has needed a lot of things replaced. Looks good at 10 foot, but lots of paint scratches and scratch repairs. Still waiting for the fun part.

BH

[HONDO74]

UP148
We need more pictures and details on the Vette. What year, engine, tranny and anything else.

1962, 327/300, 4spd. Original engine and rear end, but Borg Warner T-10 replaced by Muncie M-21 close ratio, which is a better transmission, just not disclosed by the dealer and it needs an O/H. Original 3:36 gears replaced by 4:11 and again not disclosed by the dealer.

It is not restored and could use a restoration, but not what I want to do and waaaaaaay to expensive. I had no idea just how expensive fixing these cars up can be. I just wanted a good driver that was fun, but got a car that has needed a lot of things replaced. Looks good at 10 foot, but lots of paint scratches and scratch repairs. Still waiting for the fun part.

BH

In my opinion the 62 is the best looking of the 1st gen corvettes plus it was the first year for the 327 which in my opinion again is the best small block that Chevy made. The B.W. T-10 was notorious for losing syncros. So you are better off with the Muncie for a driver. To me the only time not having the original would make a difference is if the car was being restored to 100% original. But then it will be a show car and not a driver.

I would try to replace the rear gears for the 3:31s especially if you plan to drive it a lot.

[v8vega]

4:11 gears and no overdrive, you'll be in the right lane going 55 on the freeway and making a lot of noise and drinking gas.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

... Murph, your dealer probably washes your car every time they service it.

Yes, they do. I included that in my tome on the previous page, on Aug20.

[up148]

Hondo74 and v8vega, you've been hiding in my glove box every time I take it out.

Actually. I try to hold the RPM's to around 3000-3200 which gets me around 60-65 mph on the highway, but it is no highway cruiser. If I keep it, I will most likely have a TKO-500 installed, with .68 OD. Best of both worlds as the 4:11 is tons of fun when not on the highway and the OD will bring the RPM's down to about 2300-2400 at 70 mph....very livable.

And, my Muncie needs to be rebuilt, so rather than rebuilding the Muncie and changing out the rear gears (might take a new carrier to do that) I would put the money towards the 5 spd.

I've been enamored with 62's my entire life, for all the reason you stated vega. Old front end, new back end and get away from the 283 engine. I just forgot to buy with my head and not my emotions. You have plenty of time to fall in love with the right car, just don't do it 1st.

BH

[v8vega]

Thats a expensive car here in southern Calif. Even in poor condition. I to like the early corvettes.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

I can remember, and see clearly, when my friends and I rushed to the Chevrolet dealership near our neighborhood, to see the new cars for that model year. The Corvette made its first appearance, and looked beyond cool. It sat there in the showroom different from any other Chevy there, not big as an urban tank; rather, somehow "petite" with its white body, red leather (?) interior, and wire-over-the-headlights feature. Every one of us wanted one, but being kids, a cooler-than-cool white first-ever Corvette was something we'd have to wait a long time to possibly ever own, no matter what model-year. You are lucky, BH, that you made your wishes come true.

[up148]

Yes, but my experience also reminds of the sage advice my parents used to tell us kids, "be careful what you wish for, as it might come true".

I really like the car, but it's been a love/hate relationship so far. Discovery, after the fact, can be cruel and expensive and my plans for this car are constantly changing.

But, on the upside, I now know as much about C1 corvettes, as I do about brass engines and model trains and that took decades to learn. I've been on the C1 fast track and consumed with learning, because I had too.

[MurphOnMillerAve]

Frankly, it sounds like you are having fun, and that you know how to enjoy life.

[healey36]

Did you ever notice, only us old guys drive contemporary Corvettes...why is that?

[robert.]

What radio is in your 62? Screw the 5spd. have your m21 rebuilt. I have a cherry m20 sitting in my basement. It came out of a chevelle. story goes it came in a 64 chevelle. The buyer drove home from the dealer and swapped it out for a 2 speed power glide. souped up his car and went racing. He never looked back at that 4spd. When i bought it it was stuck. I paid $100. for it in 1989. 3 shops refused to rebuild it for me. All 3 said it's stuck and junk. One guy saw it sitting in the back of my hornet station wagon. He ask "what are you doing with that tranny?' I told him the story and history of it.
Then he told me " he had just moved from long Island with his wife." " He was trying to open a speed shop" Would like to be his first customer? Sure why not. Catch was he had to rebuild it on my mother's picnic table. It took half a dozen cans of carb cleaner to free up that tranny. It sat for 35 years without being rotated or shifted. All it needed was a good cleaning. So he did not charge me. A week later he helped me install it into my camaro.
2 weeks later my camaro got hit by a run-a-way UPS truck. I had the car towed to his new speed shop where i took it all a part. Then hauled the bits off to my mother's house. Where it all has been sitting for almost 30 years. That tranny can't have more the 200 miles on it. Every now and then i rotate the main shaft to keep the oil moving. You can get a muncie from eBay $1,500 shipped. check it out.
PS. Why do you have the car so high of the ground?

[up148]

What radio is in your 62?

None working aftermarket something. I have the original wonder bar too, but I'll most likely go to some format that allows me to use satellite or Pandora for sound with new speakers.

Screw the 5spd. have your m21 rebuilt.

Not practical with the 4:11 gears. In the midwest, in the suburbs, everything is a 15-20 mile drive on highway. The 5spd gives me an overdrive.

Why do you have the car so high of the ground?

I had it up in the air working on it. Sometimes I keep the race ramps under the tires, with the lift, for added safety and sometimes I have to remove the lift to access areas it blocks. The race ramps ($300) and the lift (1300) are some of the best tools I've ever purchased and my life is certainly worth $1600....at least to me These tools let me spend a lot of time under the car just looking around and making discoveries .

BH

[HONDO74]

UP148
The trend today is to use the newer 5 or 6 speed transmissions in the older cars. If the muncie needs rebuilt I would put the money into a 5 speed. Last weekend in Springfield Mo. we had the once a year BIG swap meet. I saw a lot of the newer transmissions but I didn't pay any attention to the price.

Another trend today is to swap out the older engines for the newer all aluminum LS engines. A good friend of mine here in Aurora does a lot of engine swaps in older cars and trucks. He has his own shop uptown and is always swamped with work.

Does the 327 have the cast iron exhaust manifolds or did someone put headers on it ?

Are you in the KC Mo. area ?