Topic: 1st Road Trip!
in Forum: C3 General Discussion
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Took the Vette down south into the Willammette Valley (south of Portland, OR) this weekend for a family wedding. Added another 100 miles or so on the post re-build break-in. Ran like a top the whole way, pretty exciting. On the way back today we had great weather and I got to take my boy part of the way home and my older girl the rest of the way.
I've been worried about the cooling system after the rebuild. I have the same OEM radiator that I installed 11 years ago, stock water pump and fan, etc, but I bumped up the compression and put in a bigger cam. A Corvette buddy of mine swore I'd have problems and would have to put in electric fans, bigger rad, etc. But I think it's safe to say now that I'm good. It was warm today in the valley, well into the 80's, and we had stop and go traffic on part of the trip, and it never went past 200. I gave my daughter the job of watching the temp gauge and she never reported any problems. 
1976 Silver/Firethorn. L48, 4spd. Original 2 bolt, vortec heads, 9.4:1 CR, Speed Pro Cam: 224/224@0.050, 112 LSA, Eagle Steel Crank.
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Congratulations Dave on a successful trip. Great feeling I'll bet. The season here is starting to wind down. Our club has a day long drive planned for next Sunday; the weatherman is calling for rain so I hope he's wrong. Wife and I had our Vette out for a long drive last Wednesday; wife just loves driving it.
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Build Date: May 7, 1975. 383 w/267 RWHP/310 RWTQ
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Greer, SC - USA
Joined: 3/13/2012
Posts: 264
Vette(s): 1978 Black with Viking mural painted under hood AM/FM/CB radio, T-top and a 2013 Cyber Gray Grand Sport Coupe, 2LT for my daily driver
That is a great feeling when your temp guage does not climb.....a feeling that I have not yet encountered, but I will. I have the original radiator in my '78, but have plans to replace it with a new aluminum Griffin this spring.
Warning: The surgeon general has declared that it is NOT unhealthy to smoke your competition AND I just discovered that my corvette is a hybred. It burns gas and rubber!
Dave, great to hear you are finally getting to enjoy the fruits of your labor!
ebo
Nice that you gave the kids some memories, I'm sure they have watched you work on that car....forever!
They deserved that ride for sure, good job Dad!
ebo
ebo
Man, isn't it great when you can DRIVE the car instead of just LOOKING at it! To me, that's the real joy in having a car like this! As far as the overheating, if this setup works OK, I wouldn't mess with it! My rad was a lost case so it either had to be cored or replaced. I chose to replace it with the direct fit aluminum rad from Corvette America. Great move. But you can spend that money on something else! Happy motoring!
Barry
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Duncanville, TX - USA
Joined: 11/8/2003
Posts: 20229
Vette(s): #1-1974 L-48 4spd Cp Med Red Metallic/Black deluxe int w/AC/tilt/tele./p/w-p/b/
Am-Fm/map light National/Regional/Chapter NCRS "Top Flight"
#2-1985 Bright Red/Carmine Cp.L-98/auto
Member: NCRS, NCRS Texas, Corvette Legends of Texas
Congrats, Dave!!! Feels good, don't it? You and the kiddos deserve a nice, trouble-free drive in the car you've spent so much time on lately....
Joel Adams
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"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"
Thanks guys! It is pretty fun to be driving it now instead of staring at it in the garage wondering if I'd ever get it back together. My family is pretty glad it's more or less done now, especially my wife who was tired of all the time and money I was spending on it (and she's pretty proud that I got it to actually run and drive).
|UPDATED|9/18/2012 8:35:43 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|
Still have a few bugs to work out:
1) radiator hose clamps that keep loosening
2) clock was working when I put the dash back together, but it stopped working about the time I got the engine running.
3) turn signal switch anomalies (signals on when I don't want 'em to be too often)
4) ignition switch anomalies (one buzzer occasionally works when it shouldn't and both often don't when they should)
5) driver's side door un-latching issue (discussed in another post)
6) door ajar light that refuses to turn off (I think there's a bad ground or a short somewhere - switch is new and works; black tape over the light works for now)
7) some Q-jet and ignition fine tuning. (Started getting a light backfire upon deceleration today, plus choke needs some attention)
8) the charging system or battery anomaly I discussed in another post - not causing a big problem right now but still a little concerning.
EDITED:
9) rear shocks (maybe front, too)
10) parking brake issue (posting about this one now)
11) A/C! But that's a someday. Needs at least a new clutch, but probably entire compressor.
There are probably more, but that's a pretty good list of things to figure out for now! I did get one crossed off the list today: the driver's side exhaust pipe was hanging too low - took it to an exhaust shop and they fixed me right up AND welded up my joints that were previously only clamped.
|UPDATED|9/18/2012 8:35:43 PM (AZT)|/UPDATED|
1976 Silver/Firethorn. L48, 4spd. Original 2 bolt, vortec heads, 9.4:1 CR, Speed Pro Cam: 224/224@0.050, 112 LSA, Eagle Steel Crank.
When you rebuilt the dash did you replace the clock or just reuse it? If you have the mechanical clock it's always a crap shoot if they work or not. If you want it to work reliably, you should change to the Quartz clock. The only difference you will notice is that the second hand moves smoothly while the mechanical clock second hand "jumps". The mechanical ones rarely worked long from the factory! hth.
Barry
Barry, yep it's an original electro-mechanical, but not the original one to the car. This one was given to me a long time ago and I was surprised when I got it to work on the bench last winter. I went through a lengthy process to try to calibrate as close as I could, looks like that was a waste of time! Oh well. Now I have two paper weight electro-mechanicals. I may buy the quartz conversion kit and do the conversion myself just for fun, we'll see. Definitely will be a winter project and will not stop me from enjoying the last few weeks of an awesome Pac NW Indian summer!
1976 Silver/Firethorn. L48, 4spd. Original 2 bolt, vortec heads, 9.4:1 CR, Speed Pro Cam: 224/224@0.050, 112 LSA, Eagle Steel Crank.
in Forum: C3 General Discussion
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