I have recieved quite a few requests about different aspects of my car and appreciate all the kind comments. So I thought I would start this thread and see if I could help out with any questions about the mods I have made to my car. This is my first project vehicle and I have done most all of the work myself on my car. I have been through it from bumper to bumper. About the only things I can think of that I did not do myself was rebuild the rear diff and trailing arms. My rear diff is leaking from both sides with only about 4K miles on it. Should have tried it too.
The Kiesler 5 speed tranny was a direct bolt in for me. My car started off as a 4 speed. The tranny crossmember is welded in on factory manual cars. I did not cut my crossmember. Cruising RPM's with 3:36 rear gears and 255/60/15 tires is about 2000 RPM at 80 MPH. The tranny has totally made the car a great cruiser. The tranny comes up through the floor in the factory opening. No cutting required anywhere. I opted to use the black chrome shifter ball with my install. As you can see it looks very much like it did when it left the factory with the exception of the shift pattern. It now sports the 5 speed pattern.

These are the leather seat covers I installed in my den while watching football, racing and whatever else. This was the first time I had ever tried anything like this. I think they came out pretty good. I replaced the foam and leathers.
When I put the new seats in the car, I had to do something with the seat belts. The factory lap belts just didn't cut it. I may as well not have worn anything. I found out through the internet that the rear seatbelts out of late model camaro's would fit. So I got on Ebay and picked me up a set for around $40 shipped to my door. I still have the front set out in the garage taking up space. My seats do not have the pass through feature, but the belts drop right across your shoulder in a nice natural fashion and make the car "Feel" more safe than just the lap belts. The only mod needed was to be made to the retractor itself. It has a locating pin on the bottom that needed to be bent out of the way. After doing this the retractor and seat belt anchors just bolt right in the same locations as the factory seat belts.
The wheels on my vette are American Racings Torque Thrust II's. I bought them off of a forum member used and they needed quite a bit of elbow grease to get them to look as good as I wanted them to look. They are 15X8 and I am not quite sure of the backspacing but I believe the previous owner said they were backspaced at 4.5 inches. Since installing these wheels, my tires do rub a little bit when turning. With the stock ralley wheels I had no rubbing with the same tires. I guess the back spacing must be greater with the TTII's. I still like the wheels and think they look pretty good.

This is the rocker molding that came on the car 35 years ago. It had plenty of dings and scratches in it. I got my air die grinder and some of those 3M scotch brite pads that are about 1 1/2 inches in diameter. I took all of the scratches and dings out of the aluminum. I also made sure I roughed the entire surface the same amount the entire length of the rocker molding. After roughing, I hand sanded the molding with finer grades of sandpaper up until around 1500 grit. I kept the moulding wet the entire sanding process. After the sanding I followed up with Mothers and the shine came out nice not at all like the factory look.


If you have any question or would like to see a better pic just ask and I can run out and take some more shots. Thanks for looking.

That is one outstanding job you did. The car looks great.


I have a question about the seatbelts. My 69 have some POS after market junk in it and would like to go back to the factory style lap belt. Will the F-Body type work on a 69 as well?

|UPDATED|10/30/2004 7:26:34 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|

That is one awesome looking car! Great job!

yOUR CAR LOOKS GREAT. I WILL BE CHANGING MY TRANNY AFTER THE FIRST OF THE YEAR. wHERE DID YOY GET THE CONSOLE SHIFT PATTERN PLATE?

Great Job... I too am thinking about a 5 speed. Everything remains original and I can't make up my mind to swap it out or not.. Who did the paint job?

Awesome looking car. You said the seat belts are from a "late model camaro"? Which year exactly. I need to add them to my car too.

Thanks
Neil

WOW! Fantastic Job! Beutiful car! Black is Awsome! Although a real pain in the keister to keep perfect.

annicorvette said: yOUR CAR LOOKS GREAT. I WILL BE CHANGING MY TRANNY AFTER THE FIRST OF THE YEAR. wHERE DID YOY GET THE CONSOLE SHIFT PATTERN PLATE?

Thanks for the kind words. I got my console shift pattern from Keislers. The manufacturer of the tranny. They should have them available if you call them.

Silver69 said: That is one outstanding job you did. The car looks great. I have a question about the seatbelts. My 69 have some POS after market junk in it and would like to go back to the factory style lap belt. Will the F-Body type work on a 69 as well?

I am not 100% sure of the seat belts for the coupe use but I don't really see any reason they would not work. If the shoulder mounts are on the rear wheel well, I would think they would work. I believe I have seen a 70 coupe over on CF that has done this.

SWestLT1 said: Great Job... I too am thinking about a 5 speed. Everything remains original and I can't make up my mind to swap it out or not.. Who did the paint job?

The 5 speed conversion is awesome. I can cruise on the Interstate now and not be worn out in 50 miles. It was an expensive decision, but I am happy with it.
The paint was done by Hot Rod Harry's Garage. I hope posting the link is ok.
http://visualadsonline.com/hotrodharrysgarage/home.htm