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1966 Corvette L72 Light Refresh
After I posted in the "birthday" thread, there seemed to be some interest in my latest acquisition. This 66 coupe is features all born with drivetrain, trim tag, VIN tag, and most all original secondary dated components. The only exception I have found yet is the water pump (which I have sourced a properly dated unit). The NCRS Shippers Report indicates the car was officially produced Jan 10th 1966 being delivered to Marsh Hallman Chevrolet in Albany, NY. The car was later sold on May 19th 1966. Documented by it's original Protect-O-Plate and dealer invoice. The car is optioned with.
-L72 427-425hp -M21 4 speed -G81 3.70 positraction diff -K66 Transistorized ignition -N14 Side mounted exhaust -P92 White stripe 7.75-15 tires -U69 AM/FM radio -A01 Tinted glass https://i.imgur.com/A0F3qOMh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/79DoMgEh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/UdjtfHzh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/FqOdvH1h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/N5g8AJKh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/7rbZBjEh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/YA4aPsXh.jpg The combination of a real L72 car, Nassau Blue with blue / white interior, and a factory side pipe car is just too irresistible to not keep around for a while (or longer). It's an original paint car, with a really nice original interior. Good docs, great colors (IMO). I bought this car from a friend, so I did not travel to inspect the car nor have anyone look at it (mistake) Sometimes these cars play well, and other times not so much. This one fought me right off the trailer. When the car arrived, it was about 10F degrees. The battery was not up to the task first of all. Then after rolling the car out of the trailer, I was able to get the car started with a jumper pack. That led to a carb that was hemorrhaging fuel. I'm thinking to myself this ain't starting out too well. With the addition of a fresh battery (old one was 5 years old) and a carb rebuild, I got the car fired up and proceeded to tune on it a bit. Actually runs pretty good (especially when one considers this still has the original plug wires on it yet). I'm thinking to myself maybe the worst is over? I did discover though there were some more items that were inop than what was presented to me when I bought the car. Most notably the fuel gauge, temp gauge, back up lights, and wiper motor (but wait.....there is more). I knew the clock and radio did not work going into this. Soooooo, I popped the clock to send that out, and then diagnose the radio situation. I was pleasantly surprised to find the speaker was the culprit. Ironically, I had just gotten a couple mid year speakers rebuilt by Jackson Speaker Service and they were on the shelf. Radio now sounds great and works like a charm. On to the rest of the issues......... https://i.imgur.com/NIIwSUNh.jpg On my initial examination, I also discovered the speedometer was disconnected at the trans. I do know for certain the car had accumulated about 100 miles since 2022 (last time the car was advertised). It's a safe assumption there is an issue of sort, so I pulled the tach and speedo to send that out to my speedo guy in Milwaukee. I have had people ask me where I am sending this type of work to, so here is the link to his shop. He (Roger) is very knowledgeable and turns the work around quickly. http://www.speedometersolutions.com/ https://i.imgur.com/CkirVggh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/gavVhwnh.jpg I then proceed to diagnose the rest of the inoperative items. 1. Fuel gauge 2. Temp gauge 3. Back up lights 4. Wiper motor The first 3 items have a common source for power. After testing for continuity in all of the respective circuits, I find a pretty good voltage drop in the main dash harness. I peeled that apart to find at least 1 issue. Furthermore, there was another issue I discovered to boot in the main harness. So, I've got a new main harness on order. I'll also add this car must of had an electrical issue previously, as the engine harness had been replaced. https://i.imgur.com/AfnSS4wh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/mArsLIlh.jpg The car is showing 65k miles on it. I see freeze plugs with imprints on them, along with Fel Pro head gaskets. We now know it has some type of rebuild on the engine (which is fine IMO). I am always a bit concerned with an original engine due to the nylon timing gear. I scoped the bores to have a look. I appears as though the engine retains it's original domed pistons? I did not see any sort of imprints on the tops of the pistons, and also saw hone marks (along with a few scuffs). It would be great if this had the original size bore and proper compression. They always seem to run a bit better when they have some squeeze. The plugs looked decent given the lack of activity the car has had in recent years. The valve lash was really close when I checked it all. But, while I'm here, I ran all of the valves. https://i.imgur.com/rZcrD0ih.jpg https://i.imgur.com/2OUv8vIh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/CpaoULvh.jpg Today, I'll bench test the wiper inop wiper motor and see what needs to be done there. If I can get it going, I'll put new rubber components in the washer pump and clean everything up the best I can. One of the headlight motors is really lethargic (another item my "friend" neglected to tell me). So I'll get both of those out, clean the armatures in both, clean out the old grease in the transmission side of the motors, lube everything up and see where that takes me. https://i.imgur.com/rEh2Jubh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/lVwRIECh.jpg |
Love following along on these threads - this car checks all the right boxes too.......
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Yet ANOTHER reason for a visit to the Boulder Beer Bar!! :beers:
You are having too much fun Tim! |
What a great car! Love this!!
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Tim you are amazing and when this has had your touch it will be perfect! Look forward to this "Light Refresh" progress.
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I got into the wiper motor yesterday, and that endeavor was a bust. I'll need some professional help there. FWIW, that has been suggested to me more than a few times prior:smile:
Here is what I did rebuilding one of the headlight motors. More often than not, the grease in them gets so gummed up, electrically they are fine. Just a good cleaning and reassembly is all that is needed. I keep the gears in stock, as sometimes they have a section that gets worn and can bind up a little bit. https://i.imgur.com/hTEHgJBh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/SSHUMcSh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/KuL8Rqbh.jpg Some time in the ultrasonic cleaner with Purple Power (I left the field housing alone to preserve the ink stamp). Here is the old gear (left) compared to the new gear https://i.imgur.com/Z3DgIBwh.jpg Perfect date for a January 66 car https://i.imgur.com/NUzY0tVh.jpg And reassemble with white lithium grease https://i.imgur.com/sABHUFSh.jpg As mentioned before, the car is a New York car. What history I can put together this far, the car was in NY until 1995. The car had received a Bloomington Survivor Award in 1993 on all parts of the car with the exception of the chassis. Certainly, that program has become much more stringent since then. Regardless, I busted out the Go-Jo to start soaking, degreasing and cleaning the chassis. A few before pics. The chassis is VERY solid, just not a California car. https://i.imgur.com/wUovqYTh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/O1YfwILh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/4B7J2frh.jpg And the first soak...... https://i.imgur.com/oH1TPkkh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/rzG7iJDh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/OwLzWvzh.jpg |
The car is looking good, Tim. I want to see chassis pictures as you progress. If there is a '66 worthy of this type of mechanical rebuild, this is the car.
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Tim,
Your endless energy spent on refining top of the line Corvettes that you seek out and bring to BMC is exciting to watch. And yet “another” gauge cluster, soon with eyes closed. Thanks for sharing the preservation of such awesome cars! Chris. |
Tim, I know we talk often and I could ask you in one of our conversations, but what type of Go-Jo do you use? Do you just apply it and steam clean it off? I thought others may want to know, also.
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Beautiful Vette. I always enjoy watching you work out the gremlins on the cars coming into your shop.
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----Tim,,,I see a bunch of NCRS wonks looking at the bottom of that oil pan and then running to their garage to remove the multiple layers of Chevy orange on the bottom of theirs. Not every engine is lacking that much orange, but many did. Did I say that it's very, very cool!!!. One cool 66....Bill S
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With shipping both ways, I'll have about 750 invested in that alone. It's not cheap nor easy to do these things correctly. It's the right thing to do. I'll have an update tomorrow on the chassis. So far, I'm happy with the results. |
Yesterday was a long and dirty day of cleaning / preserving the chassis on the car. Considering the history of the car and where it spent a good amount of it's life, I'm happy with the results. You'll see the non OEM shocks in the pics.....those are old school Koni's:grin: As I have mentioned before, I have more history to seek, prior to 1995.
There is some evidence the car was used for it's intended purpose. The car is not documented to be an F41 suspension in the car, yet there is an F41 front sway bar, F41 rear spring (aftermarket bolts securing it to the trailering arms) and the aforementioned Koni's. The lips on the rear wheel wells were shaved assumingly for larger rear tires. https://i.imgur.com/hCe4LVSh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/GPSQ95Gh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/c9L3tHJh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/LtSlHrhh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Diu6PjPh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Khbxb3Kh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/Xg2N7Snh.jpg I had ordered up a set of tires for the car right after it landed. When purchasing the car, I was told the tires were new back in 2022. He wasn't lying, they were new TO THIS car. They were reproductions from (what I figure) back in the 90's. Made in Argentina. They were just about as hard as some of the original non DOT's I've mounted and dismounted. The spare is the original Firestone Deluxe Champion, so I followed suit with the new skins. Another little surprise, was none of the wheels were original to the car. They were all 15x6 (should be 15x5.5). One of them was not even a GM wheel. Luckily, I had a nice survivor set of 65-66 wheels at the shop. https://i.imgur.com/2Ixw3HOh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/HMSTkLIh.jpg Today's task, get this installed....... https://i.imgur.com/mghwYyxh.jpg |
I wish I was there to help with the harness, but it would take an extra day if I offered a hand.
The chassis is looking VERY good. I hope to see this car at a judging event in 2025. |
Love your '66 Tim. You're killin' it, and imo, you really had no choice on a cherry like this to approach it's preservation in way you are. I'll be following very closely, we have similar cars, but mine is an AOSmith body, so some differences. My car is getting close to finish and I just got my gauges shipped back, still in mail. Right now I'm fumbling around with the dash wiring.......if there's one thing that rings true on a C2 is EVERYTHING has it's place, every wire and cable needs to be exactly the way chevy engineered or it just won't fit or work right. I took plenty of pics, which helped, but still scroll through archives of other builds and completed cars. I'll be watching. Again, thanx for bringing us along.
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----Under carriage is my kind of spectacular, Tim. Neither Jan's or mine are original unrestored. Wish they were just like what I'm looking at....Bill S
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Parts are continuing to roll in. The dash harness is installed and the circuits of concern have tested out. They never fit quite as well as what was original, but that is just the way it is.
https://i.imgur.com/ajoX2UMh.jpg I removed the bad / incorrect water pump. Then proceeded to clean the fan shroud and other areas that would be much less accessible. The car has it's original lower radiator hose and clamps. Looks like I'll be able to preserve them and reuse. Fingers crossed. https://i.imgur.com/SeBmNOjh.jpg While waiting, I cleaned up the ignition shielding and installed a D308 non "R" distributor cap that I had in stock https://i.imgur.com/O8bLln7h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/5LP3y29h.jpg https://i.imgur.com/tZSXueDh.jpg I found a perfectly dated water pump. I sparingly painted the unit. Once everything else is installed and I get a couple of heat cycles on it, I'll see how it looks. I may wipe it down with some thinner just to kill the color and gloss some some. https://i.imgur.com/RSb4z6wh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/6JrwyXzh.jpg Lastly, the speedo and tach came in. I was able to get the cluster reassembled with the exception of the gauges on the left. The fuel gauge was kind of wonky in bench testing. I have found one and that is on the way in. https://i.imgur.com/mo9XZcGh.jpg |
----Tim,,,Just take a look at the lower hose internal spring, and make sure it isn't compromised. Don't want it to collapse! I have a very, real connection to all 66 425/427 Corvettes. Would have to stretch the memory to count how many I have had and that's worse a little bit every day, LOL!....Bill S
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Ha! After drooling a bit over your gauge pod, I looked at the gauges I just received in the mail today.....I beat you by over 2000 miles!!
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Nice!!!!!
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Super cool! Looks fantastic Tim!
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Slowly creeping to a finish on this stage. This car has proven to be a fighter. The gas gauge is now working. The replacement I received was NFG, so that had me double and triple checking all of the continuity and resistances again. Luckily, a friend over in Eagle River had an NOS gauge in his stash.
Furthermore, the wiper motor that came in tested good on the bench. It was acting all sort of funny in the car. The major sign, it would not park. So that came apart to only find the small spring was missing for the park solenoid. There was not even any evidence it was in there (like to broke). So, I dug through a spring assortment I have here, and was able to "engineer" it to work. Shazam! Works just like it should now. Lastly, USPS managed to lose a couple of items on mine in the last couple of weeks:bs: Of course, one of those items is preventing me from finally securing the gauge cluster into the dash. The other item they lost for a week was all of the paperwork and images I sent in to Al Grenning for his CCAS Validation's on the engine deck, trim tag, and POP. Luckily, that surfaced and was delivered on Friday. https://i.imgur.com/v9VyAeMh.jpg Just killing some time today, I decided to play around with a light steam on the carpets to see if I could get any sort of improvement. Nothing notable to report there. Still really nice original carpets in this car nonetheless, and don't want to risk going backwards using any sort of carpet cleaner. https://i.imgur.com/R16jk2yh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/XcmWcuDh.jpg |
I had the same issue with a wiper motor rebuild, Tim. The park spring came off in transit and the motor had to come out for a quick fix. I'll never install another without checking to be sure the spring is in place.
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Tim and I had a nice convo about this '66 L72. This seems to be a very nice original car! Congrats to Tim for a gentle clean to preserve that chassis and original educational value.
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Moving closer to the finish line........an inch at a time.
The cluster is secured in, and thus got the steering column installed. To only find out I must have tweaked the main shaft and thus the directional switch. Horn was stuck on. Took it apart and yeah, the switch was boogered. So, I am waiting for that to come in. I did get the clock back and installed. At least that worked out to plan! https://i.imgur.com/FWzJBOih.jpg https://i.imgur.com/cSPDnjqh.jpg Here is an ink stamp on the fan clutch. This decodes to December 2nd of 65. L=December 2=2nd day of month F=1965 https://i.imgur.com/BW9i55Sh.jpg The car has 1 pair of original keys that came with it. Ironically, Marsh Hallman made an error on entering the ignition key codes of the dealer invoice. https://i.imgur.com/tMZ1Swah.jpg https://i.imgur.com/yds17DXh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/i18T8glh.jpg I am tickled with the body (among other obvious items). The paint has some checking here and there, but overall is really nice. Great detectible bonding seams and of course the original dealer emblem https://i.imgur.com/QuLLvxNh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/ApCs6OCh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/OBD9H1rh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/aONF643h.jpg Last but not least, the affirmations came back from Al Grenning for the engine block, trim tag, and POP. https://i.imgur.com/UhXPmuth.jpg Of course all of this progress cannot go unpunished:scholar: I fired the car up and the carb was not happy once again. I said piss on it. Pulled it off and sent it out to Phil. While rebuilding a carb is certainly in my skill sets, I have concluded in these parts that are 50-60 years old need to pulled down to nothing, machined back to be square, and be the focal point of a seasoned pro. In short, I feel like I should do that with most any carb that comes through the shop. |
Man! Nice work as always. I agree with your take on carb rebuilding. Mine seem to have a countdown timer and I start having problems in a few months, whereas Eric Jackson’s rebuilds are still 100% years later.
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What would/could happen to the carpet if you were to shampoo it? Thanks |
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As a side note, Tim G is also responsible for my fetish revolving around non DOT tires, original shocks, the aforementioned carpets, fasteners, and a gaggle of other items that defy common sense to a reasonable adult. Seriously though, Tim is a wheelhouse of knowledge and certainly has upped my game. Most importantly, just a great guy and a genuine friend:biggthumpup: |
The feeling is mutual, Tim.
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----Tim,,,Just noticed your addiction to non DOT. Did you see my perfect untouched US Royal spare at MCACN? Of course finding any more 66 only US Royal's may ware out your patience, but I'm ready to get off of this tire-wheel combo and will be very friendly price wise if it helps!....Bill S
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There's just something about OEM tires, and exhaust, and shocks, and carpet, and seat covers, and, and, and..... |
Yesterday had it's high and lows for certain. The heat riser gasket was leaking. I had been soaking the nuts on the manifold studs for a couple of weeks. 2 of the nuts on the passenger were cooperative (with heat). 1 of them was not.........
https://i.imgur.com/qd81jmnh.jpg https://i.imgur.com/uCOppbth.jpg I have had luck with welding a nut onto the remaining stud. https://i.imgur.com/vq5XZKzh.jpg That was not the case here. Soooo.....pull the manifold and sharpen up the bits. This only killed half of the day yesterday. A victory was had though! https://i.imgur.com/KP8U3Luh.jpg The directional switch came in, and that all went to plan. Now I could button up the interior:biggthumpup: https://i.imgur.com/y87CgwPh.jpg |
It's looking great Tim. :beers:
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That's lots of work, Tim. I'm glad all of the manifold bolts came off without breaking.
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Can't believe you don't have an electric torch... this tool has saved me many yours of frustration with frozen fasteners over the years. Guarantee, it would have heated that nut in under 60 seconds and broken the rust lock to spin off.
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