1971 Corvette Hot Rod Build

[cheveslakr]

I love watching you work!! Did the r and r of my power windows on my '66, tight and methodical are the operative words for sure. The cool thing, both the C2 and C3s use a very sturdy mechanism and ample motor so when they're adjusted correctly they work very well. Your switches have to have much more room for the harness than the C2s, which are crazy tight.

[Arrowsmith]

Originally Posted by cheveslakr

I love watching you work!! Did the r and r of my power windows on my '66, tight and methodical are the operative words for sure. The cool thing, both the C2 and C3s use a very sturdy mechanism and ample motor so when they're adjusted correctly they work very well. Your switches have to have much more room for the harness than the C2s, which are crazy tight.

L-O-L… if I was younger and had more money I think I’d be dangerous … I’m actually thinking long and hard about building a “sequel” to Plain Jane the Nova I built a few years ago.. I have to finish this Corvette first though.

And hey I get it on the C2 consoles. You are so right on working on these old Corvettes. Thank you for the comps! I certainly appreciate it. W

[Arrowsmith]

With an early Corvette, there’s a lot of heat and noise transferred to the cockpit, so my plan was to reduce it if possible. I chose Hushmat as the initial step (I’ll use the OEM style rubber and jute insulation that goes under the carpet as well). Hushmat is a dense rubber material with a foil backing. They advertise the kits as “pre cut” for specific applications. L-O-L.

Here’s a picture of the front floor kit for a 1971 Corvette:



The stuff is definitely thin. This is the thickness pre-installation:



When installing it, you have maneuver into place like this. Note the overlap and wrinkles:



Another thing you have to keep in mind are seat belt holes, seat mounting holes and so on. The floor should be clean, and in my case, it was virtually perfect.



A Sharpie is definitely your friend. And speaking of sharp….The foil can (and will) regularly slice your pinkies when you’re working with it. Keep band aids on hand! I ended up using mechanic’s gloves while working anywhere near it.



Hushmat cuts easy enough. I used a set of straight cut aviation shears for the job. They cut it like butter.



The back side is designed to peel off. In order to make it manageable, I found you have to remove in smaller chunks.



The mat has to be manually “molded” into place. You can buy a roller for the job, but I used a couple of deep sockets as well as a big round punch for the job. In addition, a soft face mallet works wonders. This passenger floor pan is nearly done:



Here’s the finished job. It turned out well. FYI, it’s possible to line the doors, but the door panel fit is tight on these cars, plus the area inside the door is very difficult to access. I likely won’t line the doors.




Next....Rear wiring.

[Arrowsmith]

The next task was to install a new rear wire harness (tail light and rear portion of the car). I used a Summit Racing brand harness, and it's a great quality product (absolutely zero fit or component connection issues). I believe it is made for them by M&H Electrical Fabricators. I won't post all of the images I have because it's not really a difficult task.

An Assembly Manual along with a good wiring diagram are your friends here....

I started at the bulkhead and fed the wires forward:



The tail light hook up and back up light hook up is pretty simple. The harness attaches to the top of the rear lights and the grounds are daisy-chained. I'm really fortunate the car is so (SO!) clean. It sure makes working on it easier.



There's a lot going on with the license plate lamp. Keep in mind this car has fiber optics so I had to take that into consideration. How I did this was to take the lamp out, add the wiring (and ground) and then reinstall. It was easier.



I found a tiny amount of dielectric grease on the fibre optic boots makes them easier to install.



Compared to some of the other locations at the back of the car, hooking up the gas tank sender was dirt simple:



On my car, the main ground for the tail lamps is on the antenna ground.



Here's the wiring that runs across the seat bulkhead. Again, this is all super easy.



Another pair of wires goes to the courtesy lamp. It’s not hooked up because my example was boogered up.




When I took the car apart, I discovered the threads for the passenger side door ajar switch were piled up. Lucky for me, a tap took care of it. You can't get a full swing with a T-Handle on the tap so a little crescent on the tap is the easiest option.



And here's the new switch installed...(same of course on the driver side)....


Another section of harness goes forward, past the park brake. This is for the fiber optic lamps in the console:



The main harness routes forward alongside the door sill. I had to fix the pair of clamps. Mine were hammered flat. I opened the clamps up and hammered them over a small deep socket to get the shape back.

[RALLY]

Outstanding work Wayne. Keep the pics coming when you can. Your craftmanship is top notch.

[Arrowsmith]

Originally Posted by RALLY

Outstanding work Wayne. Keep the pics coming when you can. Your craftmanship is top notch.

Thank you very much for the kind words. I am truly humbled by your comments but I’m not 100% sure I am worthy. And yes, I will continue to post details and photos of the build. W

[Too Many Projects]

Quite certain you proved your high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail with Plain Jane. What you are doing with the Corvette only furthers the evidence of your commitment to excellence.

[Arrowsmith]

Originally Posted by Too Many Projects

Quite certain you proved your high level of craftsmanship and attention to detail with Plain Jane. What you are doing with the Corvette only furthers the evidence of your commitment to excellence.

Thank you so much. It means a tremendous amount to me. Again, I'm very humbled. W

[Arrowsmith]

I’ve devoted some time to little fixes on the Vette (and boy howdy are there enough of them…L-O-L). Here are a few…

First was the swiss cheese job on the passenger side door sill. There are four screws in the sill plate but in this case, way more in the sill! I’m guessing previous owner couldn’t get it where he wanted so he just drilled away. Note the goop around the one hole. I'm guessing it was stripped out and this was the fix.





Although this is all hidden by the sill plate, I couldn’t live with it, so I pondered a fix. I could have glassed them in but then it occurred to me that I could also use two-part marine epoxy (it is used to fix holes and leaks in fiberglass boats). It was simpler and probably just as effective. Once I filled the holes, I just gave them a quick dab of touch up paint.



I’ll redrill the sill plate holes when I’m installing the carpet, but if there’s an issue, I’ll use this as a fix. It’s a plastic wall anchor from Home Depot.



A simple job here. I installed the back console reinforcement. Installing the back bolt in the console is a pain. It goes in through a hole in the seat bulkhead. I might try installing the bolt backwards (with the threaded portion sticking out) and then using a nut on it. We’ll see.



I think I might have mentioned I needed to change the hood release…Here’s the new one. Removing and detailing the pedal pads and pedal trim is on my to-do list.



Next up, I reinstalled the door water shields with fresh 3M strip caulk.



I removed the charcoal fuel cannister. I’ll use a vented gas cap instead. By the way, the charcoal cannister takes up residence on the backside of the driver inner front fender. I’m using that spot for the MSD box.



I plugged the vent line. I see in this photo I forgot to remove the clamp. I’ll add that to my to-do list.



Up top, I had no need for the bundle of excess hose that went from the charcoal cannister to the intake manifold. This cleaned up a good size mess on the firewall.



Stole this photo from the Corvette forum (by the original owner). Note the battery cable. Grrrr…



Here’s my fix. It’s just a big heat shrink:



While I was down there, I tied back the yellow wire that goes from the starter to the coil with a stainless zip tie. I bundled up the yellow wire on the top side by re-wrapping the harness with the wire inside. don’t need it because the car is using an MSD box.



Meanwhile, upstairs, the ignition switch wire that normally goes to the coil will be routed to the MSD box. The only two wires on the coil for an MSD system actually come from the buzz box.



A couple of the bolts holding the brake line in place were stripped. I fixed those. You can just see the fix in the back of the clamp. I use a small v-shaped piece of stainless safety wire in the hole. Then the fastener is screwed in. The safety wire takes up the “extra” space and the fastener can be tightened. By the way, that’s not rust you see. It’s a bit of spilled old coolant from the original engine.



Moving back a bit, I added a missing clamp to the fuel lines. LS6 Corvettes do not have a return line, but I’m going to use a pump with a return. I found my old LS7 conversion on the LS6 would boil the fuel and vapor lock on a really hot summer day. Pumps with a return (rather than dead-heading) tend to keep the fuel cooler. I believe every little bit helps.



Done for a while (aside from a couple of little things on my to-do list). Basically, I’m out of parts. I should have an order from Zip in a week or two. So….tap-tap-tap..L-O-L

[Arrowsmith]

I’ve mentioned this to a couple of folks from the forum, and I wasn’t 100% sure about this, but I am now, so here goes:

I really (Really) miss my old Nova Plain Jane. I have serious buyer’s remorse. I would like to build version 2.0 based upon a first gen Camaro. Unfortunately, I don’t have the budget to build two cars at once. Old Corvettes like this are limited with regard to how much power you can feed them and still keep the IRS (even an upgraded one like this car has) and keep them looking more or less stock or Day 2. There are other things that get in the way of producing big power (header choice, exhaust sizing, cooling, etc.). Yes, I could cut it up to handle big power but it wouldn’t be much fun to drive. So…. I’ve decided to put my Corvette up for sale as soon as it’s complete or as a very comprehensive roller (basically, less engine and select components). I’d prefer to sell it sooner as a nearly complete roller.

Thus far I have gone through virtually every piece of the car and fix (or I’m in the process of fixing) any of the mistakes on the car. The car itself is incredible (just look at the pix!). I believe it could very well be one of the nicest C3’s on the planet. No secret though, the build cost has been steep. Bottom line: It will be (very) expensive to buy but it will be a super nice, fun car.

So, if you or someone you know is interested, please send me a PM. And by the way, I’ll keep posting progress and build info on this page. Thank you. Wayne