1971 Corvette Hot Rod Build

[Too Many Projects]

If you haven't sold the original engine/trans, put them back in and make it a driver. I believe it will sell much quicker.

[Arrowsmith]

I don't have the engine and even if I did I wouldn't do it for various reasons.

[Arrowsmith]

I had a very recent conversation with someone over my Corvette sale and this came up. And it’s a legitimate question and concern: “Now that you might sell it, will you take some shortcuts in the build?” And the answer is definitely a big No! If I did that and I didn’t sell the car, it would constantly bother me. A good example of sticking to the build plan (and not cutting any corners) is this:

I needed to run wires from the MSD box to a source of power. There are several options available (for example, the alternator, the Corvette horn relay (don’t laugh….GM used it for darned near everything on old Vettes), the starter and the battery. There’s a catch though. MSD boxes need clean power. The alternator is out because it makes “noisy” power. And I suspect the horn relay is a big stretch too. I’ve always run the boxes right off the battery. It’s the best possible location.

The battery in a Corvette (behind the driver seat) is a long way from the driver side inner fender (where I’m mounting the MSD), so I had to go up in wire size to 12 gauge. A practice I’ve used from my race car days is to use MIL Spec wire – Tefzel to be exact. The jackets on these wires are thinner than regular auto parts store wire. That means the bundle is smaller. The wire is slightly stiffer (due to the Tefzel jacket). That means it is actually easier to route. The wire is far more resistant to heat. You can test it with a heat gun and see the difference. An average heat gun will discolor and melt the jacket on automotive wire rather quickly. Not so with Tefzel. It has a rating of 150-degrees Celcius (300 degrees F). It’s also much more abrasion resistant. But it has a downside. It’s definitely not cheap. I bought two 10-foot lengths for the project from Aircraft Spruce & Specialty. By the (short) time it arrived, the bill in Canadian dollars was $165. As you can see, I’m certainly not taking any shortcuts (I have plenty of good automotive wire on hand that now cost me nothing…not $8.25 per foot...including freight and tax…L-O-L).

None-the-less, here’s the good Tefzel from Aircraft Spruce:



I wrapped the wire with harness wrap (it’s non-adhesive):



Next, I punched a hole in the seat bulkhead and installed a rubber grommet. FYI, I typically use a sharp step drill bit to finish the hole. Unlike a regular drill bit, it leaves a nice clean, round, burr free hole. Then I tied it into the OEM harness bundle.



From here, I ran the wire alongside the antenna cable and the rear harness (at the rocker sill), and zip tied it all together. Down the road, I’ll run it through the firewall in an existing hole. What I did on Plain Jane was to route the MSD power wire through one of the carpet grommets (cut the end off of the grommet). I’ll do the same here. That way you don’t have to drill any extra holes.



And speaking of extra holes…I used another carpet grommet hole for this -3AN bulkhead fitting. Old Corvettes usually have a plastic (small block) or copper (big block) tube for the oil pressure gauge. I’m not into that ….L-O-L. So I’m converting the gauge to accept a -3AN line. It will hook up to the interior side of the bulkhead fitting while the engine side will accept another -3AN line that routes to the an engine oil gallery. FYI, I use -3 line instead of the common -4 line for one reason: It makes the gauge much more responsive. Just more old racer tech…



So there it is…I’m not cheaping out or cutting any corners. Next up….waiting for my order to arrive from Zip with more parts…

[Arrowsmith]

Some parts arrived (some didn’t…backorders again…) so I was able to get more done on my Corvette.

Out back, the gas tank emblem wasn’t right. It was bent (!) and low and behold, the nuts that held it place were filled with body caulking. No surprise…L-O-L.



Once again, the emblem studs were stripped and the restorer figured dum-dum would hold it all in place.



The fix was easy with a new Trim Parts emblem. It turned out perfect.



While I was at it, I added one of those tank filler drip guards (bib). I’ve always had them in my past Corvettes.



The sunvisors were next on my list. They were seized, but the fix was relatively simple: Remove them, work the pair of shafts out of the visor, add lithium grease and reassemble. Job done.



A bigger job was the battery. When I got the car, the battery was held in place by way of the cables. No hold down. But there was a mystery part in a bag that came with the car and in another bag was the hold down and hold down bolt. Hmmm….



The mystery part ended up being the reinforcement that is buck-rivetted to the underbody of the car. To buck rivet, you usually need two people. One to hold a bucking bar and another to hammer the end of the rivet with an air hammer. But Teddy my shepherd doesn’t care much for the job and besides, he doesn’t much like the air hammer either. Now what? I figured since this is now no NCRS car, I’d treat it like my past hot rods – hold the reinforcement in place with a couple of button head stainless AN screws on interior side and a couple of AN lock nuts on the bottom side.



To keep the screws from turning while I tighten them I cover them with a piece of duct tape. Good quality duct tape will hold the screw while the nut is “hit” with a little ¼-inch impact. Works great!



I cleaned up the battery compartment and bolted down the battery.



Now I could wire up the MSD power wires. I found a couple of brass battery terminals on Amazon with additional 5/16-inch studs on the top side. This allowed me to wire the MSD box directly to the battery (cleanly).



Here’s the finished job:



FYI, I highly recommend the Knipex wire stripper shown here. I have a bunch of different examples, but this tool is fast, easy to use with one hand and by design (stripping the wire through the “nose”) gets into tight spots.



While I was there, I cleaned out the jack compartment, added my own “anti-rattle” lime green towel and clamped down the jack and handle.



On the engine compartment side, some of the heater/cooling system clamps were pretty ugly.



I replaced them with fresh Wittek jobs. I installed them in the same spot they came out of. You can see one heater hose is a bit long (on the heater barb). I’ll deal with that later.



I changed gears and went to work on the dash cluster. I installed a new dash harness as shown below. I discovered the new steel bulb sockets are a royal pita to install. If you work them over too hard or twist them during the install, a tang can break (ask me how I know…L-O-L). The wire harness manufacturers tell me this isn’t uncommon. The reason old sockets go in and out easier is because the tension on the steel insert and tangs reduces considerably with age. I discovered if you put half of the tangs inside the bulb hole in the cluster, a small screwdriver can be used to persuade the others into place. FYI, I broke two of the steel sockets, but they’re easy enough to replace by holding the plastic base in a soft jaw vise and tapping the steel socket home with a small hammer and punch (I used new sockets from a pigtail set).



Here’s the face side of the main cluster. (high RPM tach, repair pointer, new matching speedo). I think it turned out awesome…



What I’m working on now is the center console. I have the e-brake side done, and I have to install the vent and heater controls on the main console. My “re-restoration” consists of the original main console body along with a lot of new parts. The e-brake console is all new. So far I’m really happy with the way it’s turning out.







Moving right along…and once again, I think you can see I’m not taking any shortcuts.

W

[napa68]

Originally Posted by Arrowsmith

I changed gears and went to work on the dash cluster. I installed a new dash harness as shown below. I discovered the new steel bulb sockets are a royal pita to install. If you work them over too hard or twist them during the install, a tang can break (ask me how I know…L-O-L). The wire harness manufacturers tell me this isn’t uncommon. The reason old sockets go in and out easier is because the tension on the steel insert and tangs reduces considerably with age. I discovered if you put half of the tangs inside the bulb hole in the cluster, a small screwdriver can be used to persuade the others into place. FYI, I broke two of the steel sockets, but they’re easy enough to replace by holding the plastic base in a soft jaw vise and tapping the steel socket home with a small hammer and punch (I used new sockets from a pigtail set).

I was fed that same line of BS about the sockets. I certainly do not remember them being that tough 20-30 years ago. I feel it's just a tougher spring steel. Probably from China.

Looking great Wayne!!!! What hood are you planning to install?

[Too Many Projects]

I believe the sockets are slightly too big too. I've had size issues with tail light sockets as well.
I've, also, run into this with other fasteners from China that are Imperial thread, but the shank of the bolt is undersized and the bolt will skip threads when attempting to tighten it. Then the next set of fasteners, the nut is under size and the bolt is too tight right from the start and I need to run a thread chaser thru the nut. Imperial threads, but incorrect sizing of the corresponding part.

[Arrowsmith]

Originally Posted by napa68

I was fed that same line of BS about the sockets. I certainly do not remember them being that tough 20-30 years ago. I feel it's just a tougher spring steel. Probably from China.

Looking great Wayne!!!! What hood are you planning to install?

I think you're right on the sockets. It must be a nightmare trying to install them while laying under the dash...

Hood? Probably an original air box L88.

[Arrowsmith]

Originally Posted by Too Many Projects

I believe the sockets are slightly too big too. I've had size issues with tail light sockets as well.
I've, also, run into this with other fasteners from China that are Imperial thread, but the shank of the bolt is undersized and the bolt will skip threads when attempting to tighten it. Then the next set of fasteners, the nut is under size and the bolt is too tight right from the start and I need to run a thread chaser thru the nut. Imperial threads, but incorrect sizing of the corresponding part.

Absolutely correct. Sometimes the hex won't fit cleanly on a wrench either. When I use AN fasteners from a known source (for example, Aircraft Spruce), I don't have a problem. Trouble is, AN fasteners are fine thread and not a lot of cars use fine thread.

[cheveslakr]

Had this issue with a Lectric harness, and the common feedback was it was isolated to them, not any other manufacturer. I did my '66 in the car, what an absolute pita!

[Arrowsmith]

Originally Posted by cheveslakr

Had this issue with a Lectric harness, and the common feedback was it was isolated to them, not any other manufacturer. I did my '66 in the car, what an absolute pita!

Mine came from Summit Racing, but they have them built by M&H Electrical (just a private label job for Summit). Bought some replacement pigtails from Lectric and they are exactly the same. So...Maybe M&H buys from Lectric or vice versa? Or more likely, they use the same supplier...W