1964 Corvette Coupe

[FLYNAVY53]

I also got the rear end back from Gary and installed. Its a 1979 case, with an NOS Eaton posi carrier and 3.73 gears. I found it easier to bolt everything together, and then inch it forward from the rear of the car as a unit. You can also see in the pics that I cleaned up the rear crossmember and installed new "sombrero" bushings and the Van Steel reinforcing kit.

[FLYNAVY53]

I also finalized the seat mounting in the car. I ended up removing the factory arm rests from the door cards as well. They are kind of cheesy, aren't functional as arm rests, and really just encroached on my hip/leg room. So I went on Etsy (of all places) and found a girl that makes leather pulls for cabinets and ordered two in the size I needed in navy blue leather. I also ordered a spray can of interior dye that matched my interior color code, knowing that the shade of the leather was likely not going to match. I hit the door pulls with two coats of dye, and bolted them in. I think they look perfect, and are just as functional without taking up as much space.

[FLYNAVY53]

And that brings me to where the car is now. After some issues with the brakes that required a change to a 1.0" bore master cylinder, the car is finally on the road. The brakes have been bed in, the alignment is done, and I'm half way through the 500 mile break in period on the diff. I still have a few projects to get to, but at this point, I'm calling stage one of this build complete. The plan is to drive it, beat on it, and expose any weak points or issues over the course of this spring and summer. After the holidays next year, Ill put it back up on the list for the second part of the build which will include a full rewire along with fuel injection and a few other bits. More to come....

[thumper877]

Love the car and the white letter tires look great

[C Presley]

Bitchin Car Dude

[Dave Pratt]

My favourite year/favourite colour! Great work on the car...now drive the hell out of it!

[FLYNAVY53]

So a little back story....when I was initially deciding what I wanted to do to the suspension while I was doing the disc brake retrofit, I leaned heavily on Herb Adams' article about how to make the C2/C3 chasis handle like the then new C4, and the Corvette Handling book. Both sources recommend trimming 1/2 coil off the front springs to lower the ride height slightly, and increase the spring rate slightly, app. 10%. Factory small block springs at 280 lb while the Corvette Handling book recommends 300-350 lb springs. I never trimmed my springs when I put my suspension back together, but after putting 500 break in miles on the car, I wished I had. The performance and handling are exactly what I was looking for, but the ride height is too high in the front (personal opinion) and the factory small block springs are a nightmare to deal with if you have to do any sort of maintenance requiring their removal.

Ride height adjustability and ease of installation led me to start looking at some of the hybrid coil over kits. The hybrid set up is nice because it doesn't require any modification to the frame...the spring and shock mount in the factory locations. The key is that the bottom of the spring rests on a perch, threaded onto the shock body. This allows precise adjustment of the ride height. I ended up going with the set up from Viking. They have been around a few years and are well known in the C5/C6 and Pro Touring communities. I like the fact that they are made in the US, and if you call to ask questions, the tech guy may very likely be the owner of the company. The other selling point for me was that they offered a 350 lb spring....the lightest you can get from QA1 is 450 (which coincidentally is what Viking recommends for big block cars). Additionally, there is a roller bearing collar that fits in between the spring and the spring perch, thus making ride height adjustments a relatively easy affair. Viking only offers double adjustable shocks, which is overkill for my street car, but because they only offer double adjustable shocks, they're at a similar price point as most performance single adjustable shocks. As a point of reference, the Ride Tech shocks I had on the car were $785. The Viking front semi-coilovers with double adjustable shocks front and rear were $960...made in the USA out of billet aluminum. I was quite pleased with the quality of the set up, and the directions include a very comprehensive guide to getting the double adjustable shocks dialed in....I'm always leary of unnecessary adjustability, but the guide is a very good starting point.










The switch to the semi-coilover did necessitate a change in lower control arms. Global West sells a lower control arm, similar to their factory replacement arms I had on the car, that has a reinforced mounting pad specifically designed to handle the load of a coil over. The minimum recommended thickness for mounting the coil over is 3/16 and the mounting surface on the Global West arms is 5/8.





It took about 4 hours of total work from the time the car was on the ground, until everything was buttoned up and bolts torqued and striped. (yes the lock collar is backed off in this photo as I anticipate having to make some adjustments to the ride height after I see the car on the ground for the first time.)

[FLYNAVY53]

I finally got a break in the weather this morning, so I decided to take the car out for a test drive....actively looking for the bumpiest roads in Norfolk, and to get a few side shots to judge the ride height from a distance.









The ride quality is perfect....pretty much the same as the set up with the factory front springs and the Ride Tech shocks, so I'm very happy with those results. I gained the adjustability in ride height, while maintaining the ride and handling quality I already had. As far as the ride height at the moment, I'm inclined to leave it where it is.....at least for the time being. I have the factory castle nuts in the rear backed down as far as I can get them, while still getting a small cotter pin through the hole in the bolt. I did order a set of 7" bolts and nylock nuts from McMaster Carr in the event that i want to go slightly lower. The front still has plenty of adjustment in the coil overs, but I think the current setting did a good job of taking the gap out of the fender and bringing the nose down to level with the rear. Eventually, I may go down an additional half inch in the front and rear, but nothing more aggressive than that. For now, I plan on just driving it, and I'll reevaluate in a month or two.

[_BQ]

I recognized your username and car from CorvetteForum. Good to see another midyear here. I joined a few weeks ago and posted my twin turbo build...figured it might not be appreciated so much on CF...

Your car looks great. I’m hoping to do front coilovers soon...maybe they’ll tide me over until I can do a full chassis swap.

[FLYNAVY53]

Yea, the crowd over there can be a bit stuffy, but you can get a lot of good info from those guys. I've found that the purist/NCRS types are actually in the minority, they're just the most vocal on the forum. Theres a good contingent of us on there with varying levels of modified builds, and everyone enjoys seeing each others progress.

[_BQ]

I may post something more general over there. Probably not as in detail as here.

Your car is turning out awesome. How do you like the Sniper? I was using one until we converted to a conventional EFI setup for the new build.

[FLYNAVY53]

I may post something more general over there. Probably not as in detail as here.

Your car is turning out awesome. How do you like the Sniper? I was using one until we converted to a conventional EFI setup for the new build.

Haven't gotten to the fuel injection yet....still running the original Holley 4150. I am running the Terminator on my LS swapped C20 Suburban and really like it. The integrated trans controller for the built 4L65E really does a good job of keeping the engine and trans in sync, especially at part throttle driving and down shifts.

[OLDFLM]

I've got the Holley Terminator TBI on my Firebird now with a Rick's Restomod tank and drop-in GM fuel module and love the super clean install... along with proven GM engineering and parts availability.

[FLYNAVY53]

I've got the Holley Terminator TBI on my Firebird now with a Rick's Restomod tank and drop-in GM fuel module and love the super clean install... along with proven GM engineering and parts availability.

Is that GM fuel module returnless?

[OLDFLM]

Yes, it's returnless! ACDELCO MU1959 includes the regulator, filter and fuel level sender... just get the Gen4 fuel pressure regulator and adapter from Carl at vaporworx and you're all set!

[FLYNAVY53]

[David Sloan]

That's a cool picture
I wonder how old that establishment / building is ?

[andrewb70]

Very cool Corvette! I think the ride height is perfect. I would not go any lower.

If I can be of service with any Holley related tuning or wiring, please let me know.

Andrew

[FLYNAVY53]

Very cool Corvette! I think the ride height is perfect. I would not go any lower.

If I can be of service with any Holley related tuning or wiring, please let me know.

Andrew

Andrew, agreed completely....as you can see, it settled a bit in that last picture compared to those from March. The ride height is exactly where I wanted it. I will definitely give you a shout when/if I get to the fuel injection. Right now, Ive got the motor running so well with the rebuilt carb, I'm tempted not to mess with it. I've got a dyno tune scheduled for the 28th of the month with a wide-band O2, so I'm hoping Abacus Racing will be able to dial in the carb and timing well beyond my rudimentary skills.

[68EFIvert]

That is a great picture and stance. Good luck on the 28th. Always a fun day when the car is on the dyno.