63 Interior Holes - riddle me this?

[Joe S.]

While busting my butt cleaning out the goo from the interior I noticed these plugs in the rear over the differential. Looks like at some point someone drilled them to make it easy to drop the differential without dropping the crossmember. There is also evidence on the frame (we fixed) where it looks like a traction bar had been welded on back in the 60's probably.

The funny thing is there is only 3 holes. The 4th was not drilled. All 4 bolts were in the crossmember when I removed it. You can see red lines where measurements were done to determine where to drill the holes. The mark for the 4th hole is there. Another minor mystery.




Joe's 63 FI Convertible

[Tracy C.]

Re: 63 Interior Holes - riddle me this?

Definitely not "factory" holes Joe... I may have an old chunk of 63 floor you can fabricate some plugs from to fill the hole and then put a layer of fiberglass on the inside (under the carpet)

If you make the plugs snug enough it might be hard to tell from underneath that there is a repair there.

If I find it, I'll send you a piece on the house...

tc

[Joe S.]

Re: 63 Interior Holes - riddle me this?

You da man... Thanks Tracy.




Joe's 63 FI Convertible

[David Van Weele]

Re: 63 Interior Holes - riddle me this?

That is exactly what they were for. I have four in mine, gone through top flight, Bloomington God, Duntov, etc. Never had a deduct for them since they are impossible to see.

I broke the pinion gear in 1965 and that was the easiest way to drop the rear end.




My Z06

[Wayne W.]

Re: 63 Interior Holes - riddle me this?

One of my old 63s had a square hole and an old license plate over it. Hey judges, it was an original 63 license plate!

[Mike Cobine]

Re: 63 Interior Holes - riddle me this?

Don't give them ideas.

Joe,
these were used to get the rear loose before most figured out you can drop the crossmember just about as easily. Old Corvettes were just old cars once upon a time. And in cars not engineered well for maintenance, people "fixed" them so they could maintain them. It is common to find holes in the tunnel in the storage compartment to get to the rear u-joint. Holes over the rear end to get those four bolts. Why your guy stopped is a mystery.

I've seen holes in the sides of the storage boxes to get to the trailing arm bolts and maybe brake blocks for replacing brake lines. Remember, if frames rust out, brake lines will even faster.

[Loren L.]

These holes are much like the "trademark"

holes of a mid-year with A/C - two holes drilled in the right inner fender so you could change the spark plugs under the compressor.