Old Document for 1964 Coupe #1268

[Joseph T.]

The document below was from the Corvette plant to supply items for John Evans the Chief Inspector of the Plant to hand carry to Hayes Chevrolet in Herrin, Illinois to remedy problems for 1964 Corvette Coupe #40837S101268.

Anybody own this car?

Joe Trybulec

[John H.]

Re: Old Document for 1964 Coupe #1268

Joe, that's neat - I haven't seen a CMR for years!

[Joseph T.]

Re: Old Document for 1964 Coupe #1268

John

Evans told me that after the plant pick up of the Shriners cars one year..they began to experience issues with the cars.

He was sent to Omaha and spent about two weeks there until each members complaint was fixed.

He also talked about an L88 plant pick up that didn't make it out of St.Louis and overheated. He said he requistioned a bigger radiator and installed it at a local dealer so the guy could get home.

I have always wondered which car that was?

Can you see that happening today?

[John H.]

Re: Old Document for 1964 Coupe #1268

Yes, I can - when I was the Viper Plant Manager, I put pairs of hourly guys with parts and toolboxes on planes many times to go help dealers finish up collision repairs; the Viper doors, side glass, and that huge hood were very tricky to fit and adjust properly, and dealer Viper techs generally didn't have a clue on how to do it. My guys did it all day long and knew all the "tricks" to doing it in minutes, not days, and not only took care of the cars, but also trained a lot of dealer techs so the dealers could do that kind of work by themselves later on. I also sent a video camera with them, had the dealer tape what they were doing, and left the tape with the dealers. Nobody knows the cars better than the guys and gals that build them

[Joseph T.]

Re: Old Document for 1964 Coupe #1268

John

Seems like a guy I met on a plane recently told me the Viper frames were made at a plant in Arkansas..or maybe it was the Prowler.

This guy owns a blue Viper he bought out in Arizona and drives it around town. He said the previous owner had put about $60 k into it and it is a real monster.

Does the frame comment make sense?

Joe

[John H.]

Re: Old Document for 1964 Coupe #1268

Joe -

The Viper spaceframe is fabricated and dip-primed by a company called "Fabco" in Sarnia, Ontario, just across the border from Port Huron, Michigan. The all-aluminum full frame for the Prowler was fabricated and CNC-machined by Alcoa Aluminum in Toledo, Ohio, in a plant they built just for that program - Alcoa made about 12,000 of them. One California Prowler customer asked me to ship his frame to him in California before building his car so he could have it mirror-polished; I did so, and he shipped it back, and we built his car with a polished frame. After he got the car, he removed all the suspension and driveline components and had them polished too.