Boy do I have a DE LEMMA. Last week my direction was clear,I was putting back together my 2x4 red 61 corvette. My Engine is rebuilt and compleat sitting on a stand ready for installation. Last week I attended an NCRS Swap looking for a aluminum thermostat housing. During my conversation with Terry O'Keefe (Thermostat housing expert)he mentioned that the original car color is written in grease pencil behind the passenger seat. I thought that would be AWESOME documentation. I wanted to check this out but my body is bolted down to a trailer and wrapped in plastic. I didnt want to unwrap the car so I crawled up from underneath into the engine compartment with my trusty flash light. Now how am I going to see into the interior to find the factory grease pencil markings. Well Ill stick the flash light through the steering column hole and look through the round hole under the wiper motor. Look through the hole under the wiper motor, (WHAT IS A HOLE DOING HEAR ?). It didnt dawn on me at the time but I think that hole was for a tach drive distributor. Could it be fuel injected ?.To finnish my my story,there it was written vertically in large print MAROON / HT. WOW what great documentation,but what an ugly color. Now what to do I have a complete rebuilt 2x4 engine and $500 worth of red paint. Any help would be greatly appreciated. PS no smart ass remarks Dale.
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Re: To Be or not To Be that is the question 2x4 or
Was it or was it not? That is the real question. A more interesting question is how the color in crayon suddenly appears on a fiberglass body ready for painting and has gone unnoticed, unscraped, and unsanded up until the insertion of a flashlight beam into the steering column hole. Check out a Restorer article I wrote back in 1990 named, "A Williamsburg Gold Certified 62" wherein Noland Adams' well publicized theory about grease pencil paint codes was verified. Curt Gifford's 1962 Autum Gold (a legitimate 1962 color) was examined and photographed.
P.S.
I wish you guys would agree if my remarks are smart-ass or dumb-ass. The ambivalence is causing an identity crisis! My friend, world renowned thermostat housing expert, and noted historian, Terry O'Keefe has regarded me as quite dumb-ass over the last 15 years. This in part due to the amount of bucks I've put in his pocket at swap meets. I view myself as dumb-ass considering the boo-boos I make daily. Please,,,,consider my remarks as those of a dumb-ass maroon. (with hardtop). -
Re: To Be or not To Be that is the question 2x4 or
Maroon/ Hard Top....... Are tach drive distrib's only on FI cars in 61s?
Texas Chapter NCRSComment
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gold paint
in 1962 i had a corvette painted a special gold from the factory and the serial # was 20867S105492. i believe that the color was called chevy anniversary gold,could this be my car? it cost me $25.00 extra for the paint.
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Re: To Be or not To Be that is the question 2x4 or
Dale again I am not sure what your telling me.I was not a corvette historian looking to do a correct restoration,just a novice. Besides this body has been sitting in a sand blast shop for 10 years covered with dust and could care less what the original color was. It wasn't until 5 weeks ago I discussed with my restorer about putting back together a $10,000 driver. He told me to keep the value of the car it should be returned to original condition. Well here I am RESTORATION MAN on a quest for the truth. That's how I didnt notice the writing on the wall. So again I need your expert advice.Try to reach down into the bowel's of your keyboard and lead a stray novice onto the correct path,and belive me if I were making up this story about the grease pencil it wouldn't be maroon.Comment
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Re: gold paint
NOPE! you did a COPO special order......Fawn Beige was re-named Autumn Gold toward the end of 62 production to agree with other Chevy products so named. The paint specs were identical and Fawn Beige was a hold-over name from 1961. It should be noted that 1961 Fawn Beige and 1962 Fawn Beige are NOT the same paints. Although similar, 1961 Fawn was a lighter color. It took them most of the 1962 production year to figure this out and re-name the paint. Curt Gifford bought his Gold car new and presented the original window sticker which said, "Autumn Gold" and listed the same RPO number as Fawn Beige. When we uncovered the grease pencil behind the passenger seat it said, "Fawn", "HT". I suppose St. Louis turned a deaf ear to the new name. Curt's was of course a late car.
Varooom!Comment
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Re: To Be or not To Be that is the question 2x4 or
Jeff the most important thing to do at this time is sit down and decide WHAT YOU WANT TO DO WITH THE CAR! Getting caught-up in the show-car authentic-restoration thing is a wonderful fun-filled experience for SOME of us. For others, its a compulsive-obsessive anal retentive TRAP costing from $60,000 to sometimes more than $100,000 and resulting in a non-drivable Corvette (because the use would depreciate it) and requiring insurance premiums that can be stiff. Constant fear of scratches, starting it once a week to keep everything freed-up and maintaing the finish, etc. can be a chore or a pleasure depending on how you look at it. The marketability of such an investment depends on the car and the amount of the investment. I know some owners who have regretted taking this route with their Corvettes. On the other hand, the MAJORITY of owners who have restored their Corvettes are glad to have done so.
Since 1961, when I bought my first Corvette, a 1959 big brake fuelie, I have been a "driving guy". The MOST fun I have ever had with Corvettes, aside from ribbing everyone in print, is driving the beasts. I have turned the odometer around on my 62 three times in 22 years! I have built this car as I want it, modified, color-changed, interior changed, chassis changed, engine changed, etc., to please me rather than a restoration car club. My Vette is a CERTIFIED NCRS COUNTERFIT and I'm DAMN proud of it! I'm also restoring to perfection another 1962 that will not be driven, just shown. Behind that project is a 1959 with which I hope to achieve a Duntov award. I also plan to try for a 4 Star- Bowtie award with a 340 Hp maroon-black 62. I have a couple of 62 big brake fuelies, one with 24 gal tank, to restore after that. So I'm really a double barrelled sort of person. My trump barrell is driving. the MOST fun is driving. I've been all over the USA, Canada, and Mexico with my top down. On one excursion I was gone five weeks and put 7,300 miles on my 62 in one sitting. Corvettes and NCRS are my entire life at present. NCRS is absolutely the most benificial organization of all in the stewardship of these wonderful cars and that because of the unique and sharing people that make up the organization. It dosen't get any better!
So here's the point: DECIDE WHAT YOU WANT TO DO UP FRONT; otherwise you'll loose a ton of bucks and be frustrated with owning your Corvette. If I were you and chose the driver route (which sounds best to me) then do-up your Corvette to suit yourself but make NO IRREVERSABLE modifications. Drive it to NCRS functions and over the years you'll probably catch the rerstoration bug!Comment
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Re: To Be or not To Be that is the question 2x4 or
Yes! Dale.Comment
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Re: To Be or not To Be that is the question 2x4 or
Yes! There were both solid lifter and hydraulic lifter versions of FI in 61. One used a 915 dist, the other a 914. Both drove a tach. All other engines used a generator driven tach. Dale.Comment
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Re: To Be or not To Be that is the question 2x4 or
Back in '76 I did a frame off on a '62 that we used to drive,drag race, autocross and and in general have fun with.Then the resto. bug hit, off the frame, correct parts you name it, I did it.You know what, we stopped driving the car! My wife would get in the car with her shoes on!Of all the nerve!That car is now gone.And I am going to have a car to enjoy,it is MY car and that is what is important to me.Originality is important,but I don't beleive it is up to ALL of us to carry the torch.First off,in my opinion,enjoy the car,Chevy intended you to do so.Comment
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"Step over the sill, keep your feet on the mat"...
...I got so sick of hearing myself tell passengers the rules or explain to them that their jeans weren't clean enough or their work boots too 'aggressive' to be taken for a ride that I just stopped driving the damn things. Makes big sense, right? Cars we're afraid to drive...
JPComment
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Re: "Step over the sill, keep your feet on the mat
Since I restored my driver I driven it only a couple of thousand miles. Same thing! No smoking, eating, drinking, etc. in my "baby". Take off your shoes! Don't slam the door. Before going anywhere I get an aviator's weather forecast. I ask truckers about the density of bugs along the highway. Park it 200 feet from the store door where no other cars are. This is fun? NOT! I remember the days when my Corvette was a pick up truck hauling greasy parts doubling as a racer and something I could drive in the rain even if the top did leak. That was fun!
VarooomComment
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Re: "Step over the sill, keep your feet on the mat
Yea Dale, but even when it was a "driver" you chained it up to a tree or light post with a logging chain through the trailer hitch. I remember a dissertation in a hotel lobby, in a place that has long passed from my mind, on the merits of locks made by the BEST lock Company (and you were/are right, they are the best.) You couldn't fool all of us - we knew you would come around. :-)
Funny: The things our memories retain and the things we forget.
Terry
TerryComment
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Re: To Be or not To Be that is the question 2x4 or
Jeff, I guess I'd have to disagree on your characterization of the maroon color.... my first Corvette (back in 1963) was a Honduras Maroon '61 with black interior and top, and I thought it was absolutely gorgeous (I still love that color!).Comment
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Re: "Step over the sill, keep your feet on the mat
That happened at a regional near Hartford many moons ago. I chained my car to a large metal light pole. Dan Gale noted that a little three foot sapling was next to the pole. While I was asleep that night, Dan got his buddies who were state police and a very competent locksmith. They were going to switch the chain to the sapling and video-tape my reaction the next morning. Trouble is that the locksmith was unable to open the lock after more than an hour of work. I too feel that "Best" is best. What fond memories!
Dale.Comment
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