Hi, My 1959 corvette has a power glide transmission, no indication of ever having had a clutch, it is a two speed, the original intake is missing replaced with a performer, the carburator is after market as well as the distributor. On the driver side of the car the hole that was used for fuel injection is open, not plugged from the factory. My block has a CT code on the passenger side, F922CT. The block matches the corvette numbers for this year. 3756519. All the signs are there that this is either a 2x4 dual quad. The back of the generator has a spindle for connection to FI? Is there any way to look into this? Thanks for any information. Susan
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Re: C1 with interesting changes
Susan-----
The CT suffix code denotes a 245 hp Corvette engine. The 245 hp 283 cid engine for 1959 originally used 2 Carter 4 barrel carbs on an aluminum manifold. If you can find a GM #3739653 manifold and a Carter 2626S, front, and Carter 2627S, rear, you could return its induction configuration to original.
The fitting on the rear of the generator is for the mechanical tachometer drive. Fuel injection units were always driven off of the distributor and never off of the generator.
Does the car have an operable tachometer in it now?In Appreciation of John Hinckley -
Re: C1 with interesting changes
Susan-----
The CT suffix code denotes a 245 hp Corvette engine. The 245 hp 283 cid engine for 1959 originally used 2 Carter 4 barrel carbs on an aluminum manifold. If you can find a GM #3739653 manifold and a Carter 2626S, front, and Carter 2627S, rear, you could return its induction configuration to original.
The fitting on the rear of the generator is for the mechanical tachometer drive. Fuel injection units were always driven off of the distributor and never off of the generator.
Does the car have an operable tachometer in it now?In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: C1 with interesting changes
Hi Thanks for the information, yes the car has an operable tach on it, I was just curious why they would move the generator to the driver side of the vehicle otherwise it is completely original as far as I can tell. SusanComment
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Re: C1 with interesting changes
Hi Thanks for the information, yes the car has an operable tach on it, I was just curious why they would move the generator to the driver side of the vehicle otherwise it is completely original as far as I can tell. SusanComment
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Re: C1 with interesting changes
Hi Susan,
Congrats on your acquisition! My favorite year....
I also own a 59, see I told you so:-), since 1986 with 270hp dual 4bc, 4 speed. When I first bought the car it's tach drive generator was also on the drivers' side, likely becasue they had the incorrect exhaust manifold mounted on the right side. It had no mounting provisions for the generator as it was a 57 manifold. Likely that's what they had so they used it. Over the years I rebuild the engine and bought the correct right manifold and moved the generator back to the correct(right) side, along with putting the regulator there as it was left mounted near the generator too. I had to also get a new generator bracket & adjusting brace, correct water pump mounting stud, hardware, and the correct engine pulleys as they had the wrong ones as they're different for left vs right side mounting.
Does your right manifold have the forward boss for a generator mount? If you're going to change it over you'll need some of the parts above to make it work, along with the manifold which is 3750556 if you don't have that. You may also need to resplice the red wire coming from the ammeter(in engine harness) to reach the right side as they may have spliced in a new piece to reach the left. Back when I corrected mine to right, I just got some #12red wire and spliced it just inside the firewall grommet to keep it continuous looking. Recently I replaced the entire engine harness as the original was getting tired, especially the wires going to the starter which are suseptible to the engine heat, oils, etc.
The tachometer "redline" markings, if it's original, are a helpful indicator of the engine hp. Your dual 4bc 245hp engine would've used a 5500 redline, as the higher performance engines(270,290hp) were 6500 rpm redlines.
Sounds like you have an early 59 based on if it's original engine being a Sep assembled block. Sept was the first month of 59 production. The last car built in Sep58 was#409. What is the cast date on the block? It's on the top rear flat area of the block near the road draft tube(if there). It may be "I" something, "8". eg I178(sep17th,1958) or something close I'd guess if it's a 58 block for the early 59 model year.
If you don't have a copy of the assembly instruction manual(AIM) yet, I could email you a few high res photos of some pages from mine, along with some pages from my parts book for reference, of the generator stuff above. Just let me know.
Good Luck!
RichComment
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Re: C1 with interesting changes
Hi Susan,
Congrats on your acquisition! My favorite year....
I also own a 59, see I told you so:-), since 1986 with 270hp dual 4bc, 4 speed. When I first bought the car it's tach drive generator was also on the drivers' side, likely becasue they had the incorrect exhaust manifold mounted on the right side. It had no mounting provisions for the generator as it was a 57 manifold. Likely that's what they had so they used it. Over the years I rebuild the engine and bought the correct right manifold and moved the generator back to the correct(right) side, along with putting the regulator there as it was left mounted near the generator too. I had to also get a new generator bracket & adjusting brace, correct water pump mounting stud, hardware, and the correct engine pulleys as they had the wrong ones as they're different for left vs right side mounting.
Does your right manifold have the forward boss for a generator mount? If you're going to change it over you'll need some of the parts above to make it work, along with the manifold which is 3750556 if you don't have that. You may also need to resplice the red wire coming from the ammeter(in engine harness) to reach the right side as they may have spliced in a new piece to reach the left. Back when I corrected mine to right, I just got some #12red wire and spliced it just inside the firewall grommet to keep it continuous looking. Recently I replaced the entire engine harness as the original was getting tired, especially the wires going to the starter which are suseptible to the engine heat, oils, etc.
The tachometer "redline" markings, if it's original, are a helpful indicator of the engine hp. Your dual 4bc 245hp engine would've used a 5500 redline, as the higher performance engines(270,290hp) were 6500 rpm redlines.
Sounds like you have an early 59 based on if it's original engine being a Sep assembled block. Sept was the first month of 59 production. The last car built in Sep58 was#409. What is the cast date on the block? It's on the top rear flat area of the block near the road draft tube(if there). It may be "I" something, "8". eg I178(sep17th,1958) or something close I'd guess if it's a 58 block for the early 59 model year.
If you don't have a copy of the assembly instruction manual(AIM) yet, I could email you a few high res photos of some pages from mine, along with some pages from my parts book for reference, of the generator stuff above. Just let me know.
Good Luck!
RichComment
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Re: C1 with interesting changes
Hi Rich,
Thanks for the information! I am wondering though would I need to aquire the intake manifold with casting #'s 3739653 for the dual carbs? I'll check out the right hand manifold. And I'll check out the tach today to find out the hp on my car. 1959 is also my favorite year. It is a great handling car and a pleasure. My e-mail is goldhillalaska@gmail.com. What has been the best source of information on these C1 vette's?Comment
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Re: C1 with interesting changes
Hi Rich,
Thanks for the information! I am wondering though would I need to aquire the intake manifold with casting #'s 3739653 for the dual carbs? I'll check out the right hand manifold. And I'll check out the tach today to find out the hp on my car. 1959 is also my favorite year. It is a great handling car and a pleasure. My e-mail is goldhillalaska@gmail.com. What has been the best source of information on these C1 vette's?Comment
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Re: C1 with interesting changes
Hi Joe,
Thanks for getting back to me, yes the car has an operable tach and I will check out the redline for hp indication.Comment
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Re: C1 with interesting changes
Hi Joe,
Thanks for getting back to me, yes the car has an operable tach and I will check out the redline for hp indication.Comment
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Re: C1 with interesting changes
Susan------
There are other dual carb original Corvette manifolds. However, only the 3739653 would be correct for your application. Since all of the original Corvette 2 X 4 manifolds are going to be "pricey", you might as well look for the correct one. If you should find any of the following, though, for a low price, I'd say buy it and forget the "incorrectness" of the casting number; you'll have most elements of original configuration with any:
3728275
3731394
3739653
Since you have an operational tachometer, how is it driven? If it's a stock, in-dash tachometer and it's not connected to the generator via drive cable, then it must be connected to a tach drive type distributor via a drive cable. There's no other option for a mechanical drive type, original, in-dash tachometer. If it's a non-original type tach (i.e. mounted somewhere besides in-dash), then it's likely an electronic type which requires no drive cable; just wires connected to the coil or elsewhere.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: C1 with interesting changes
Susan------
There are other dual carb original Corvette manifolds. However, only the 3739653 would be correct for your application. Since all of the original Corvette 2 X 4 manifolds are going to be "pricey", you might as well look for the correct one. If you should find any of the following, though, for a low price, I'd say buy it and forget the "incorrectness" of the casting number; you'll have most elements of original configuration with any:
3728275
3731394
3739653
Since you have an operational tachometer, how is it driven? If it's a stock, in-dash tachometer and it's not connected to the generator via drive cable, then it must be connected to a tach drive type distributor via a drive cable. There's no other option for a mechanical drive type, original, in-dash tachometer. If it's a non-original type tach (i.e. mounted somewhere besides in-dash), then it's likely an electronic type which requires no drive cable; just wires connected to the coil or elsewhere.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: C1 with interesting changes
Hi Susan,
>>>What has been the best source of information on these C1 vette's?
Right here! These folks know so much......And it's all archived so you can search for stuff too. Great book reference is the Noland Adams C1 book. Authenticy.....NCRS Judging Guide, Assy Manuals(AIM), parts book reprints, and many others. Checkout the NCRS store and have your credit card ready!:-)
Intake?
Yes if your engine is right, you'll need the intake as Joe mentioned for dual fours.
Here's mine...and a few car pics.
http://tinyurl.com/3akhle
http://tinyurl.com/2l3sbk
http://tinyurl.com/36evxb
http://tinyurl.com/3xzktf
http://tinyurl.com/3ad7um
The NCRS Driveline ads have many. I also see them on ebay quite often, but be very careful. Stud threads are often bad and need helicoils(not a biggie), but many have corrosion around the thermostat housing, and many have cracks or weld repairs at the right front corner(design weakness). Mine originally had a broken right front corner at the bolthole that I got repaired. Another spot to be caerful about is the very thin cast areas next to the distributor. It's the area that looks like a dry pond. After several years and a trip to the bead blaster opened a thin area to become pinholes. Had to weld that too. I actually had a spare I bought but when I moved I gave it away to a buddy. They're around as they were also used on the 57 chevys with dual fours. Don't need to worry about datecodes either as it's hidden underneath the oil baffle and cannot be seen when on the engine.
Bye for now, Will be back tonight,
RichComment
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Re: C1 with interesting changes
Hi Susan,
>>>What has been the best source of information on these C1 vette's?
Right here! These folks know so much......And it's all archived so you can search for stuff too. Great book reference is the Noland Adams C1 book. Authenticy.....NCRS Judging Guide, Assy Manuals(AIM), parts book reprints, and many others. Checkout the NCRS store and have your credit card ready!:-)
Intake?
Yes if your engine is right, you'll need the intake as Joe mentioned for dual fours.
Here's mine...and a few car pics.
http://tinyurl.com/3akhle
http://tinyurl.com/2l3sbk
http://tinyurl.com/36evxb
http://tinyurl.com/3xzktf
http://tinyurl.com/3ad7um
The NCRS Driveline ads have many. I also see them on ebay quite often, but be very careful. Stud threads are often bad and need helicoils(not a biggie), but many have corrosion around the thermostat housing, and many have cracks or weld repairs at the right front corner(design weakness). Mine originally had a broken right front corner at the bolthole that I got repaired. Another spot to be caerful about is the very thin cast areas next to the distributor. It's the area that looks like a dry pond. After several years and a trip to the bead blaster opened a thin area to become pinholes. Had to weld that too. I actually had a spare I bought but when I moved I gave it away to a buddy. They're around as they were also used on the 57 chevys with dual fours. Don't need to worry about datecodes either as it's hidden underneath the oil baffle and cannot be seen when on the engine.
Bye for now, Will be back tonight,
RichComment
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