62 Fuelie Crash Tuning Course

[Stuart F.]

Re: 62 Fuelie Crash Tuning Course

Thanks Barry. That's the only way it makes sense, but the choke linkage looks so original, I.e. No signs of any bending or binding to speak of, and plenty of clearance all around.

Stu Fox

[John D.]

Re: 62 Fuelie Crash Tuning Course

HI Barry, About time you jumped in.
I finally figured out what the guy before Stu did to the FI.
He couldn't get the choke working and had not clue had to adjust the idle so he did a bubba job just so the car would idle.
Used the fast idle cam to adjest the idle. When you do that then the other screws on the air meter barely do squat.

In one of the manuals there is a sketch showing the clearance one when the fast idle cam is swiveled as far as it will go. I can't find it but the clearance is about 1/8" or more. Meaning the cam has swiveled as far as it will go and then the fast idle cam screws is out in the open clearing the cam by a minute amount.

Stu, Too much tension on the electric choke cover spring is not good either. Just need a little bit of tension. The spring setup is not typical of 63 to 65 FI's. It's just the reverse as far as how the spring is mounted on the choke cover. There is a hook on the bi-metalic spring.
The hook LIFTS the spring up in the air. The hook goes under the trip lever and applies pressure to raise it up toward the hood. I think there is a pic of this in the shop manual.
Restored/rebuilt correctly the 62 choke set up can be made to work like a clock. With the choke cover off one should be able to work the choke butterfuly with a finger and all the linkage and choke rod and bubba crap should just flop up and down with no restraint.
I have a machinist rod- a long one that I put thru the 62 to 65 cones. IT's a straight rod. I use this to test for a warped/twisted cone.
If these cones are not true the next step is not honing. Is not using drill bits. The next step is to get brutal with the part. Put it on a piece of oak. Get your dead blow hammer and try and get the cone back in shape so the dowel rod will go thru it with little effort.
Then you can use your reamers to finish the job.
This is the hardest job on rebuilding the choke on the air meter. The rest is straight forward. Follow the excellent ST12 manual.
Barry told me a story one time about a 62 choke he worked on. Someone drilled the crap out of a twisted cone so the choke rod would go thru it big time.
Well the cone was ruined so Barry put bushings in the 3 or 4 choke rod holes and saved the part. JD

[Stuart F.]

Re: 62 Fuelie Crash Tuning Course

FWIW, neither I or my son have the ST-12 Servicing Guide, however, it is available for purchase as a book, or one can google it by entering; "62 Corvette Service Manual" and click on "62 Corvette Servicing Guide ST-12" and it has an index to all pages individually so one can print out exactly what you need. Ain't the internet great?!

The car my son has he bought from a local collector. It was one time owned, restored, and Top Flighted by former NCRS President; Mr. Tim McKeon. The restoration, although a number of years old, has withstood the test of time very well as it passed the Florida Chapter Top Flight with just a few rust notes. It is hard to believe how bubba got his hands on this FI unit. I know I could straighten it out, but the new owner is aware of the problem and is not too concerned. He is not too mechanically inclined, but has used a good Corvette shop up in Apopka to do work on his other Corvettes. Sooooooo, it's frustrating for me, but I'll give my son all the information I have put together about this problem in order that someone can get this car running right for the road, and not just on and off a trailer. That engine runs real strong and probably has very few miles on it since it too was completely rebuilt. Every part and finish is still correct, it's a beautiful specimen of a 62 Fuelie.

Stu Fox

[Stuart F.]

Re: 62 Fuelie Crash Tuning Course

Just a bit of follow up; the 62 has been bought and paid for, but now my son is trying to finish up a few details that he promised to the buyer including mounting of the second set of wheels/tires (radials). This has afforded me a little more time with the car to try and get it running a little better (the fuel injection).

He left me alone with it this morning so I proceeded to follow the instructions from ST-12. I bent the connecting link to the fast idle cam so that we have clearance when full warm. I pulled both air and fuel idle screws to spray carb cleaner in their ports and to clean the screws themselves. I noticed that with the fast idle screw off the fast idle cam the throttle butterfly would stick in the bore (I had the throttle disconnected so I could feel it). I then did the no-no by going down below to the throttle stop screw and tweeked it just enough to remove the sticking. The expected lead plug over the screw was long gone. I had removed the choke cover again to be certain I had it positioned right. I was shocked to find this 62 choke is a jerry rigged carburetor housing. It has the bore for a pull off piston, but it is unplugged, and has no piston or link, yet the choke shaft end link has the arm with the hole for the connecting link pin. What a surprise! I never thought Chevy would do something like that. My first thought was that bubba might have had his hands on it, but even he couldn't pick parts off the shelf like this.

At any rate, I replaced the idle air and fuel screws and dry set them at 1-1/2 turns each. I replaced the choke cover and positioned it according to the pictures (there is no index mark on these covers) to presume a 3 notch lean position. My son returned and we cranked it up. At first it wouldn't idle by itself, so I set the high idle speed on the cam. Then, after getting a full warm engine, I backed the air and fuel screws out a little at a time until - Wa La!, we achieved an idle on it's own speed of 900 rpm off the fast idle cam.

In closing, for all you 62 Fuelie owners/experts, thanks for your help and advice. This 62 is one weird bird. I would have liked to spend more time with it as I'm sure I could get it running better. None the less, I learned a lot with the exercise which, even at my age, is a good thing to keep the mind active.

Stu Fox