Glory Days

[Roger D.]

I have purchased a 64 convertible which I have wanted to relive my days of when I had a fuel injected C2 which this is not (327/250). I have a complete 64 870 motor and a complete injection unit including the S tube and air cleaner. I have a period correct fuel pump, starter, alternator and many other correct parts to install. This will allow me to cruise around and enjoy some of my past. If I drove this car to an NCRS judging event would they just throw me out, don't judge bastard cars, or what. I am not looking to criticize NCRS but was just curious on how or if they would even judge it. It would not hurt my feelings since I could not afford an original and this will still allow me to remember days of past.
Thank you for comments

[Bill M.]

Re: Glory Days

Build the car the way you like it. Who cares what anyone has to say. Merry Christmas!!

[Roger D.]

Re: Glory Days

Merry Christmas to you Bill and I am building it my way. I was just wondering if I brought it to a judging event how it would be viewed, that's all..........................................

Thank You

[Harry S.]

Re: Glory Days

Roger, make any change you want. There is the Concours class for NCRS Judging. Saying that NCRS accepts any car as long as it was born a Corvette. I've judged seceral Concours cars and it's been a bit of fun.

[Tim G.]

Re: Glory Days

Some of the most fun Corvettes I've owned have been those that have been the least correct. You're building a combination that Chevrolet should have made, a base performance motor with fuel injection. I'd judge it as wonderful.

[Roger D.]

Re: Glory Days

Oh that sounds great, It would be fun to have others see it . With that said I will try to drive it to the Lakeland show next year and see for myself.
Thank you

[Tom M.]

Re: Glory Days

Roger,

Build the car you want, will drive, will let you talk to people about cool car stuff. The world is a better place whenever people shut off their TV and computer and go into the garage to work on a project that makes them happy.

Building a car for flite judging is the same garage time. The cars are just built using a different recipe.

Tom

[Roger D.]

Re: Glory Days

Hi Tim, can't believe when I drive it now it takes me right back in time. A great feelinf for me. When I see the fuel injection emblems and that wonderful motor I'll be right their for sure

Thanks folks for responding and I will post the swap project when I start!

[Roger D.]

Re: Glory Days

Good way to look at it. After restoring a hand full of C3's I would agree on the amount of time effort and money are extensive for sure.

[Bill M.]

Re: Glory Days

Good luck Roger my dream car has always been a tanker but I have always been a day late and 30K short. Thought about converting my 67 ....maybe some day!!

[Tim G.]

Re: Glory Days

A good friend here in Austin put a fuel unit on his 63 years ago. It was a 300 horse motor and he drove and auto crossed the car. It was a beautiful combination. May Tom Moore Rest In Peace at the great track in the sky.

[Loren L.]

Re: Glory Days

I'd venture a guess that most of the early members of NCRS went to their lst NCRS meet to "get a list" or find out where they were in relation to Top Flight - with the creation of Sportsman and Concours classes, more room has been added. Go for it.

[Roger D.]

Re: Glory Days

Oh my car will not be a top flight for sure and I'm glad that there are categories that I can get my car in. I have tried very hard to locate parts that will coralate to my 64. Since it is not an original fuelie car I decided to try and match correct parts to the motor and not the vin#. Not trying to pull a fast one but I would like much to resemble a 64 fuelie when you open the hood. Most important is DRIVING IT, and like the title says glory days. Thank you everyone for your help and I am sure there will be more as I move along with the swap.

[Edward M.]

Re: Glory Days

I did the same thing to my 64 300 hp, 4 speed coupe. The car had 1500 miles on a frame off restoration, including resoration of the correct carburetor and distributor.

But I always wanted a FI car, and I prefer an FI car that is just a bit more streetable that a real 375hp FI engine. Too much cam for me at this point in my life.

I also added Vintage Air to the car.

The car had power brakes and a dual master cylinder added as part of the restoration.

The car was originally a 300hp, 4 speed, no other significant options coupe.

The people that did the restoration decided to spice it up a bit, so they added power steering and power brakes (with dual master cylinder). They used GM parts, but not absolutely period correct parts. I decided to leave it like that.

After the Vintage air was added, the alternator was moved to the driver's side. My original plan was to use a 57 style FI air cleaner, but it does not quite fit under the hood. Since I cannot use a factory air cleaner setup (and am not willing to pay the ridiculous price for one), I am designing my my own custom cold air setup that functionally matches the factory setup.

Originally I was just going to build a electronic converted Rochester Fuel Injected system, and try to match the appearance of the original unit as close as possible. To that end I got bits and pieces of a 63 7375 unit. It turns out that all you need of the original unit to make an EFI conversion is the manifold, the plenum, and the lid. Everything else either gets replaces or is just there for cosmetic purposes.

Then I came across an ad on Ebay for a mid 1964 FI unit, a 7380 unit that was complete, had not been disassembled, and had been sitting on the shelf since the late 60s. The prices was decent so I went for it. It turned out to be a real good decision as the unit parts are dated from October to December of 1963, and my car is a late January 64 car.

Ken Hansen performed his magic on the FI unit, and Don Baker did the same on the FI distributor, and Ken even came over to my house to do the install and final tuning. What a difference it made to this car.

First picture is the alternator relocation with the carb still on the engine. Then a picture of the FI unit as it arrived via Ebay. A couple of pictures of the restored unit on the car. And finally, I decided to put the FI emblems on the car, but I could not bring myself to drill additional holes in the fender, so I cut the studs off of the repo emblems, and used 3M double sided tape.

[Dan D.]

Re: Glory Days

I know it's kind of late to be chiming in, but I admire you for doing what you want to do with your car. Too many people are so concerned with being "correct" that they don't enjoy themselves which to this old man is what it should be about. I have a '72 which I bought in 1985. It was an all original car that was in pretty good shape but did need a new frame. Long story / short as a GM employee I was able to procure a new frame, trailing arms and all new suspension components out of a GM warehouse and did a "frame-down" restoration. Add a new top and interior and I had a really nice car. Now, I always dug the finned wheel covers and the narrow whitewalls; but since the window sticker listed white letter and standard wheel treatment...it wasn't until 2013 that I bought and restored a correct set of wheel covers and bought a correct set of tires. This changed the whole personality of the car and I realize how big a fool I was for waiting so long to have what I really wanted.