getting the column ready to paint. interior color is resale red. judging manual states correctly that the mast jacket in this case would be red down to at least several inches below the turn signal housing. it makes no mention of the mast jacket color from that point to the steering gear box. Black???. what ya think guys? also, since my vin plate apparantly became dislodged from the mast jacket years ago before i acquired the vette, and was epoxy'd on by Bubba and Son, i have another question. was the mast jacket scuffed( immediatly under the vin plate) prior to the vin plate being spot welded to the column? also, you guys with unmolested mast jacket/vin plates, is there any evidence of "scaring" 180 degrees from the spot welds( from the grounding device of the spot welder)? thanks guys,mike
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Re: 62 steering col. mast jacket.
Semi gloss black from inside the psgr compt to the box; I would take the position that scarring of the column for the welding would be rare - most of the time = "No Scar"; if you leave it there, I see another judges' conference on the horizon. Take the scar off so that the topic does not come up. -
Re: 62 steering col. mast jacket.
Doc, while I am no expert on C-1's, I can see where it would be conceivably possible for the scaring on the opposite side. We both know that typical spot welders ground 180 degrees from the weld.Dick WhittingtonComment
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Re: 62 steering col. mast jacket.
I tried to upload some photos of #483's column and it told me they're here already.
https://www.forums.ncrs.org/showthre...=8236#poststop
RichComment
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Re: 62 steering col. mast jacket.
That was a couple of years before my time in the Corvette Group, but that was the dumbest design I've ever seen (welding stainless steel to plain steel), and it hung on for four years (through '64). No welding engineer worth his salt would ever buy off on a design that a) spot-welded stainless to plain steel, and b) did so without a solid joint to squeeze between both tips. Spot-welding stainless to plain steel on a light-gauge piece of tubing has to be a candidate for the OEM Bubba trophy.
Comment
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Re: 62 steering col. mast jacket.
That was a couple of years before my time in the Corvette Group, but that was the dumbest design I've ever seen (welding stainless steel to plain steel), and it hung on for four years (through '64).
ECHO of agreement, here! Plus, what FOOL would put the VIN tag on the steering column...a part almost certain to suffer catastrophic damage in a major collision!!!Comment
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Re: 62 steering col. mast jacket.
OK, so here is the question...
On a C1 from mid 1960 to 1962, where would be a good place to put the VIN tag.
If we could do it over, what place makes the most sense?
Obviously, riveting the tag to the steering column could have been an option. I can't really think of any other options.
Ideally, it should be attached to the body.Comment
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Re: 62 steering col. mast jacket.
How about any permanently affixed bird cage section?Comment
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Re: 62 steering col. mast jacket.
Oh man!
First, where is this requirement for ease of visibility? Yes, in Shark era there was a Federal requirement for law enforcement officials to be able to visually verify VIN on vehicle walk-up, but that didn't exist when these cars were built...
The first C1's had the VIN affixed to the bottom of the bird cage's windshield support member. Don't like that because of visibility? Fabricate a simple 'L' bracket and weld it onto that bird cage member or change the stamping tooling to integrate a drop down segment.
From '56-59, the VIN was screwed onto the LH door jam. But, that's a fiberglass panel that won't take a weld. Absent the use of rivets thinking you HAVE to weld the silly tag on, then modify the door jam panel to create a rectangular 'window' so the tag can be welded to the bird cage member behind the body panel.
Gosh, I can probably devise quite a few other mounting schemes that put the VIN onto a non-removable body section instead of the steering column (a replaceable part). I suspect you can too...Comment
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Re: 62 steering col. mast jacket.
Jack;
I am thinking that all C1s from 1953 to mid year 1960 had the VIN tag attached to the door jam area with two screws.
Mid 1960 model year to 1962 had the VIN welded to the steering column.
Ease of visibility is a "common sense" thing, not an actual requirement back then. Doesn't make much sense to have to disassemble your car to verify the VIN (for police, insurance, bank loans, etc.)
Chevrolet certainly could have devised something better, but they didn't.
And there really isn't a good place for them to put the VIN tag on the existing car.
Aren't the passenger car VIN tags of that era (stainless steel tags) spot welded to the door jam areas?Comment
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