JC's '67 500 coupe

[Hagar]

What the heck, I'll put my project up here. Hopefully I can keep it moving at a decent pace!

Got the car moving under its own power, but no brakes. Still managed to back it up to the pad outside the garage where I can work on it.



Now it sits next to the ratty Crown car.



Having some trouble getting the drums off, don't believe that California cars don't rust!



Picked up a nice set of Z28 wheels, even have somewhat decent 225/60-15s on them



Managed to get the hood open (thanks, Unsafe!) Going to try to get the rest of the brake drums off today and see where all the brake fluid went Immediate projects are rebuilding the brakes, rebuilding the carbs, general tune and fluid change, and cleaning the gas tank (still hoping the PO comes up with the key for the gas cap!).

JC

[flat6_musik]

Looks good! It doesn't LOOK too much like a rust bucket.

[atwistedgrip]

I'm strangely drawn to 67's... I've never seen one I didn't like.

[Hagar]

Looks good! It doesn't LOOK too much like a rust bucket.

Umm....

[flat6_musik]

Looks good! It doesn't LOOK too much like a rust bucket.

Umm....

Uhhhh......heh heh......."rubber floor mats?"....

[Hagar]

Still can't get the rear drums off, seem to be stuck on the axle register. Have to get out the crocus cloth. I really suspect the left rear axle bearing is toast, I can feel the rumbling when turning and see the movement when I beat on the brake drum (brass hammer, of course!).

Checked the engine numbers, I was pretty sure it was a 145 from a '62...indeed. T0201ZH, '62-4 with PG. Sigh, 80hp. Oh well, at least it runs!

[azdave]

Still can't get the rear drums off...

I built a special tool to pull the rear drums in those situations. I used a couple of threaded J-bolts like they use with concrete footers and a big square tube that span across the drum to pull it off. I can get a photo if you are interested. It's a crude tool but it has never failed me yet.

[Hagar]

Made a bit of progress this weekend. Replaced the master cylinder, rebuilt the front wheel cylinders, repacked the front wheel bearings. Finally got the rear drums off! Filed down the rust on the axle register and beat on them some more. Pop! Adjusted the brakes all around, bled out the old brake fluid. Pedal is there, but still a bit soft and not as high as I like it. Probably still some air in there somewhere, and maybe a bit more adjusting.

Next up is rebuilding the carbs and cleaning out the gas tank. Still waiting on the key for the gas cap May be until next paycheck before I can do much else with the car Let's see...free stuff....get the seats out of the car (front won't go back, can't get to the fasteners, can't figure out what's holding the rear seat back in!).

Oh, went thru a pile of papers I found in the glovebox, or what's left of them. They're pretty mice-eaten, but I did get a bit of history on the car. Oldest receipt was from Winston Tires, owner was A. Madsen from San Bernardino, dated 5/2/74. Then there's a smog cert dated 11/74 (California, the trendsetter ) to a Vernon Terry from Grover City (now Grover Beach, that's just south of here), then it looks like he passed the car to Jeff Terry (son?) in '75 or so. There's a bunch of body shop papers from fixing the front panel (it's still crap, must have been hit again) in '75. That's the last registered owner I could find, besides Bob Galli (local Corvair guru, CORSA member, and PO of the car to me). Mileage was 91230 then, now shows 105510 now. 14,280 miles in the last 35 years....guess this car's been sitting quite a bit! Don't know when it was parked. Neat stuff!

[Hagar]

Got the remnants of the rear seat back out today after work, and vacuumed up about 10lbs of sound deadener, cardboard stuff, and petrified carpet bits. Still can't get the front seat out...have the front bolts out, but the seat adjuster won't budge and I can't move the seat forward to get to the rear bolts. Any ideas???

[Scott H]

A hammer? Can you get to them at all with a box end wrench?

[Hagar]

Can't even see them at the moment....guess I'll have to rip out the rest of the rear rubber mat , then maybe I can see how far under the seat they are. I thought I could gauge that from under the car, but I don't see that the rear bolts protrude thru the floorpan....?

[Hagar]

Ah, victorious against two problems tonight! Managed to get a wrench far enough up under the front seat to get the bolts out Oh...there's four of them at the rear Got 'em all! Looks like only the front floorboards will need replacing.

Secondly, got that worrisome locking gas cap off! All it took was jamming a screwdriver in it and turning it left! Guess the tumblers are all frozen up? Surely it shouldn't be that easy to defeat, but I'll take a lucky break!!!

[Scott H]

good job, that's gotta feel good to get those two pesky problems taken care of.

[Hagar]

Ah, finally some progress resurrecting this long-dormant 'vair! Finished rebuilding the carbs (kits thanks to Rafee). Haven't got the sender out to check the tank yet, so I dropped a fuel hose into a can of gas at the front. Cranked it long enough to get the rust and varnish out of the lines, then hooked them up to the carbs. Started right up! 84hp of fury!. Few minor fuel leaks at the inlets. I've drained the oil and added a quart of MMO, as I heard the lifters clattering when I started it previously. #6 is really hammering . I'm hoping it's possible to extract the lifters without pulling the heads?

Also have front floorboards coming from Clark's, and a new rear wiring harness to replace the severely butchered one that's in the car now. w00t!

[Scott H]

The lifters almost always clatter after it has sat for awhile. They will probably quiet down on their own.

[Hagar]

I'll keep trying it for a few days...maybe the MMO will help it now that it's been run for a bit. Here's to hoping!