1962 Corvette Restomod

[LSC1Vette]

More Pics!

Beautifully done ... I can't stop staring at your car. I have a 62 that I'm in the process of restoring/restomoding. If your not tired of taking picture of your car, could I request a few more ? Could you take more take pictures underneath facing read end/4 link setup, underneath mid section and underneath front suspension/headers ... and close up on the hood, top view and under view? Thanks for all the great pix you have posted.

Thanks, Keith

 

[67vet]

Keith - here are some photos that you requested. I will post more as I locate them.
Good Luck on your car. Hope you get it the way you want.
Roger

 

[67vet]

More underside shots.

 

[67vet]

Mid frame, header shots under car.

 

[67vet]

Keith, hope these photos help you.
Post some photos of your car, we all love to see Corvette photos.

 

[LSC1Vette]

Great Pics

Thanks Roger. I appreciate all the photos - they are, and will be, a big help to have something look at to generate ideas and compare to.

I will post some photos also when I get my frame back from the frame/body shop. At the moment all I have to take a picture of is the shell, everything has been taken off and stored in my garage and basement.

Thanks again, Keith

 

[67vet]

A few upgrades to the 62 Restomod.
Be Cool aluminum radiator.
Replaced the non power steering rack to power steering.
Installing power brakes.
Work in progress.

 

[67vet]

After installation of the triple pulley, the power steering pump was a little off for the belt alignment.
Steve fabricated a bracket and everything is lined up properly now.
Some hoses need to be fabricated.
Power brakes are next to be installed.

 

[67vet]

More progress photos of the 62.
The Be Cool radiator needed a filler neck welded in place, instead of using the overflow bottle. Radiator installed and now needs hoses.

The power steering pump offset bracket was fabricated, fit and painted.

The generic hoses that came with the power steering unit were about 9 inches too long. They could work, but would have to be looped. So, waiting on shorter fabricated hoses.

The alternator mounting bracket was broken at one of the attachment points and had to be replaced.

Power brake unit to be installed soon.

 

[cbernhardt]

More progress photos of the 62.
The Be Cool radiator needed a filler neck welded in place, instead of using the overflow bottle. Radiator installed and now needs hoses.

So you are running without an overflow or expansion tank?

Charles

 

[67vet]

I will put an expansion tank on as things progress, but I just felt better having the fill neck on the radiator.

How have you and Carol been? Are you going to Myrtle Beach June 3, 4 and 5. Fred and I are going.

 

[cbernhardt]

I will put an expansion tank on as things progress, but I just felt better having the fill neck on the radiator.

How have you and Carol been? Are you going to Myrtle Beach June 3, 4 and 5. Fred and I are going.

Carol and I are doing well, but we will not make the Myrtle Beach show.

Have you experienced any unusual temperature fluctuations on your Ram Jet 350? If so, you may want to take a look at this (long) post and fix it while you are working on your cooling system. Ramjet 350 coolant bypass - Welcome to TriFive.com, 1955 1956 1957 Chevy Forum

Charles

 

[67vet]

My 62 has the Dakota Digital Dash. You can see temp fluctuations much more than with analog gauges. I read the entire post of the link you sent. Thanks, very interesting. I will think about the bypass hose or drilling the holes in the thermostat. It seems like the holes in the thermostat were determined to be the best solution... did I read that right?
I have the Vintage Air system also. Interesting that they said that an aluminum radiator (better cooling) made the problem even worse.
Thanks, Charles.

 

[cbernhardt]

I have had an aluminum radiator in Carol's 62 (also with Ram Jet 350) for almost 10 years. When it warms up it has always had a temp fluctuation. It will go up to about 210° then (I assume) when the thermostat opens it will drop to about 160°. It will do this about 4 times until the temp stabilizes, then it will stay pretty constant.

I have had a small leak in the (Griffin) radiator for several years and recently developed a leak from the water pump so I just replaced both. I also added one of the EMP/Stewart thermostats with holes to see if that would cure the fluctuation problem, but I have not had a chance to drive the car to check it out. I am planning a trip Saturday and will let you know how it works.

Charles

 

[67vet]

The thermostat will get the three holes drilled tonight.
The new rack and pinion power steering is complete.
Front end needs alignment.
The Be Cool radiator is installed.
The electric power brake pump (unit above frame) is installed and needs to be wired.
The new brake reservoir (polished unit) needs the brake lines re flaired.
Hand brake cables at the rear wheels need to be re routed for better fit to calipers. This was a previous design problem.

She should be ready next week.

 

[cbernhardt]

I took the car for a long drive with the new 180 deg. EMP Stewart thermostat installed and I noticed right away that it was taking a lot longer for the temperature gauge to start climbing. After driving for almost one half hour my scanning software indicated that the maximum temperature obtained was 130 deg. so I made the assumption that this thermostat with the three holes was bypassing too much coolant. I found a piece of cardboard and blocked off about 1/3 of the radiator but the temperature rose only to about 160 deg.

The three holes in the 180 deg. EMP Stewart thermostat are about 0.18” in diameter for a total bypass area of 0.076 sq. in. I modified the original 195 deg. thermostat with two 0.0765 diameter holes for a total bypass area of 0.01 sq. in. I installed the old modified thermostat, connected the scanning software, and let the car idle. The temp gauge rose steadily (no fluctuations) until the coolant temp was 193 deg at which point the thermostat started to open and the temp dropped to around 190 then began to rise steadily up to 210 at which the electric radiator fan turned on, bringing the temp down to about 190.

So my conclusion would be that the three large holes in the EPM thermostat are way too large for use in my cooling system; whereas the two small holes in the old 195 deg. thermostat seem to work fine so far. An upcoming trip this weekend will tell for sure.

Charles

 

[67vet]

Charles,
Do you have A/C or power steering? Just wondering if any other factors on my setup would cause more heat to be generated.
Also, my ram air intake is inside the engine compartment.

 

[cbernhardt]

Charles,
Do you have A/C or power steering? Just wondering if any other factors on my setup would cause more heat to be generated.
Also, my ram air intake is inside the engine compartment.

Yes, I have air and power steering. My air intake is from the two round openings beside the radiator. Never had it overheat except one summer day when a wire came off the fan relay.

 

[67vet]

Charles,
You have a Very nice looking engine compartment. I don't think I have ever had the chance to see it before.

 

[67vet]

Ran the car yesterday for the first time with the new radiator and the thermostat drilled. With the Vintage Air running and the outside air temp in the mid 90's the engine was at 195 degrees.
You can see from the thermostat design that the holes had to be drilled in the base not the outlet head.
Further road test will be Thursday.