ALL NIGHT CORVETTE THRASH 

"cletus44 aka Clayton Seams" (cletus44) 07/27/2016 at 12:09 • Filed to: None

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Here’s the deal. The Cletus-Vette needs to drive to the inspection place by this Friday if we have a hope of driving this dirtball to Chicago. If you’re in Toronto, GenuineAlexReid and I will be working on this thing all damn night to get it ready for the inspection. We need all the help we can get. If you want to lend a hand, let me know. We have all the beer in the world for you. We’re gonna make it.

By Friday morning we need to:
Tighten the bolts in the steering collumn
find out why the power steering isn’t working/remove power steering
install the fan assembly
Wire every single light
make the vaccuum pop-up lights work or prop them open
Install the side pipes
Bodge a left turn signal from a trailer light
Make the wipers work
Make the gauges work

Sam > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/27/2016 at 12:22

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If I had a passport, I’d take a week off and come up to give you a hand. I’ve never actually been to Canada, even though it’s only (I use this term somewhat loosely) an 8 hour drive up there.

Instead, I’ll just go with the classic - “Sending positive vibes”.

Also, we get to have a competition for who has the most sketchy car at the meet, since I’m pretty dead-set on driving the Porsche.

I also am preparing myself for probably getting pulled over at least once for having a 1978 license plate registered to the car.

Ross Kraz > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/27/2016 at 12:24

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And may the force be with you

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > Sam 07/27/2016 at 12:27

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Can’t wait to see the Porsche!

dogisbadob > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/27/2016 at 12:29

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ooo barn doors

CaptDale - is secretly British > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/27/2016 at 12:39

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CaptDale - is secretly British > CaptDale - is secretly British 07/27/2016 at 12:40

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I hope this helps. I’d love to come up and help, but that is way too short notice. Need anything from CA, let me know I can look around.

crowmolly > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/27/2016 at 13:38

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Good luck man!

If you are installing hooker side mount headers (not JC Whitney cheapos) you *may* want to consider just bolting cheap mufflers on to the manifolds. That is a project that can really get away from you.

If the sidemount headers are already in the engine bay then no big deal. I didn’t see them in the pics.

fourvalleys > Sam 07/27/2016 at 13:48

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Can I get in on this race? The Mini still needs the following:

radiator installed

passenger side suspension tightened

drivers side suspension, uh, completely replaced. The whole thing. Arms, bushings, tie rods, ends, springs, dampers, pivots. EVERYTHING

a full alignment (this will be awful)

ball joints replaced

upper engine steady bar replaced

lower gearbox brace drilled and installed (okay, this can wait)

sump guard drilled and installed

CV boots (which requires removing the hubs, wonderful)

rear camber/caster plates installed (this can wait, too)

clutch adjustment

timing/carb adjustments

handbrake cables replaced

And oh yeah, I can’t work on it at all this weekend. Awesome

In other words, I’ll probably see y’all in a different car. Haha :(

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > fourvalleys 07/27/2016 at 13:53

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Bring the Mini! You only really need to do like half those things

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > CaptDale - is secretly British 07/27/2016 at 13:54

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Thank you much!

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > crowmolly 07/27/2016 at 13:55

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I’ve got bona-fide Hooker side pipes ready to go. The car has no exhaust beyond the headers. No point in mufflers.

crowmolly > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/27/2016 at 13:57

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Is the hardware around the engine fresh? What do you have for gaskets? How are the motor mounts- new? This is a PS car so the box and hoses may be in the way.

CaptDale - is secretly British > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/27/2016 at 14:13

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Any time!

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > crowmolly 07/27/2016 at 14:35

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Chassis/suspension on this car are brand new. As are motor mounts. PS could be an issue

fourvalleys > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/27/2016 at 14:35

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As an aside, here’s the list of things I NEED to do and the estimated time if everything went well:

radiator installed - 30 minutes

passenger side suspension adjusted and tightened - 30-60 minutes

drivers side suspension, uh, completely replaced. The whole thing. Arms, bushings, tie rods, ends, springs, dampers, pivots. EVERYTHING - this is the big one. I’d say 4-8 hours is a safe estimate.

a full alignment (this will be awful) - hours? Lots of them

ball joints replaced - no idea, 2 hours per side? Probably more. Plus a gallon of PB blaster

CV boots (which requires removing the hubs, wonderful) - maybe 2 hours if I’m lucky

clutch adjustment (I guess I could go without this too, but maybe 1-2 hours)

On a perfect weekend day, I might have the patience to do all of it if I had someone helping me. Instead, I’ll be utilizing 3-4 weeknights. And it’s supposed to rain.

Oh yeah, I’m getting a new vinyl cutter tomorrow so I’ll be trying to figure that out before next weekend, too. Any requests?

crowmolly > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/27/2016 at 14:45

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I promise I’m not trying to bust balls. I put a set on a ‘69 and while it was not soul crushing it took some time to do right.

FWIW Percy’s Seal-4-Good gaskets work well. Check the flanges for trueness too.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/27/2016 at 14:57

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Pretty sure this stuff should be live-streamed :P

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/27/2016 at 15:12

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We could make that happen possibly... The entire build is being filmed for a show.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/27/2016 at 15:15

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Hmmmm....I may be going somewhere to do some computer work tonight, but if not and you DO live-stream it, I know where I’d be for awhile! :P

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > crowmolly 07/27/2016 at 15:16

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Oh totally cool. Yeah I’ve been reading online and apparently it’s rarely an easy install. Doesn’t the kit come with gaskets? I suppose I’m dumb for not checking yet.

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/27/2016 at 15:17

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We’ll see what we can hook up.

crowmolly > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/27/2016 at 15:19

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It’s not TERRIBLE (I did it on a 427 car) but it’s the type of thing that might torpedo your trip to the Oppo meet if it goes wacky. That’s why I recommended the cheapo mufflers as a “sure thing”. As far as mufflers inside the 4" tubes themselves, take a look at spiral turbo baffles. The Hooker mufflers (both kinds) won’t really give you the sound or performance you want.

The kit probably comes with gaskets but they are probably cheap paper ones. You really don’t want to dick around changing them when they blow out.

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > crowmolly 07/27/2016 at 15:22

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Hmmm good points. I was planning on running open pipes for the time being and installing baffles later but I heard today that the pipes kinda fuse to the header after a while making separation difficult. The spiral baffles are cool but pricey. Why not use a glasspack insert?

crowmolly > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/27/2016 at 15:24

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Nah man, just smear some anti-sieze around the collector before you slip the 4" pipe on. It will come apart again.

The inserts (from what I remember) rob a lot of sound and power. More for the cruise night folk who like the look.

Sam > fourvalleys 07/27/2016 at 15:34

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The Porsche has a leaky rear main seal, so it uses about a quart of oil every 100 miles or so. And an RMS replacement is an engine out/put it on a lift operation. So it's risky to drive on, but what is life without taking silly risks? And I've driven it for like 1,500 miles while it leaks, so it probably won't just let go. I hope.

fourvalleys > Sam 07/27/2016 at 15:56

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The Mini has the same problem, but I was too much of a dolt to do it when I had the clutch apart. Oops. (e: really, I just didn’t have time to order the parts)

I went about 12 months and 850 miles between oil changes, and it lost maybe half a quart in that time. Not too bad, just a slow drip.

Of course, it’s British. It’s broken once it stops leaking oil. :)

MysticStick > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/27/2016 at 19:50

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please post some hi res engine bay shots if you can possibly, we can spot some stuff that way that might help (the vacuum system is everywhere!). And, of course, it’s all connected.

What’s wrong with the wipers? One thing good, the wiper motor is a common item and can be found at parts stores still (or at least recently). I had a 2 of 3 failure rate on them tho.

RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/28/2016 at 08:12

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And how did it go? :O

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > MysticStick 07/28/2016 at 09:31

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Will post some pics when I can! Well for one thing, the vacuum system has been almost totally removed. The actuators and most of the valves are there but we’re missing almost all the hoses. We’ll have to route the whole thing. Not sure the issue yet but they don’t work. I removed the wiper door so there’s that solved.

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > RallyDarkstrike - Fan of 2-cyl FIATs, Eastern Bloc & Kei cars 07/28/2016 at 09:33

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Progress:
Bolted in the driver seat
Rigged the headlights to stay up without vacuum
wired left-side headlights/signal lights

MysticStick > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/28/2016 at 09:53

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Well, the wiper door was at least 70% of the problem with the wipers. Was the door staying shut on its own? (if so then its vacuum stuff is sorta working, and holding a vacuum!). The car has (or had) a vacuum ‘tank’ located behind the driver side front wheel, the idea being you always have some spare vacuum for running the wiper door and lights. At the bottom of the steering column are vacuum service ‘switches’, the idea of which is you can hold the wiper door open by releasing vacuum (like to change the wipers). If any of these components leak it will cause vacuum issues. So any hoses that are cracked could actually be a super-easy fix for bigger things!

Anyway, as I mentioned previously, the wacky wiper door is why a lot of people switch to the longer hood that just covers it up (just like chevy did in later years).

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > MysticStick 07/28/2016 at 10:17

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My car has the wiper door in pieces, uninstalled. The vacuum tank in the car holds vacuum but like the rest of the system, is uninstalled. Like I said, we’ll have to route the whole thing ourselves.

MysticStick > cletus44 aka Clayton Seams 07/28/2016 at 12:59

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Honestly, it might not be worth it. If you are losing the wiper door and go to flush mount or electric front lights you won’t have to deal with the vacuum stuff at all. I guess it goes to budget and what you have in terms of parts that came with it. It was sort of fun conquering the vacuum stuff, but it took me kinda a long time. (I’m a slow learner sometimes tho!) It is a really simple system, just a lot of hoses and some weird stuff.

cletus44 aka Clayton Seams > MysticStick 07/28/2016 at 13:20

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I think I’ll just prop the lights open for the drive down and then eventually do an electric conversion.