2008

April 2008 - Been getting out for more cruises lately.

This is me and my son Joseph. He loves the car "Red Car" unless it is running. While it is running he gets a little nervous sits VERY still which doesn't happen very often! I'd love to take him for a ride but I do not have enough faith in the mechanical health (brakes and suspension) to feel good about it. The car is missing some seatbelt reinforcements as well. Maybe it is time for a chassis restoration.

June 2008 - Bloomington Gold 2008. I drove the '65 and parked in the CF parking lot and there were only a handful of C2s and C1s. I also picked up a set of redline tires from Coker.

This is a 2009 ZR1 at Bloomington Gold. 0-60 in 3.4 seconds!	Here's the supercharger.	I can't help but take pictures of cars in this state of restoration.
This retro gasser D&M Corvette out of Downers Grove IL was my favorite car of the show.	While the outside was heavily modified, the interior was all stock! An old school racer for sure!	These rolling chassis look so good its a shame that a body has to cover up all that great work.
Coker owns the mold to these tires and they are manufactured by a US firm under contract. Coker purchased the molds and has a marketing agreement with BFG.	BF Goodrich Silvertown Radial is the raised black lettering.	Unlike the diamondbacks, this red stripe is molded into the tire, not added after manufacture.
The inside wall is very plain.	V pattern which looks a bit dated but us a tried and true tread pattern.

July 2008 - Pulled out the seats for two reasons. 1) the seat back pivot bolt had fallen out on the passenger seat 2) The driver's seat was getting worn while the passenger seat was still looking good.

The pivot screw at the lower tip of the fell out. It is so close to the body of the car that it cannot be tightened while the seat is in the car.	Removing midyear seats is easy - 4 bolts per seat on the front mounts. The seats slide forward so there is no need to remove the rear mounts.	Empty interior with only the rear mounts attached.
Small metal plates exist between the interior seat mounting brackets and the fiberglass. I'm not sure why these are here - maybe to provide extra support? Steel plates exist on the bottom of the body to accept the bolts.		All of the hockey stick screws have a slot filled with plastic so that they do not back out.
Both seats have this label. Anyone know Paul L Rudy?	I'm pretty sure these seats have not been restored.	Polishing the seat chrome is easy if you use tape to protect the seat back plastic.
I used some stuff called "Nano Polish" by eagle one to polish the seat chrome. It was made to polish chrome and aluminum rims.	Hockey stick seat chrome before polish.	After polishing they looked great.
This is a picture of the adjustment mechanism under the seat one one side. The cable actuates a similar lever on the other side.	The adjustment mechanism uses these slots on the seat rail to lock everything in place. There are slots on both sides of the seat.

July 2008 - Finally had a chance to install the knock offs. The tires were mounted by Discount Tire in Carol Stream. I was a bit concerned but after watching the process I felt safe that the tires could be mounted safely with the chrome cone in place. No need for adapters and spinners.

Knock-Off Wheels really give the car a different look. There is something about that spinner that is so raw and primitive.	IN this picture you can see the adapter mounted to the face of the brake rotor. Notice the long lug nuts.	The previous owner of these wheels did not use anti-seize when installing the spinners. Galling took place as the conical surface of the spinner mated with the conical surface of the aluminum wheel. Since aluminum is much softer than steel, aluminum stuck to the steel. A wire wheel and a pneumatic die grinder removed it.
This is the back of a KO wheel. The small holes mate with the drive pins on the adapter and the large holes provide clearance for the long lug nuts. Two things are necessary for save KO wheel operation. 1) tight drive pin/hole mating. If the holes are egg shaped or damaged, the KO will come off. 2)long lug nuts. Short lug nuts allow the drive pins to be positioned in the much larger lug nut holes. If this happens the wheels will fall off even with safety pins and a super tight spinner. The long lug nuts will not allow installation of the wheel unless everything is indexed properly.
KO wheel installed on the adapter.	Spinner in place with the "safety" pin in place.	6 lb "muther thumper" lead hammer used to install the spinners. It doesn't leave a mark on the spinner but the hammer takes a beating!