Tank sticker

There is a man in South Carolina who will recreate a Corvette tank sticker for any car that had such a thing.

These pieces of paper were crudely glued to the fuel tank of cars and served as a checklist for assembly crews for the car's options and destination.

The one on this car had rotted completely off and not one letter or digit was legible when the tank was pulled from the car. We had to go by the options present on the car and those that have been added in order to recreate this document.

This car came from the factory with a white vinyl convertible top, standard brakes, black wall tires and probably had wheel covers. Those four options were added or changed to suit the current owner and the new tank sticker will reflect those changes.

There are folks who will prepare a new tank sticker to look as if it is authentic and they charge a pretty penny to do so. I am happy with a new one since the rest of the car has been restored.

Once it comes in, it will be glued to the fuel tank.

Head shop

The heads were dropped off for machining at a local shop that specializes in cylinder head repair, so while we wait, the steering column was assembled to this point.

Once the horn contact spring comes in, this will be fully assembled and prepared for paint.

Bored

The cylinder bores are 4.030, so they've been bored to .030 over already.

Given the small amount of scoring in cylinder No. 5, this block will have to be bored to .060 over to get it ready to rebuild.

It's what was expected and a scenario that is better than what could have been given that this engine was sitting for decades.

It's difficult to tell if the block was indeed decked at some point too, or if this counter-exchange block simply came unstamped because the stamp pad is blank. One would assume that this is something that the machine shop will have to determine by measuring.

There is so much to learn.

A visit to the machinist will determine if the rotating assembly needs to be removed before dropping it off or if they will want it together to do measurements.

For now, the heads are off of the block. They will be taken to a local shop for work. We'll pick the owner's brain for the next move.

They are filthy and look like this engine was running richer than Oprah, but they should be fine.

Little bit farther

Assembly on the steering column went as far as it could with the parts that came in. Unfortunately, the NOS turn signal switch that was purchased will not work despite being the correct part number. Not really sure what happened on that, but thankfully the original one is fine. Having the new switch did allow the springs to be assembled correctly, so it wasn't a complete waste.

More parts are due in on Monday.

Good news

Disassembly of the engine has begun and it looks really clean inside. Hopefully, my friend Mike will chime in and tell me what he thinks at some point.

There are no signs of bearing play or anything in the rotating assembly getting hot, so the crankshaft should be in good shape.

Everything looks great, just really dirty with dried-out seals.

With some luck, all this needs is honing, bearings, freeze plugs and rings to put it back together.

The Schneider racing cam will have to come out as well, of course. This aggressive cam does not allow this engine to make enough vacuum to operate the headlights etc. and will not be very friendly for the sort of life this car will lead, so a stock cam will go in.

The steering column was painted black today as well. Once these parts cure and all the other parts are collected, this will be assembled and set aside.

Rusty from not painting in a while, the main housing ended up with a couple of runs which was disappointing, but they are oriented where they will not be visible once this is installed in the car.

Second stand

A friend has been borrowing an engine stand for about two years, so instead of asking for it back, a new one was purchased.

First, the heads will be pulled and sent to a local shop for work as engine parts are collected.

NOW we're done

The retainer for the speedometer gear sleeve came in today after taking a tour of much of Arkansas via the postal service.

The transmission is 100 percent done now.