1962 Corvette 327-340hp 4 Speed
 

I've got this 62 that I bought a couple of months ago. I purchased the car from another dealer friend, who is retiring and closing up his shop. He got this car (plus 1 other) from a local widow back in 2021. The previous owner had the car since late 1983. The car shows 88k miles.

No real discernible history is known about the car. The VIN number puts this car as being produced in November of 61. The story that came with the car....... it has a warranty block in it. The block is dated July 23rd, of 62. I don't know how credible the warranty story is, as the heads are 462's dated in 66. That added to the fact it has a non finned 8" balancer. The engine pad is clean with no stamps, nor any machine marks that would indicate the typical machine shop work that would appear on a deck. Having said all of that, I'll take the high road and just call it an NOM. The car does have it's born with close ratio T-10 4 speed. The rear end housing is the correct positraction housing, although the center section is currently a non "P" case dated 64. I seem to run into that an awful lot on these C1's.

What the car does have is a body and frame to just die for! I cannot find one spot in this body that would indicate any post St. Louis glass work. The car has been repainted in it's correct Ermine White, although the jambs look like they are original paint in addition to the hardtop. The chrome, stainless, pot metal, and window glass are really nice. All of the window glass is original to the car / hardtop with the exception of the windshield. That makes sense given the mileage and it has had a replacement dash pad installed.

I bought this car a couple months ago with the intention of reselling at some point. It had some needs, but nothing major. I sent the car over by my Dad's place (I didn't have room at the time) and he took the time to clean the car up, clay out the paint, and hand rub the car. In no time at all, he fell in love with the car and bought it. My Dad was just gushing over the body and how nice the car ran / drove. Then, fast forward another few weeks. My Dad falls in love with a 63 SWC I bought from Nick (Supreme Deluxe). Some horse trading over a couple of beers, and I own the 62 again.

This week, the car got delivered up here into the great white north. I'm getting busy doing what I normally do on these cars. A small handful of things needed tending to, but no big deal. Now this is where the problem comes......I'm starting to fall in love with the damn thing myself. Here goes the thread on my process.

The car is originally optioned as a hardtop only (no convertible top). It has the obligatory Wonderbar radio, heater, and whitewall tires. I've been tuning on the carb, adjusted the dwell, threw some real timing into it, along with fresh fuel and voila, this runs REALLY good! I pulled the wheels, cleaned and adjusted the shoes, flushed the hydraulic system, to find the front bearings packed with white lithium grease. Repacked the bearings (they looked amazingly nice) As I write this, I am waiting for the new front grease seals to show up from the parts store.

As I progress, I'll post some updates.

Tim

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This should really clean up nice! How bout the glasspacks? They sound really good!
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Yuck!
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Check out the original sealer in the rain gutters...
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All the body seams look this...... nice and crisp. Just they way they left the factory
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----Looks like a really good driver, Tim. Exceptional body. Love the pic of the trunk with the bullets still on the tail lights. Wondering if it's worth chasing down heads that are dated to the block (not the car). Or maybe dated to the car as it's possible that only the short block was replaced at the time and original heads were used up until 66 and then replaced....Bill S

Great minds think alike. Don't think for a minute I haven't been looking for some 461X's. The late 61 castings would support the warranty story, but then it's still a story. My thoughts are if this were to stick around (and then I have to sell SOMETHING else), A good set of worked over 461X's and an LT-1 cam, I'd have a package that would pull 7000 RPM and be an absolute hoot to drive. And not one number in that motor to worry about! Of course the original T-10 may protest that type of behavior.:hmmm:

Regardless of that nonsense, the car is an awesome driver that will turn heads and be a treat to cruise.

Every time I read about you and your Dad, drinking beer and car trading, I'm reminded of the old saying "cut from the same cloth". I'm willing to believe it's not just the same bolt of cloth and the only thing that separates you two is the cut it took to make 2 pieces. Congratulations on having such a wonderful relationship with a Dad that raised a good Son.

Well said there. That’s a rare and very fortunate situation, indeed.

Tim, when you were telling me about this car, I didn’t realize it was white/red. My ideal C1 color scheme. This is definitely my (our) kind of car. The 1962 design is so restrained/refined versus the earlier C1s.

Thanks Mitch. We have always been tight. I see him more as a best friend, than my Dad. As you can imagine, some of our shared interests have occasionally made my Mom and Tracey a little upset with our decision making processes :naughty:

What a pretty car, Tim. That will be a great Northern Wisconsin summer car.

Here is after the 1st and 2nd pass on the bottom of the car. There looks to be some staining of the glass that I suspect I'll never be able to improve. It looks like I am up getting up against the factory black out by the rear wheel wells.

I also found a couple of marks on the diff housing after the 1st cleaning

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Wow, it's coming out quite clean, bet it's making a heck of a mess on the shop floor.
Any idea if the glass packs are Porter's ? I've looked at them at BTTF but never purchased a pair. Always wondered how they sound.

----Tim,,,At this point you would be surprised what you could do with lacquer thinner and a whole bunch of rags. I did a virgin 63 coupe several years ago and went a bit overboard. It deserved it as the body was unbelieveable. I had a hard time giving it back to my customer as I knew he was going to drive it. Even minimaly any miles would have bothered me. But, I admit to being too anal!...Bill S

No idea Mitch. I'll look at them closer to see if there is any sort of stamping. Once I have the car running again, I'll take a short video. Hopefully it will pick up the sound correctly. I've got part of the dash apart to replace a bad tach cable. It was not routed correctly when the dash pad was done and it's pinched / broken. Say it with me.......PITA

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On a different note, I ran into a first for me (I'm sure not for some of you others). The owner that had the car since 83, was obviously quite fond of the car. I was told a story that some of his (Lee) remains were under the drivers seat. They weren't BS'n.........

Lee now is properly dressed for rides.
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I sure as hell don't need any bad karma

Some it has a consistency of undercoating. It would not surprise me if it was undercoated. My next step will be my GoJo hand cleaner trick, especially by the rockers. That is the least caustic. After that, I'm with you Bill on the thinner. That will be a wobbly day

----I also am a bit wary using Lacquer thinner on the inside of an exterior painted panel. Just in case it might bleed thru (which I have seen happen).....Bill S

Tim,

Here you go again with another fabulous Corvette and great stories attached to that particular car.
I (we) always look forward to napa68 threads and posts.
Like a little boy in a man’s body enjoying his new toys. Cheers to that 🍺🍷.

You know how I feel about a 60’s automobile dressed in White with Red.

Congratulations, Chris.

Whoa, I don't know about having something like that in a car I own. Seems a bit creepy...:shocked:
On a different subject, get a respirator to block out cleaning fumes. I use it for painting but it blocks out the lacquer thinner fumes too. I buy mine at Harbor Freight for $20. The bag it comes in is a zip lock and you can store the mask in there for a long time and it will keep the charcoal viable for the next use.
https://www.harborfreight.com/p95-ma...tor-66554.html

Really nice Tim. Great car that looks and runs real well and you can have some fun and drive it. Best kind of classic muscle for me. No lawn ornaments!

Gorgeous car Tim! Was Lee in that baggie or just a pile of ashes on the carpet? I agree…a little creepy!

Yeah, it was a pile. I was creeped out myself

I think I'd be tempted to sprinkle that into a planter at the Corvette Museum than drive around with it in my car.

I'd put Lee's ashes in the glovebox.Great Vette Tim! My fav color combo!

and the 3rd pass....

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I'm pretty happy with what less than a week has yielded....

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Mitch, following up on the mufflers. I cannot tell you what they are. Sorry bud!

The underside is looking good. Are you using a de-greaser with the water ?
Porter only has a sticker and it's not a surprise if they fell off by now. Their new product looks quite different, but I thought they had a rounded end "back in the day".

The first 2 times, I used Purple Power full strength. The 3rd time, I used Go Jo hand cleaner (just the regular old white product that has been around forever). I wipe it on by hand and also by a parts washing brush. I let it penetrate in, plus agitate it with the brush and scuff pads. I'll reapply to keep it wet. Then I hit it with the steam cleaner. As you can see, there are small areas where the undercoating remains. I don't know how nuts I'll get, as the car is just a nice driver.

Great work! Wow.

The rest of us know.... you don't stop until it's sanitary...:biggthumpup:

Well done Tim! I recently did an undercarriage and used some undercarriage products made by the Chemical guys. It’s kind of product you can put on after you clean.

Chemical Guys TVD_104_16 Bare Bones Premium Dark Shine Spray for Undercarriage, Tires and Trim, Safe for Cars, Trucks, Motorcycles, RVs & More, 16 fl oz
https://a.co/d/9BOxhkj

Nice job TS. One can see all the nooks and crannies of the car. U do real nice work. I like those Chemical Guys Products too.

I had a friend send me a "proper" 6.70-15 tire for the spare. Now the spare tire cover will sit down like it should. A few detail pics of reassembling the trunk with it's original (and fragile) trunk mat

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Beautiful!!

After finding out the tach cable is on intergalactic backorder, I found an NOS unit. Pardon my crude method of relaxing the cable:crazy: After lubing the cable and installing, I had a chance to get Mitch his sound clip

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Nothing wrong with the relaxing method. I probably would have used a hair dryer with that to warm and relax the cable housing more.
Those mufflers do have a deep sound to them, might be Porters.:hmmm:

That looks like summer fun to me.

Sounds real good Tim. All well done.

Sounds great Tim!

That's awesome, I will use it.

You guys need to contact Han and have him fetch parts with the Millennium Falcon. He made a few modifications himself and she can do light speed now.

A little more progress on the 62 today. I pulled the plug wires out, along with the battery for a nice gentle cleaning of the engine compartment. In addition, I sent the original carb out for restoration yesterday (it has a 64 300hp PG carb on it now). Sounds like that will take about 4-5 weeks.

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The cap is a later "R" cap, but still a nice Delco dual window cap
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This should run better yet by freshening these! I suspect that in the late 70's early 80's is when the engine was rebuilt and the car was freshened. The wires were a cobbled combination of a few different things
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No bueno:rolleyes2:
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More better$$$$$$
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As I was looking at the pics, I saw the different plug boots, especially the red one and thought "those are never going back on that engine"...:wink: A few pics later, my suspicion was confirmed.
Another happy car to have landed in Tim's domain.