Journal Updates

‍Since writing this post, I've replaced the front tyres with another set of Mastercraft white walls. I found that the new tyres started to get a similar yellow stain on them as soon as the blue protective coating was washed off. Interestingly, the rear tyres (which are 10 years old) have perfectly white stripes, there's no discolouration at all.

Being so old, the rear tyres were made in the USA, whereas the old front tyres and the new ones I purchased are made in Mexico. My theory is that the quality of the white stripe on the Mexican tyres just isn't the same as the old US-made tyres. Has anyone else had a similar experience?

I've been running the car with the coated manifolds for over a year now, and I'm convinced the ceramic coating has reduced under-bonnet temperatures. I also think it has helped reduce fuel percolation, which was an occasional annoyance when restarting the car. The coating is also very tough, with no evidence of chipping, flaking or discolouration. The dark grey colour has also remained unchanged.

Before removing your old fuel pump, make sure you have ALL the parts you need to fit the new one. The size of the inlet and outlet fittings on the Carter and Airtex fuel pumps varies a lot — I had three fuel pumps and none of them used the same size fittings. Don't assume (as I did) that the new fuel pump will be able to use your existing fittings. I discovered this the hard way when I had already fitted the new pump only to discover I didn't have the correct outlet fitting.

Common automotive pipe fittings include AN, UNF, NPT and BSP.

• AN and UNF fittings use SAE (parallel) threads.
• NPT fittings have tapered (conical) threads and seal by an interference fit at the threads. They require a thread sealant.
• BSP fittings have straight (parallel) threads.

Also be very careful with fuel lines with flared ends. The fitting that they screw in to must be designed to accept a flared end to create a seal, otherwise when you start the engine fuel is going to squirt out all over your engine bay (ask me how I know this).

This exercise proved to be a complete failure. I left the manifolds for several days before reinstalling, so I was confident the paint had plenty of time to dry. I fired the car up and headed out for a drive, and by the time I'd reached the first intersection there was smoke pouring from the vents on either side of the engine bay. I guessed this was the paint 'curing', and the smoke did clear after a few minutes on the road.

When I got back to the garage (after around an hour of driving) the finish on the manifolds looked matt and powdery. Once they had cooled down enough I gave them a wipe with a cloth, thinking that the powdery substance would wipe off to reveal my beautifully cured finish. What I saw instead was the raw cast iron! The paint had been cooked off completely on most of the manifold, with only the cooler sections (like the alternator mounting bracket) showing any trace of the new paint.

It's entirely possible that I messed up the application, but I was so careful. I decided that I was not going to try again, I was done with painting manifolds. I now have a barely-used can of Bill Hirsch High Temp paint for sale if anyone is interested.

‍Time to bite the bullet and get the job done properly.

Corvette steering boxes use chassis grease rather than gear oil. Apparently this is because the steering box sits so close to the exhaust, gear oil would thin out when hot and run out through the seals. If you've got a leaking Corvette steering box, check that it's using the correct lubricant.

Vapour Blasting does involve the use of an abrasive media (usually glass bead) in a water solution. This abrasive will find its way inside the parts, so it's essential that the parts you are cleaning are completely disassembled before they are blasted (so they can be cleaned properly after blasting). I've seen many videos on YouTube showing people vapour blasting gearboxes! The media WILL get past seals and bearings, destroying your gearbox (or engine if it's an engine part you're cleaning).

Don't expect your vapour blaster to warn you about this, it's up to you to make sure the parts you supply are suitable for blasting.

The new exhaust fitted to the Red Rocket in late 2023 uses mufflers from Magnaflow. Magnaflow mufflers employ a straight-through design (with no baffles) that is packed with stainless steel wool. A perforated pipe of the same diameter as the inlet and outlet runs straight through the muffler case unimpeded, and the stainless-steel wool surrounding the perforations soaks up the annoying frequencies like a sponge, turning the kinetic energy into heat, while passing the flow straight through the muffler.

This design does a really good job of absorbing acoustic energy across a wide band of frequencies — especially midrange and upper-midrange frequencies. This type of acoustic dampening takes the edge off the sound while preserving the lower frequencies — the "rumble." From a flow perspective, Magnaflow mufflers are hard to beat (a straight pipe or a bullet muffler would be a good flow analogue) and the Magnaflow sound is preferred by many.

1963-1965 Corvette exhaust manifolds could have either 2 or 2½-inch outlet size, with all high-performance small blocks (like the L-79 in the Red Rocket) using the 2½-inch manifold connected to 2½-inch exhaust pipes.

After 1965 all small block engines had 2 inch manifolds, although the higher horsepower engines continued to have 2½-inch pipes, which had a smaller 2-inch connection to the manifold. Big block engines had 2½-inch manifolds and pipes.

From 1963-1967 mufflers were either standard or the optional N11 off-road mufflers which had one less baffle inside for less restriction and a more aggressive sound.

Regardless of the pipe size or engine horsepower, muffler outlets are always 2 inches.

The factory offered an optional N14 side exhaust from 1965-1967 with 2-inch or 2½-inch inlet pipes with aluminium covers.

The whole bird cage on C2 Corvettes was painted in green zinc chromate primer. St Louis bodied cars then had the area under the glove box (where the trim and vin tag are located) blacked out, whereas A.O. Smith bodied cars (of which the Red Rocket is one) had body colour overspray in that area. St Louis cars had under-body reinforcement steel parts painted black while A.O Smith cars were in green zinc chromate. Green zinc chromate primer can also be found on the door inspection panels (behind the door trims) and the core support area behind the headlights.

Zinc chromate's main use is as a coating over iron or aluminium materials. It was used extensively on aircraft by the US military, especially during the 1930s and 1940s. It is also used in a variety of paint coatings for the aerospace and automotive industries. Because of its toxicity, zinc chromate paint has been banned in many countries, including Australia.

Many Corvette owners carry a small screwdriver to help with the removal of the center caps on the knock-off wheel spinners. I've found it difficult to remove these caps without damaging them, so I purchased this Knock-Off Center Cap Removal Tool from Zip Corvette. This tool features a large suction-cup with a t-handle that makes it easy to remove the caps without damaging them.

From their introduction in 1963 through their final year in 1967, the Kelsey-Hayes alloy wheels went through several subtle design changes as detailed below.

It is generally agreed that no production 1963 Corvettes were shipped from the factory with knock-off wheels. But, some race cars and the first few pilot cars did have the early-style, two-bar knock-off wheels installed.

In 1964, the original Kelsey-Hayes wheels had the manufacturing dates ink-stamped on the wheel’s mating surface. For 1965 and 1966, the wheels had the dates hard-stamped on the backside. Then, in 1967, almost as quickly as they appeared, the knock-offs were gone, thanks to federal regulations. The wheels still looked similar, but the rotating spinner was considered unsafe and eliminated.

1963 – 1964 – Natural aluminum finish between the fins, with a chrome center cone.
1965 – Charcoal grey metallic finish between the fins, with a chrome center cone.
1966 – Charcoal grey metallic finish between the fins, with a brushed finish center cone.
1967 – Charcoal grey metallic finish between new thinner fins, with a special “Starburst” center cap.

When disassembling anything on the car, make sure you take lots of photos (or even a video). You might not get around to reassembling the parts for days (or months!), so take it from me, you'll forget where things went, or which washer went on first. Having reference photos can be a life saver, and they come in handy if you're crazy enough to build a website documenting your projects.