1970 Roadster LS7 Conversion

[slofut]

Originally Posted by 7TRoadster

The customer service I received at Al Knoch Corvette Interiors was over the top outstanding. My experience was very positive. I told them of the minor issues with the lower dash and that I ruined it by attempting to drill out the vent control hole.

They not only offered to make it right, they offered to do the instrument and A/C vent installs at no charge. All I have to do is ship the parts back to them. Customer service like this is rare today, I will recommend and use their products again without concern. They certainly came to the rescue in this case, great job.

I will be sending the parts to them sometime this week. I'll keep you posted on how they come out.

Wow, Isn't it great to work with people like that. Thanks for the info, they'll be on my list.

[Sly Vette]

I can't remember EVER hearing a bad comment about Al Knoch...

I will be ordering my new soft top from them next Summer when I get my car back from the painter.

[7TRoadster]

This weekend I worked primarily on wiring. Needed to pull the headlight harness completely out and add a couple of wires for the driving/fog lights. While it was off I fixed the one bad fiber optic cable and installed new wire wrapping.

The plastic wire hooks that go along the front of the hood all broke taking them out. I used some thread inserts in the holes and added some loops into the wire harness. Now it will come off with the removal of screws.

I did have time to get the top of the hood in its first coat of primer. Also primed some smaller parts. Progress to be sure but nothing dramatic.

[7TRoadster]

Today I worked on getting the radio antenna wire cut and soldered. Had to remove the antenna unit from under the car to do it.

Also got the emergency brake line routed and the handle installed. Seems to work fine once I got it adjusted up.

Allot of the little stuff is caught up now. Will start back on the body tomorrow. Need to get this bad boy painted.

[Sly Vette]

I can't wait to see some paint work.... Should be great!

The "Nickle and Dime" stuff will take a bunch of time but it's all gotta' be done.
You know what they say about how to eat an entire elephant....One bite at a time!!!

[7TRoadster]

Today a milestone although a small one. The Roadster sits on it's new suspension for the first time ever. I installed the steering wheel so I can move it around the shop then carefully raised the car on jack stands about 3" higher than it was on the dolly. Pulled the dolly out from under and dropped it a little at a time switching between lowering back and front. Finally I was able to remove the jack stands.

I finally get to check out what the new frame and suspension look like. I still have to adjust the suspension components. The springs are out all the way and are a little spongy. I suspect they will sag some to break in.

[7TRoadster]

Ground clearance has been a concern, you never know until you see it. As it sits today the headers have about 4" of clearance and the rear exhaust under the lower strut has roughly 3" of clearance.

I have some room to raise the rear pipes of the exhaust and will do that at some point.

[brent319]

That is a big deal. Getting her down on her wheels is a huge milestone. Looks like it will settle in and look damn nice.

[riggs 74]

Small but great mile stone, you're one step closer to starting it up and taking a spin around the block. Once you do that you will be super excited to get it finished and be able to enjoy it out on the open road.

The project is coming along very nicely. Keep up the fantastic progress, I'm looking forward to the updates.


Riggs.

[Marks76ray]

Coming along real nice, keep up the great work. Mark

[Custom Image]

looks good!

[7TRoadster]

I haven't posted in a while, been busy doing way too much. The Corvette bumped into issues using the Street Shop (SS) frame with the Custom Image Corvettes 2" flair fenders. There are several photographs in series that explain as best I can the issues. And what had to be done to correct them.

The photo attached to this post is a stock C3 Corvette, the rear end and suspension is a recent rebuild. Stock Frame..... Notice the distance between the fender well arc front to back. Front is maybe 1-3/4" rear maybe 3".

[7TRoadster]

Here is another Stock Frame photo and as you can see it has the same problem but not quite as bad as the first. With the GM tolerances being as loose as they were for these cars it is not surprising their are differences.

[7TRoadster]

If you look at the finished cars on the Street Shop (SS) web site their wheels are perfectly centered. Not sure how this was accomplished, perhaps adjustable dog bones on the rear suspension, perhaps improved frame geometry. I did not contact SS on this as my situation is different.

Custom Image solved the fit problem a different way. They brought the rear edge of the wheel well arc approx 2" forward to make the fenders fit the stock frame. Here is a photo of the Custom Image fender over the same photo above. You can see the fit on the stock frame is pretty good.

[7TRoadster]

My first mistake was to fully install the rear fenders before I had wheels and tires installed. I did do plumb bob measurements but evidently my eye for center was a little off.

When I put wheels on the car the issues were readily apparent. As you can see from this photo it appears the two solutions overlap each other. I have the opposite problem, to wide in the front an to close in the rear.