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10/22/2020
I've spent the last couple days inventorying interior parts, organizing fasteners, and cleaning. The assembly manual has come in handy for discovering what I have and what I don't, as well as how all the parts fit together. I joined an online group specific to this car, and a retired gentleman from Louisiana reached out to me with the offer of some parts he had laying around. He has restored four of these cars, and was trying to clear out some extra things to make room in his garage. Joining groups like this has helped me in the past, and I've discovered that people like to help people. Information and experience are meant to be shared, so people freely hand out what they know! My Louisiana friend pointed me toward buying the 1969 Corvette GM Assembly Manual, which details in drawings how the car is put together and with what fasteners. Torque specs and original part numbers are also listed. It's the manual that the assembly workers used on the first cars they built prior to the assembly run. It's been a lifesaver.
Interior parts spread out during the inventory process while I was deciding what would be reused, what could be refurbished, and what I would order new. There are plenty of vendors selling everything you need for the C3, and I'm doing my part to keep them in business...ouch.
The console dataplate shows that this car came equipped with the 350 cubic inch engine with 350 horsepower and 380 pound feet of torque. The compression ratio is listed as 11.00:1. I ordered a new dataplate, since this one is hard to read and looks kind of grimy. In fact, I think I'll replace the whole trim plate around the shifter handle.
I installed a replacement mirror, as you can see the original has degraded with age. It will make the driving experience more pleasurable!
The interior of a car is where the driver spends his/her time. Everything in here is subject to the five senses in a prolonged way, so it's important to provide a pleasant experience inside the car, as much as possible.Â
Even though my plan for Ginger is to make her a "driver" (meaning not a show car, but one you can use daily without guilt or fear), that doesn't mean things like a new interior is unimportant. In fact, for a "driver", I would say the interior is one of the more important aspects - all things being equal.
Assembly manual for the win! My Louisiana friend was right. I'm going to wear this book out! I found a few wires labelled by the previous owner, but only a few.
Before. I'm not a fan of these speakers. They are definitely not period correct.
After. I usually default to the factory look. ( I did leave the wires, just in case the next owner disagrees)
On the passenger side of the dashboard, I noticed some discoloration. It almost looked like a sticker had been there, or something had been leaning on it and transferred some color. New dash pads are expensive, so I tried my hand at dying it myself. Worse case, I could always buy a new one. I ordered the correct interior dye color in aerosol, along with prep cleaner and primer, from Top Flight Automotive. I can't say enough how pleased I have been with their products.
The results are pleasing. It was very much worth the trouble. There is a drawback to having dyed the dash, however. It looks like I'll probably be removing more interior plastics for refurbishment. Be careful what you start! It often leads to more work.
I don't mind. Ginger needs some loving, and it makes me happy to see a good result.
You might also notice the hole in the floor has been filled with shifter and boot. I had to wait on some missing parts, but all the transmission and clutch linkage is now assembled!
Behind the kick panels, the birdcage is looking solid. The speakers look fairly recent, so I'll leave them in place.
The passenger side tells the same story, though more is visible with the dash removed.
Here is a little sadness. On the driver's door jam, the fiberglass has separated down toward the bottom. It isn't hurting anything but my feelings.
The passenger side looks mint. I took the door sill plates off both sides, since I have brand new replacements ready to install. I'll take care of that after the dash is back together.
This was the condition of the shifter plate after 52 years of use. Replacement plates are backordered indefinitely, but I ordered one anyway just in case.
03/26/21
This is as together as I've ever had the interior! As each panel get's re-dyed I am able to install it mostly permanently. I say "mostly" because after I drive her a few miles there will likely be things I discover not working, so disassembly is a likely result.
This is what she looked like when I first got her, along with the pile of parts that were missing. I ended up replacing almost everything with new, except for the dash pad and large panels in front of the driver and passenger.
Everything red you see, apart from the seats and carpet was re-dyed and all of the center console from the parking brake to the gauge pods are new reproduction pieces.
08/25/2021
The interior did not escape the engine swap project. I replaced the plastic oil pressure gauge line with a hard copper line to handle the extra oil pressure. Unfortunately, the gauge itself stopped functioning about that time and then I overtightened it's replacement causing the copper fitting on the back of it to break, so I bought another replacement. In all that chaos, I managed to damage the fuel gauge, so a new one of those is going in. And, of course, the leaky oil pressure line sits directly above the new radio, so now the oil-soaked radio only intermittently works. I'll leave it alone. The only symphony you really need to hear is the one being broadcast in stereo through the chrome tipped exhaust. Right? On the plus side, all the engine gauges now work perfectly!
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