[gtogoat]

Originally Posted by cobrae

I have a bit of work to do on the carb though it has a massive hesitation if you give it gas it stalls. The carb wasn't even bolted down and had screws loose all over it. I got a nice rebuilt one though might just throw it on.,

Please let us know what you find on this. I have the same situation on my '63, changed out the carb with a freshly rebuilt but still didn't solve the problem...

[Doug]

Keith, Thanks for pointing out my mistake!

I was actually reading the specs out of the GTO-TEMPEST book we recently discussed when I made the typo. Absent minded for sure.

About these shoes, drums......... A few years ago I was talking with Joe Cochran who built the altered wheelbase 63 called "Weekend Warrior" about his front brakes. He described that he had put a 1/4" spacer on his spindle and used a 2" wide shoe by trimming off 1/4" of the metal on the outside of the shoes. I don't remember the details.

[c5farmer]

The problem may not be the carb. Check out the distributor bushings and advance weights. Slow or late timing will cause your engine to bog much like a bad accelerator pump.

[cobrae]

Yea if it ever stops raining I'm gonna check out the Dist. The brake shoes didn't fit the guy at the shop measured them wrong and ordered some that were 9"x1.25 or 1.5 can't remember now. Gonna be a week or 2 before they are here though. Might end up selling it though I hate to but this is a bit too much trouble to get parts for as a daily. I had checked stores and rock auto before I got it and they all listed plenty of parts. Wish I had known they were not the right ones it seems lol.

[mechanickeith]

Originally Posted by gtogoat

Please let us know what you find on this. I have the same situation on my '63, changed out the carb with a freshly rebuilt but still didn't solve the problem...

The 1 barrel carbs will wear out the accellerator linkage pivot points. Have seen many carbs that you could open the throttle quite a bit before the acc. pump would start working causing the bog. Need to bend the pump linkage so the pump starts working as soon as the throttle opens.

[TempestFugit]

Speaking of bogs caused by worn linkage pivot points, I had an obvious hesitation followed by a surge that felt like a sloppy linkage problem but nothing would correct it. I tried another carb & looked the linkage over & over. Finally I found out it was the nylon wheel under the gas pedal had a flat spot on it. The flat spot would settle against the pedal (ramp) when I took my foot off the gas and repeat the bog/surge everytime I started from idle.

[Doug]

Cobrae, don't give up!

Concentrate on what the basic things are that you need to make a daily driver out of it.
It sounds like your basic stuff is front suspension and rear brakes and whatever that carb problem is. I again advise that you bite the bullet and buy one of the Kanter type front end suspension kits which will include tie rods, ball joints, bushings, etc. Put all that new stuff in and you will be set (assuming you don't have loose steering box/Pitman arm or worn out centerlink).

The more you drive it, the more likely you will start seeing problems with radiator,etc. Again put in new stuff and you willbe done with it.

These cars are unique cars unto themselves and anyone that has never had one is on the low end of a learning curve so don't feel bad about your situation.

There is a wealth of knowledge in members on this board. If you ask,they will answer cause most of us have been in the same situation.

P.S. If you are down to the nubs on stuff, I may have some bits and pieces stuff like old used ball joints and tie rod ends and sleeves that feel like they are okay which you can have for shipping. If you need them send me a PM and I will see what I have got

[cobrae]

Believe me the problem isn't that I don't wanna drive it or fix it up I don't have any income. Money is very hard to come by for me right now. I would love to put a full kit in the front end like I did my 62 Galaxie but I don't have the cash for just ball joints atm.

Still working on piecing the brakes together. My father whos been working on these things for over 40 years if not 50 is helping out with what he can. I think the guy at the parts store ordered a set of corvair shoes to see if we can make them fit just gonna be a week or two till they get here.

I'm not actively selling it right now or anything just going over options I don't even know what the cars worth I just know what I paid for it value wise.

[Doug]

Cobrae,

Another little bit of info about the 63's is that some of them had "finned" front drums. I don't know if they were an option or standard on some cars like perhaps theV8 cars. If you ever run up on a set of them in a junkyard, they would be a low bucks way of getting some "extra braking power". These hubs interchange with the regular drums without any changes to the spindle, etc.

Also, I have read about some people using some Volvo front brake stuff on these 63's to "upgrade" them. I'm sure Keith can tell us more about that.

And, of course there are the "Scarebird" front disc setups that allow you to use a lot of readily available parts store stuff to make an economical conversion. "Scarebird" makes adapter plates for mounting calipers and he probably sells whole kits too. Simple, bolt-on type procedure.

[cobrae]

The other car was a V8 it may have some parts still on it. I need to go pick it up I got a year to get it. Its like a 3-4 hour drive there though lol. It looks like it had all the drums on it I can't remember now. It was pretty much a shell with drive train no motor no interior no wheels.

[1963vert]

cobrae i am in same boat as you, basically putting together a 63 on a budget. i hate to say this but i used 63 corvair brake shoes 1.75x9 on my car i paid 18 bucks for them and they seem to work well but i have not driven my car over 20mph. and as far as wheel cylinders i found the rebuild kits @ o' reilly auto parts under ten bucks for fronts, same for rears.

[JohnFromVentura]

I checked my old shoes and Keith is "right on" on the brake shoe width at 1 3/4".

Originally Posted by mechanickeith

You are both wrong!! Shoes for all 3 years are 1.75"X9" drum.

[mechanickeith]

Originally Posted by JohnFromVentura

I checked my old shoes and Keith is "right on" on the brake shoe width at 1 3/4".

I once thought I was wrong, but I was mistaken!!

[cobrae]

Lol. Well I'm probably going to try and get the Lemans going I really don't want to sell it. It would just be nice if I had something to drive in the mean time lol.

I got one wheel cyl pieced together so now I should have all 4 wheel cyls working. I think I have most maybe all of the hold down kit or mounting hardware for the rear brakes. I just need the pads (corvair ones coming in a week or so) and lower ball joints. The idler arm isnt gone but it will need to be done within a year probably. I don't drive much so it should last me a while.

Might go out today and see if I can fix the hesitation and see if I can piece together the brakes with the original pads just to see if they are going to work and I have the pieces. Don't have the money to order the ball joints right now but be nice if the car stops a lil better for moving it around the yard.

[azkeebler]

Hey Cobrae!!

Just like the guys said, once you get all the silly stuff squared away, it will be a fine daily driver. Don't be taken with over-priced Nos rubber parts that have been sitting for years. Brake hoses can be custom made, shoes relined, and many other parts are same as other models. suspension parts make their way on ebay at times at fair prices. Time and patience is virtue.

If you do use the corvair shoes, you will need the corvair links that fit between the cylinders and the shoes. Tempest shoes use shorter links as the slot in the shoe is nearer to the cylinder than corvair. The corvair links are available new and under $5 each. If you use the tempest links, further pedal travel will be needed to operate the brakes and even possible dislodging of the link altogether will occur. I have a thread somewhere in here with the part numbers.

With scarebird front brake conversion , you will need to upgrade your rims. Being that 15 inch tires are slowly going to the wayside, it may be advisable to look into custom 17 inch rims and tires. Competent tire and wheel vendors can set you up with the correct rims for the Tempest suspension.

[cobrae]

The only issue with time and patience is this is my only car. No car no work no work no money to put into said car. As for custom lines and relining shoes that costs quite a bit or at least around here it does.

[cobrae]

I've talked it over with my family to get opinions and right now my main priority is getting into school so I am going to put the car up for sale. In the mean time I will be working on it if I get it to be a driver before it sells then I might keep it but honestly right now money for school/relocation is more important and part of my original plan before I even got the RX7.

What do you guys think the car is worth? I imagine I overpaid for it I don't know the value of these as I've never seen one for sale lol. I know it needs some work with the brakes and ball joints but the body is in really nice shape it has a new top and new interior. Ive gotten most of the hesitation out when I gaped the plugs right and put the other carb on. Would it be ok if I posted it on the forums? I know some forums have requirements for posting in classifieds.

I'm not actively trying to get rid of it its not on Ebay or anything though that probably would be the place to put it I just don't know how to. Here in Maine classics don't sell at this time of the year and the economy up here in northern Maine suck so not many are even looking at classics.

[mechanickeith]

We need lots of detailed pictures before a number can be decided on. Post up a bunch of pics's to include the lower fender/rocker areas. Paint, interior, top in up position, etc, etc. Also pics of the frame areas around the rear suspension arm mounting areas.

[cobrae]

Bit wet out but I took a couple pics this morning. The car does need paint. You can see where the doors were not aligned and it chipped the paint on the edges and such.

Looks like the rockers have had some work and might have a lil bondo in them not sure. I do know the floor has been patched. Hard to get an older car up here without some patches in the floor.

When it drys out outside I will try and lift it up for a couple pics underneath. We looked it over underneath when we got it on my trailer and it looked pretty good. There is some surface rust here and there but nothing bad or scary.

[cobrae]

Couple pics from under. The floors have been patched and it looks like there's been some work done under it. You can see some bondo in the rocker like I figured. Its not perfect but its actually very solid. The guy didn't to amazing work but better than I could do probably. Never touched a welder in my life lol.

I did take a video of it running will take a lil while to upload my upload speed is horrible.