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I know the feeling of needing to get it back together. I have been reluctant to start on some new projects on it because I can drive it now... it just could be better.
I liked the autometer stuff when I was a teenager, not anymore. As soon as I saw speedhut's style I wanted them. ALL of my gauges were broken so I needed to pull the trigger.
It seems like speedhut can do any kind of style/font you want, too.
Nice progress....I have been watching this as I will be doing this also....probably on both Vettes.
Txs for the great detail and pics.
Bman
Awesome. Reply with questions and I'll do my best to help.
Originally Posted by Metalhead140
Another recommendation for Speedhut - my Corvette still has standard gauges, but my other two cars have Speedhut. Love them!
The backlight in my speedo already burned out and my temp gauge has never read right. Really annoying. They told me not to use an adapter bushing on the temp gauge sending unit but they couldn't recommend a sending unit of the correct threading.
They are very nice gauges but those two things are quite annoying considering the cost.
The backlight in my speedo already burned out and my temp gauge has never read right. Really annoying. They told me not to use an adapter bushing on the temp gauge sending unit but they couldn't recommend a sending unit of the correct threading.
They are very nice gauges but those two things are quite annoying considering the cost.
Really?! That sucks! I haven't really seen other people have problems with them, I bought my older set in 2012 and haven't had any problems with them, the newer set I've only had fitted for about 6 months (though I bought them 18 months ago), they're in my truck that's driven almost daily and always parked outside, no dramas yet. Weird with the adapter bushing stuff, pretty sure the one on my truck is fitted with an adapter bushing that came in the box with the gauge (or maybe im thinking of the oil pressure gauge)? Have you contacted them about the problems? I'd be upset about that too!
I contacted them about the temp and they told me the gauge is designed for a sending unit without a bushing. Haven't contacted them about the backlight yet.
The backlight in my speedo already burned out and my temp gauge has never read right.
The backlight ended up being fine. The connection from the speedo to the dimmer **** came unplugged. Not used to it being possible to have some parts light up and not others, because of a dimming switch.
The temp gauge might actually be close to right now. Not sure. It seems fine.
Went on a corvette club cruise last weekend, just me and my son, but some 40+ corvettes. on the way back, I caught up to a pack of 4-5 corvettes, mostly C5-C6, one C3. They were all going about the speed limit, 75mph. I think the C3 was slowing them down.
I passed them all at about 90mph. One or two broke away to catch up, the poor C3 that I imagine had no overdrive was cruising along back there.
Best mod ever. I couldn't help shifting from 5th to 6th while passing that C3.
I just live that story! I can't wait to do the same with my buddies here,, (( one of them just can't understand why I would want 6spd )) another buddy might have located a T56 for me,,, hopeing it's what I'm lookin for {I don't want to be that "poor C3 guy" lol lol } GREAT STORY!
7 years and somewhere around 6,000-8,000 miles later... my clutch is slipping in 5th and 6th.
I expected it to last longer, but I've taken it on the autocross track, done a lot of clutch dumps, and I suspect the light flywheel may be harder on the clutch too. It's been fun.
Also, I've been dealing with an oil leak. So on new years eve I started on the process of replacing the clutch and the oil pan. I don't like the oil pan that came with the car, and wanted to install the side rails to help with leaks.
Pictures below. I bought a new clutch kit because the disc alone was almost as much as the kit. Now I'm in a similar situation where a shop quoted me $195 to resurface the flywheel but a new one is $275. Clutch replacement is going to cost me nearly $700 in parts alone.
Maybe I'll be easier on it this time. Maybe in another 6-7 years I'll go with a dual clutch kit or something. Maybe finally spending the money to switch from a 3.36 to a 3.9 or 4.11 rear gear will prolong my clutch life. Maybe I should have put RTV on the corners of the oil pan gaskets and torqued the pan to proper spec in 2016 (I did this time). Maybe it's maybelline.
Trans out, kind of a pain. Had to remove the driveshaft to make way for it.
Leaky oily mess. I guess this is what happens when you don't RTV the corners of the gasket and torque the pan properly.
Trans out. Here you can see how I cut the solid cross member and where the holes are drilled for the custom crossmember. There wasn't a lot of science to that. I slid the new crossmember in, drilled all the holes in place while laying on my back, and put in some bolts.
Spent clutch disc. Still had some miles left but was slipping in high gear.
Well crap I guess I should take that flywheel out and have it resurfaced or replace it.
More shots of the trans, crossmember, and shortened driveshaft. Note the slip yoke is not the strap type. This means I'm assembling/disassembling the u-joint in the car.
Feel free to judge my ugly welds on that crossmember but in my defense - I had never welded before and just bought a cheap welder, practiced on some scrap, and went for it.
Also its holding up just fine after 7 years of hard driving so I'm happy with it.
Going to put this ballistic blanket on for some more peace of mind.
Last edited by AboveTheLogic; 01-07-2024 at 03:50 PM.
Have to unbolt the steering to drop it down and make room to remove the pan. Steeroids kit. Really only need to remove 4 bolts and it came down enough, and was easy to put back. I was dreading this thinking I would have to remove the rack but it really wasn't bad.
Old pan with studs/nuts. I never really had a lot of confidence in this setup.
Easy to clean when there's no RTV (now there is).
Out.
This is the extent of the disassembly for this job.
Lots of missing parts!
Out with the old.
In with the new.
Now to get the flywheel/clutch/transmission/driveshaft back in.
Also need to deal with some missing control arm shims that are causing the toe on my RR wheel to do whatever it wants. Will be happy if I can drive it again before the end of January.
Hay, great to have a update on things. Yea, that oil pan is weird. I removed one very simular to that from a customers car last month, all the welded seems were leaking and just too low to the ground.
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Your crossmember looks fine. Simular to what I did. But I ended up with a 5spd,, all my buddies talked me out of 6spd. I have a .64 overdrive with a 3:70 rear gear. Its really not too bad of a combination. ( although, I still think i would have enjoyed the 6spd.)
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Yea, Your flywheel doesn't look happy.
All your new parts will make it awesom again.
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Thanks again for the 8k mi update...
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What were your buddies saying when talking you out of a 6-speed? Size/weight?
I found this 6 speed for $1k back in 2015 and there were no 5-speed options around for that price. I love having a 6 speed. That 6th gear on the open highways around here is fantastic and it's always fun at car shows when "hey is that a 4 speed, or did you put a 5 in there?" "actually its a 6 speed".
I hope I can park places without leaving a mark. There might be a leak at my power steering pump but that could just be oil from the pan. Will need to get some degreaser all up in those areas and clean it up.
Yeah for sure I wonder how much that could have contributed to the wear. Either way I'll have to be sure to use that stuff sparingly.
In other news, after convincing myself that changing gear ratios would prolong my clutch life and maybe now's the time to pull the trigger since I've been wanting it for years - I found a rebuilt diff with 4.11 gears and just bought it.
I juat read through this whole thread as I'm wanting to convert my t56 to a push clutch as well. I plan to do what you did with a stock flywheel and push clutch. Could you please provide the part numbers for the two clutch kits you bought? Thanks
01-29-2017, 12:13 PM
I just live that story! I can't wait to do the same with my buddies here,, (( one of them just can't understand why I would want 6spd )) another buddy might have located a T56 for me,,, hopeing it's what I'm lookin for 
