64 engine cam

[Bill Stephenson]

Re: Look Up RESTORE.....

Mike,

------Those 20 overs came out of S.Yunicks of Daytona and part# ones are very hard to find. I couldnt even get 30 overs quickly and there was some speed necessary in this rebuild. Interestingly enough, there were 60s everywhere. Go figure.
------It seems, that I forgot a few things when I was restoring our 66. I, as it sounds like with you, have been around for awhile (kind way of saying I have probably been at this too long) and almost always like to think I know what I like. When I did our 66 in 1997 it was the first time I had really paid attention to bc/cc in the context of restorations and points and such. I was swayed from using bc/cc on our car because of the lure of points. I blame no one but myself for the choices I made at the time, but NCRS and B/G were heavily in my thoughts. They shouldnt have been. As I said before, I know what I like! It is somewhat of a shame as I find we dont use the car as I would have liked post-resto. Oh, but I have that B/Gold hanging on the wall!!! Sort of realized what I had done to myself shortly after B/G and decided not to show the car in a "points" venue again. I was sucked in once, but Im over it. Its way more important to me that "I" like how I do something, not how a judge likes it!!!
-------Thanks for your thoughts on this. For some reason its something I enjoy debating with knowledgeable people!!! ..........Bill S

[mike cobine]

Re: Look Up RESTORE.....

Bill,

When I built my 302 in '93, I remember everyone had .060 over, too. Of course, most just couldn't believe I wanted 302 pistons. For a Chevy? The number of people who told me I must mean Ford was incredible. :-)

Trying to get parts in most parts stores was a hassle and a lot of fun. Imagine the typical parts store "clerk" trying to look up a '66 Corvette with a 302 on their computer. Can't be done, although a few have found the six cylinder model. :-) And often, the "experienced" "clerk" would make a comment "why did you put a Ford engine in a Corvette?" or make some comment to a co-worker "I have some idiot that stuck a Ford engine in his Corvette and wants parts."

The lacquer I'll probably stick with because of sensitive eyes. While checking a few cars for a client this year, the BC/CC just stood out to me. Of course, I surprised a reproduction Cobra manufacturer years ago when I picked out his real Cobra from the group of repros at 100 feet inside an unlit warehouse. (He'd offered me any of the group for $15,000 - I picked his real one, which he didn't expect.) I just see those things, maybe others don't.

I don't plan to ever judge. I know what is wrong and right with the car, having owned it since '77. So doing it to please a judge is not even an issue.

That and I wonder when the pendelum will swing the other way. What is acceptable now may not be in a few years. The hobby as been known to do such changes. And a paint job isn't something that can be changed quickly or cheaply. Since I kind of look at them as an insurance policy, in the event I or my wife would need to turn them into cash quickly, there would be no time to change paint and maximize the price. That is just a personal hangup. Kind of like my black stripe on the '68. I had always planned to have one to accent the big block hood, since around '77. Now that I have pulled the car back out of storage and planning to paint in a few months, one part says to finally do my stripe. The other part says "Are you nuts?" because to ever remove the stripe will be expensive just in materials alone and custom paint jobs are really taking a toll on market prices these days. Yet, that one part still wants it.

Of course, I have found that much of the current big-bucks Corvette buying population, while they want them restored, Top Flight or Bloomington Gold, they only know those as buzz words and really are more impressed by the looks of the BC/CC than the correct lacquer. So realistically, the money side of lacquer and BC/CC may be a non-issue.

The issues almost seems more critical on the middle priced Corvettes where too many normal people are buying as opposed to the unreal prices where the rich are buying. So I guess if I'd just outrageously price the cars, it wouldn't matter.