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Has there been an exact decision on if ALL midyears had the zirt, under the clutch cross shaft, replaced with a plastic plug or was it limited to just some years?
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Re: Midyear Clutch Cross Shaft Plug
L,
From what I remember, and Iron Duke (for one) will be able to confirm this more, but the 1963 model year did not implement the red colored, clutch cross shaft plug. I "think" it was at least narrowed down to "begin" in the 1964 model year, possibly from the start of it, with all other (Midyears, at least) to follow. TBarr #24014 -
Re: Midyear Clutch Cross Shaft Plug
Tom has it right, Larry. We had a thread on this a couple of months ago. Both I and David Van Weel (both original owners) swear that our '63s had a zerk from the factory, and guess what, the AIM backs us up. There it is, part number and all. It first shows up as original issue in the '64 AIM. Now maybe the plug was implemented in late '63. It wasn't there in mid production and Dave's Z06 is fairly late. This one slipped by the guys doing the JIM, but considering its volume I'm impressed with its accuracy.
The next question is how do we get it changed? You're in judging now and know the ropes better than me. Any suggestions?
DukeComment
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Re: Midyear Clutch Cross Shaft Plug
Duke, You have to write the 63 Team Leader. The Manuals are updated at certain times. He might add the observation that" a few known original 63's came with a cross-shaft zirk fitting". But you will need some documentation, others' observations,etc. before anything gets changed.
Texas Chapter NCRSComment
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Re: Midyear Clutch Cross Shaft Plug
Tom - My experience with both a '66 and '67 that as far as I know are pretty original and did not have previous owners that were such "good boy scouts" that they installed "zerk" fittings in the cross shaft and some info I have from other folks, one with a '72 LT1, is that the original plastic plugs I have come across are "orange" not red. The portion that is exposed ,i.e. out of the "1/8" NPT hole in the clutch cross shaft, can have a slight hint of yellow from discolorization from age; but the inter portions are distinctly orange and there is a "Z" embossed on the top of the outside, i.e top of the "hat," of the plug. So, I'd be curious as to your experiences with these plugs because the only red ones I have seen have been installed when folks realized the "zerk" was not an original installation on their "64 and later Corvette and being sold by several vendors. Perhaps, there were two suppliers. Nothing would surprize me, but from a purchasing perspective I wouldn't expect it. BTW, I've owned my '67 for ~18 years which is to the best of my knowledge before the vendors started selling the red plug. PeteComment
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Re: Midyear Clutch Cross Shaft Plug
Pete,
More than likely, I would say you are right. The one and only time I can recollect seeing an original zerk plug for the midyear clutch cross shaft it did seem more orange than red. I suppose I can only say that I thought it was faded that way. Vendors today sell the red ones, like you mentioned. It could be that most everyone (at least here) had taken the "exact" color a little too casually. Many thanks for the info. TBarr #24014Comment
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