Extremely poor quality c2 part.

[Bruce B.]

When my wife was driving our 65 coupe north on I75 last year the engine blew violently, she did a great job of keeping it on the road until the rear end came around and she went of the road backwards. No damage to the car but engine was gone.
After getting the car home I noticed the turn signal lever was loose due to the breaking of the turn signal cam.
I looked at replacement parts and ended getting a popular cam repair kit from one of the big Corvette suppliers.
When I removed the broken cam it looked similar to the replacement.
Here is why a 30 minute job took 2 to 3 hours.
1. The retaining screw (1 of 3) on the handle side was to large to fit through the hole in the part. I turned it down on my lathe.
2. The turn signal lever would not fit in the slot on the new cam. I filed the end of the lever carefully until it fit.
3. The original screw would not go in the lever hole since the hole was not threaded and to small. I drilled and tapped it.
4. the instructions forgot to tell me to remove the turn signal lever among other things, but I figured it out.
Why in the world can't the suppliers/manufacture make a reproduction part that fits?
I am so sick and tired of JUNK REPRODUCTION PARTS..

[Ed S.]

Re: Extremely poor quality c2 part.

Bruce, I think we all run into this sort of thing on a regular basis. Sometimes it is an easy fix others not so easy. I have to replace my turn signal cam as the arm won't stay down (for left turns). I am assuming the cam is worn. That said, can you share with us what vendor you purchased your cam from -- I will avoid them at least for this repair part. Thanks

[Bruce B.]

Re: Extremely poor quality c2 part.

Ed,
Thanks for the question. I will not name the vendor(S) as I know some of them well.
More then likely the part is produced by one source and sold by the majority of the vendors.
Bruce B

[Bob W.]

Re: Extremely poor quality c2 part.

ED I would bet that they all carry the same part.

Bob

[Ed S.]

Re: Extremely poor quality c2 part.

That is fair, and respectable of you. It really is frustrating though, as you and others well know. Considering the amount of money we spend on the hobby you would think they would try to get it right.

[Bruce B.]

Re: Extremely poor quality c2 part.

Bob.
Correct.
Bruce

[Bob W.]

Re: Extremely poor quality c2 part.

Bruce It's to bad that the top vendors don't pool their money and make good quality parts so ever one wins out. They have good parts to sell and we have good parts to use.

Bob

[Duke W.]

Re: Extremely poor quality c2 part.

My question is why did the engine catastrophically fail? Did a conn. rod break? Which '65 engine option, and is it stock or modified? How many miles and what other history you know about the engine?

There could be a warning or lesson for others.

Duke

[Barry H.]

Re: Extremely poor quality c2 part.

Bruce, I had a similar problem last fall, managed to find a Origional GM part from a good friend. The mounting screw for the turn signal lever was a "self tapping" screw that was included with the switch assy. The friend told me it was also used in the Corvair of the same year.
Sounds as though you got it done OK!
Barry Holmes

[Bruce B.]

Re: Extremely poor quality c2 part.

Barry, I thought about a self tapping screw but the wall thickness around the hole was relatively thin in my opinion and I thought a self tap screw might split the part. So I carefully used a small tap to thread the hole and it seems OK.

[Bruce B.]

Re: Extremely poor quality c2 part.

My question is why did the engine catastrophically fail? Did a conn. rod break? Which '65 engine option, and is it stock or modified? How many miles and what other history you know about the engine?

There could be a warning or lesson for others.

Duke

Duke, my wife was driving at 60 mph in drive (PG car with a Turbo 350) and I was following in my 62 Corvette.
I saw a small puff of smoke come out the right tail pipe. A few seconds later I saw a puff come out of each tail pipe. Then a giant puff of smoke and oil as the engine blew. The cause was lack of oil on the number 1 & 2 crank journal. The number 1 rod seized, the rod bolts broke, the rod put a hole in the pan on the drivers side and came out the passenger side still stuck in the pan. Oil was all over the car (and my 62) and in addition the oil breather cap blew off and out came more oil. After removing the oil pan I saw that the #1 rod journal on the crank was perfectly dry and very blue due to over heating. The number 2 rod journal indicated it was very hot with the bearing starting to melt. The cylinder wall and the outside of the block was broken out both on the passenger side. I never saw any indication of low oil pressure when I drove the car. The engine was a 4 bolt main 350 dressed as a 300 HP small block.