Quadrajet Tuning: Replacing the Idle Mixture Screws

I wasn't sure if the company that rebuilt my Corvette's Quadrajet carburetor replaced the idle mixture screws, but from the looks of them, my guess is that they did not.

They were clean, but they showed signs of pitting and wear, and I wasn't sure if that would hurt how my car idled.

So, I removed them to inspect them closely as well as take measurements to make sure I would order the correct screws. I also messaged the eBay seller with the details as to what I needed, the carburetor ID number, a photo of one of the screws, plus measurements I took.

A reply from Quadrajet Power confirmed I was ordering the correct idle mixture screws for my Rochester Quadrajet.

The $10 cost for the pair, shipping included, made this decision super easy.

Quadrajet Tuning: Adjusting the Idle Mixture Screws

GOOD Vs. BAD JUJU

For some of us who own C3 Corvettes equipped with Rochester Quadrajet carburetors, getting them properly adjusted seems to be a difficult task. And at first glance, it appears only a select few know the secret or the magic juju spell required to get a Quadrajet to run right.

I've had professional mechanics attempt to get my 1976 Corvette Stingray to run properly, with mixed results (no pun intended), and I've never been 100% satisfied. From rough idle to hard-starting to extreme gas smell, my car experienced all of those and more.

One "professional," for example, convinced me Quadrajets were trash, so I spent money on a brand new Edelbrock. This was not the solution and that carb was, in my opinion, worse than the factory carburetor.

Eventually, I sent my old and tired Quadrajet to All American Carburetors in Orange Park, Florida, and they remanufactured it. A few weeks later, I had my old carburetor in like-new condition.

The mechanics who did the engine swap reinstalled it and adjusted it a bit so the car would run okay. And it did. My Corvette ran "okay."

Call me crazy but I wanted it to run great after all the money I'd spent.

Replacing the Fuel Filter on the Rochester Quadrajet

Where is the Fuel Filter Hiding?

In plain sight!

And even though that may sound like a dumb question once you know the answer, I know I was left scratching my head many years ago when someone told me that it would be a good idea to replace my Corvette's fuel filter on another '76 Vette I owned back in the early 1980s.

Anyway, the fuel filter resides inside the fuel inlet housing right on the carburetor itself.

GM engineers even added the word FILTER along with an arrow showing the location.

Building 3" Car Ramps

Three inches is not a lot, but three inches allows me to maneuver and position the low-profile jack I have a lot better, thus allowing me to raise my Corvette without flexing the body as much. If you've ever lifted your Vette from one side, pay attention to the door gaps and you'll see what I'm talking about.

I built four ramps in order to drive the car on them and keep it level. This also allows better access all around, especially after you jack up the vehicle and have it sitting on jack stands front or back or both.

Since I did not want to break the bank with this project, I purchased inexpensive,  construction-grade lumber. You could build nice ramps from exotic hardwood, for example, but for my garage, this lower-grade stuff is just fine.

C3 Corvette Oil Change

I like to take care of as many routine maintenance jobs for my '76 Corvette as I possibly can. There is a certain amount of pride as well as confidence when you know a particular job was done by you and done right.

Of course, you can always take your pride and joy to the local 10-minute-oil-change shop and hope they know what they're doing and that they will use the right oil and filter. And you can also hope they will tighten everything properly plus take a few minutes to look for any leaks, make sure the oil pan bolts are tight, and stuff like that. They probably won't, but you can always hope.

I much rather know for sure everything was done to both factory and my own standards, which are pretty darn high, as they should be.

But before you get on the ground with wrenches in hand, STOP!

Proper planning is of the essence and it pays off to plan your work, and then work your plan.

The Corvette Hunter: Kevin Mackay's Greatest Corvette Finds

Becoming The Corvette Hunter

It all started back in 1981 with a plan to do a 100%-correct restoration on a 1965 small-block Corvette Kevin Mackay purchased after selling his '64 convertible.

And so, with parts list in hand, Kevin traveled from swap meet to swap meet until every single correctly-identified nut and bolt was found.

After two years of work, the '65 was completed and Kevin took it to one of the largest Corvette shows in the New York/New Jersey area. Luminaries in attendance included Zora Arkus-Duntov and Larry Shinoda.

But perhaps more importantly—at least for Kevin—also present was Ed Mueller, a respected and well-known car collector.

When Mueller asked Kevin, "What shop did the work?" Kevin answered, "I did the car myself." Mueller handed Kevin his business card and told him, "If you ever open your own business, I want to be your customer."

Kevin's 1965 Corvette won "Best in Show" out of the 100-car field. Not too shabby for a Vette restored in a New York backyard.

For the next three years, Kevin enjoyed his '65 Corvette until he got laid off from his job as a mechanic for the City of New York.

C3 Wheel Well Detailing: Undercoating and Paint

Detailing the wheel- or fender-wells is a dirty job, but if done correctly the difference will be nothing short of stunning, and the amount of time and effort is well worth it.

It transforms a car completely and makes it look showroom fresh.

Don't believe me? Read on...

2018 Spring Turkey Rod Run - Daytona International Speedway

The weather for this year's Spring Turkey Rod Run at the Daytona International Speedway was as close to perfect as you can hope for.

And even though every morning started on the chilly side, it warmed up into the high 70s. Again, just perfect.

As usual, Friday and Saturday were quite busy, but Sunday was pretty quiet in comparison.

I arrived early enough each day, but Saturday was quite busy by the time I rolled onto the infield by 8:00 in the morning.

Cleaning and Painting C3 Brake Calipers

C3 Corvette brake calipers are not the prettiest around, but since they're usually hidden behind Rallies or slotted mag wheels, you really don't see them.

But they do get more than their share of brake pad dust, road grime, weather and, consequently, rust.

Depending on the age and condition of yours—they always find a way to spring a leak—you may have to replace them for safety's sake. But even brand new, out-of-the-box calipers will start to corrode as soon as you get them installed, if not sooner. That's the nature of the cast-iron beast.

My calipers were in pretty decent condition, albeit covered in surface rust. But leak-free which is a money-saver.

Pace Car Air Dam For My 76 Vette | Part 2

Almost a year ago I purchased a Pace Car air dam for my '76 Stingray, but the lack of garage space and having most of my tools stored in boxes relegated this project to the back burner.

Well, since I now have a new home with a small, yet nicely equipped garage, it was time to tackle this project and get the front spoiler installed.

As far as the front spoiler is concerned, you have two options. Either a one-piece fiberglass unit or the three-piece urethane air dam that I chose for my Corvette.

Reinstalling the Wiring Harness for the Headlights Correctly

As I had mentioned previously in C3 Corvette Low Beams: Inside or Outside?, whoever took the Corvette apart to repaint it, completely screwed up reinstalling the wiring harness for the headlights.

This resulted in not only having the position of the low beams swapped with the high beams, but also a complete mess with the harness just thrown in behind the nose of the car.

I guess they thought since you can't see it, no one would care. Well, I care and therefore, I had to remove the harness as much as I could in order to undo the rat's nest that they created.

In this particular case, the factory assembly manual came in handy to help me reroute the wiring harness correctly.

C3 Corvette Low Beams: Inside or Outside?

The photo below shows how the previous owner had the low beams installed, and as far as I know, none of the other five C3 Corvettes I owned in the past looked like this. Besides, it looks stupid to me so I had to do something, even though it took me three years to get around to it.

But this is not just a matter of unplugging them and then plugging them in the correct position. Nope. It takes a bit more work than that.

Since I rarely drive my Vette at night, this project kept getting pushed to the back burner, but since I recently refurbished the headlight actuators, I felt it was time to get this issue taken care of.

I started by manually opening the headlight assemblies, and then I removed the headlamp bezels. This time I did not use the RhinoRamps thinking this was going to be an easy and quick job. I was wrong!

Small Oil Puddle on the Intake Manifold

This is not an uncommon problem, but motor oil belongs inside the engine, not outside, so I took the time to immediately address this issue.

My '76 has an Edelbrock Performer intake manifold, but I've had the same problem before with OEM parts, and in this case, the manifold was not to blame. The oil was seeping through one of the manifold bolt holes.

The red arrow above points to the small puddle of motor oil that would accumulate one or two days after I drove my car.

Fortunately, this issue was limited to just one bolt and, therefore, the solution was simple:

Refurbishing the Headlamp Actuators

As I mentioned in Cleaning the Headlight Vacuum Hoses, the headlamp actuators also needed attention. Desperately!

The previous owner had done a "rattle can restoration" of the whole area, in what I believe was an ill-fated attempt to make things look better.

The whole area was a disaster when you take into account years of road grime, primer and paint overspray from a color change, in addition to layers of flat black spray paint.

Rubber hoses can be cleaned provided they are pliable and free of cuts or pinholes.

But actuator cans need a little more than just a cleaning, and in extreme cases, replacing the parts with new units is the only viable solution.

Cleaning the Headlight Vacuum Hoses

I'm guessing that the previous owner decided to "clean up" or "restore" the engine bay—as well as the headlight assemblies (along with anything else that was on his way)—with Bubba's favorite resto tool, the always-popular rattle can of black paint.

Now don't get me wrong; Like many DIYers and pros out there, I use rattle cans quite a bit. But I use them correctly and (most of the time) as intended. I do not have a compressor, so aerosol cans offer an affordable and quick alternative.

Anyway, as I continue to find areas to clean and refurbish, I decided to tackle the headlight assemblies, but this can be a gargantuan project, so I decided to do it in stages, and the easiest one to do first was to clean (as well as inspect) the headlight actuator vacuum hoses.

I think the photo above helps to illustrate the black hole that spraypaint can create in a matter of seconds. Sure, it beats the look of rust any day of the week and twice on Sunday, but the problem is that those hoses are color-coded and this approach completely negates that.

Not to mention how challenging a project this can create should you need to remove then reinstall a couple of hoses. You need to know where the hoses connect and the colored stripes help with that.

Corvettes of the 2018 NCRS Winter Regional Meet

The early morning of Thursday, January 11th. started cold and dreary, at least by Florida standards. Someone recently said, "2018 is the year Florida decided to have a real winter." I think most Floridians—including this one—wholeheartedly agree.

As a friend and I took the 1½-hour drive down to Lakeland, fog blanketed the start of our journey, and the threat of another rainy day loomed on the horizon. Fortunately, as we approached Lakeland's Linder Regional Airport, the weather improved considerably.

I have to say that I was somewhat disheartened by what—in my opinion, was—a pretty small group of cars, vendors, and especially enthusiasts. Two years ago the weekday scene was quite different, so maybe the cooler-than-usual weather kept many from participating.

Anyway, I took a whole bunch of photos of C1s, C2s, and of course, C3s for your viewing pleasure.

Corvette Hideaway: Garage Improvements and Organization

Above: My 76 Vette at home.

As most Corvette lovers will understand, you have to devote quite a bit of time and funds in order to make the garage a place you'll not only enjoy but one that will also protect your prized possession.

In my particular case, having a one-car garage makes the task a lot easier as well as affordable, compared to two- or three-car garages.

But after painting walls and floors, adding toolboxes and workbenches, improving the lighting and adding outlets everywhere, as well as posters and decorations, there is one area that most will ignore and that is the garage door itself, which is odd since it takes up a whole wall!

But somehow it's ignored, sort of like old wallpaper. You know it's there but you don't really care.

C3 Corvette Clutch Anti-Rattle Spring

SQUEAK, RATTLE, GROAN!

I am not talking about a new cereal.

Unfortunately, I am talking about some of the noises C3 Corvettes tend to make at one point or another.

I hate creaks, squeaks, groans, and rattles emanating from vehicles, and my '76 Stingray made a lot of unwanted sounds when I first got it.

Slowly I've been chasing all those noises trying to get to the source of each and everyone in order to eliminate them, a process that takes time, but worth the effort in my opinion.

One of the most obnoxious rattles manifested itself after I had the engine rebuilt.

I am not sure if the shop that did the motor removal and reinstall failed to use the factory clutch anti-rattle spring, but the clutch pedal rattling started shortly thereafter.