Rob Edwards

Nice day here today, 80 degrees and Santa Anas blowing. Good day for paint to dry. I managed to drop the original coil during disassembly and cracked the tower Decided to refurb a good used one from Mark.

Paint, then flat Krylon clear:




Original, vs. plated bracket and sticker on the right. (still need to print the 2nd decal). Note the careful attention to the right amount of sloppy, indifferent overspray:

James Bailey

The overspray is a nice detail....

karl ruiter

We're not fooled. That there is FACTORY overspray.

Imo000

Wasn't going to say anything because enough people here think I should ride the short bus with a propler hat but I'm glad you did.

Rob Edwards

Just because it's William, I'll clean it off and make the masking line perfect. A perfect unobtanium early coil cover is going on top anyway, so it'll be hidden, but it needs to be PERFECT! (Judges can't remove stuff to inspect, right?

Next time I'm at Mark's I'll pull out his box of OEM blue Bosch coils and a take a survey of the overspray- this is apparently a serious business once your car attains collectible status. Large swaths of the vintage Corvette forums are taken up with how much overspray is correct?

To wit:

http://www.corvetteforum.com/forums/...overspray.html

jcorenman

You mean the part that is hidden under the boot?

Rob Edwards

I was under the impression that a cracked coil tower was a sure fire way to get arcing and misfiring. Did I paint the wrong coil?

Rob Edwards

And the cleaning never stops....

Rob Edwards

The OE firewall material is nicely responsive to heat, which in retrospect should have been obvious given how well it melts near the exhaust downpipes....

Before:


After heating along the upper edge: (the OE stuff is butyl, so new material should be patch-able into the defects, then the lower half covered with reflective foil). The little 'measle' bumps can be softened and flattened as well.

The Deputy

Hello Rob,

Heat gun or hair dryer?

I picture that little wooden roller that wallpaper installers use when doing the seams...being a good tool to press those tinny bumps out. A small paint roller may work, too. My wife was both, but the million dollar question is...would it be easier to just go buy one...or see if I can find hers.

Also, did ylu have to use any glue behind the repair?

Thank you, for the up-date on this repair. Had every intention of doing it last weekend myself...but the flu stole my will to live...let alone work in the garage...lol.

Looking good, and thank you for the continued reports.

Brian.

linderpat

That's how mine is too Rob. The question is what will happen to it after a couple of spirited drives and sitting in the sun, with all of that engine bay heat? My "guess" is that it will simply droop right back to where it was. The composition of the material could be sufficiently compromised from all of the heat over the years, such that while it could now be pulled back to original shape, it might still fall right back down after the next heat cycle or two.

EDIT - maybe glue it in along the edge while you have access?

Rob Edwards

Brian-

Heat gun, on low, 2-3 inches away, never stop moving. When you can barely stand to touch it, it's hot enough to stretch.

My bet is it'll just slump right back down- We didn't glue the sections back up again but we certainly will- you can see the original failed glue residue above the slumped material. Not sure whether 3M #90 adhesive, Weldwood HHR, or ??? would be the better product for this. Guess we'll find out...

William A

Is it just me, or does that saggy rubber look a bit obscene? Leave it to the clinical pathologist to post that...

Rob Edwards

It does look a little like elephantiasis. (Don't Google Image that word...)

Rob Edwards

Discovered that when you supercede from the 78-82 tensioner boot to the 83+ tensioner boot, you need a 50 mm hose clamp, rather than the 44 mm hose clamp used originally. And I don't happen to have a plated 50 mm hose clamp in the parts bin..

So instead of stringing the belt we spent some time figuring out order of assembly tonight, getting things oriented and the parts in place. Nothing is bolted down, just piecing things together: