A sampling of interesting Corvette components.
Late production 1963 cluster. This is actually a 1964 cluster housing. The opening for the steering column was much higher in a 1964 cluster housing. In order to fill the extra space, a nicely formed filler was used, from the factory! How about that for creativity!
This wiper motor below was sent to our shop for a restoration. Customer had a one owner 1964. Very unusual 5044518 motor. Had a #13 case that is very seldom used on a 518. Then we noticed a very clear 5-64 date on the main case, and a 3-62 date on the pump! Cannot remember the last time we saw a date on a pump cover, and such a difference in production time. We had no doubt that this was a factory installed part, and had not been serviced. Correct fasteners in the correct position, ground lug properly positioned etc. Customer requested a Type 1 restoration. We contacted the owner and suggested a “survivor restoration” to retain the original finish and patina. A complete service was performed to get the motor running like it should!
Finished views of the survivor restoration on this late production 1964 #5044518 wiper motor.
Also see below the headlight motors out of this extremely well preserved late 1964 Corvette.
Apparently this 1964 Corvette had the optional transistorized ignition! Factory crayon marking would make one think so anyway!
1964 Dash cluster with K66 markings
1964 Dash cluster with “blk” markings Guess this was a black car?
1964 Dash cluster with “no radio” markings
Note excessive grease.
This is the frame and magnet from a 1963 Buzzer tach. (Hi Rpm tach used part of the year, would signal a buzzer at redline.)
Problems in this tachometer! Notice the grease residue at the lower edge. This is a no no! Often we see this with a speedometer, seldom with a tachometer. Tolerances are very close where the magnet spins inside the speed cup. Even a little bit of grease will cause major problems. Fortunately, this one was intact and we were able to restore properly, with the buzzer function working as it was supposed to.
Frame shown with magnet removed.
63 speedo tach backplate. There is an extra hole on this for the buzzer tach electrical contact.
This picture (left) shows the residue clearly on the bottom of the frame after the magnet was pressed out. The gold colored magnet is a high cobalt type that was used in the 63 and 64 tachometers. Speed warning speedometers also used this type of magnet.
This photo (right), shows the backplate. Lots of grease was coming through the cable!
Apparently this cluster was assembled on a Monday or Friday. Note upside down broadcast label
Pictured above is a gold High Cobalt magnet. These were used on 1963-1964 Tachometers, and 1967-1969 Speed warning Speedometers. Note center of magnet on the left. The jewel is extremely worn. Same magnet on the right after new jewel is installed. Worn jewel allows pointer to wobble, and eventual failure of the unit. We have the proper tool and parts to save the magnet. These magnets must be used to insure proper operation in the units mentioned.
Original Unrestored 1967 Corvette Speed Warning Speedometer and Tachometer in our shop for service.
Original set of small gauges from a 1961. Gauges had never been apart. Look carefully and notice the oil and fuel gauge have white graphics. The Battery and temperature gauges have pale green. Transition to pale green started in 1960. Factory assembled gauges with what was in stock. Clearly did not care to “match” the gauge sets.
1953-1962 Corvette Small Gauges have threaded studs. Always be careful not to let the stud turn!
Double stamped date code on this 1967 Corvette Clock. Of course we preserved the stamping!
Triple stamped date code on clock out of a 1966
1965-1967 Corvette Wiper Motor end cap with factory restamp
This fuel gauge from a MINT original 1966 dash cluster has an inspector stamp. Very unusual. Oddly enough, it has some small imperfections shown above.
This speedometer face is marked “Prod Sample”. It is in what appeared to be an unmolested 1966 cluster. Since 1965 was the first year for this design, this seemed odd.
Original frame assemblies used on tachs and speedometers had a stamping of the last 4 digits of the part number. This was a tachometer frame from a 1962. The original number was 1549082
The dash cluster housings were modified in 1965 to accommodate an ignition switch that had an integrated light bulb housing. The 1963 and 1964 housings had a boss to mount a small bulb holder. The tooling was modified as the boss was removed, leaving an open slot in the casting. Factory closed the opening with white cloth tape. Really!
Early production 1965 Battery Gauges did not have the stop pins on the face to limit travel of the pointer.
Terminal board from a 1965 5044602 wiper motor. Worker must have grabbed 2 ground straps and decided to install them both. Not one as required.
1963 Clocks had a small hole in the top of the rear housing. A green dot label was placed over that hole.
Really nice original 1967 gauge cluster. Photo is after restoration. We saved the ink stampings on the original frames.