Joey Pants 1960 Corvette Project

A long time comming!

The documentry of a vette rod
By Joey Pants
Photography by Joey Pants

It's been in the family since the mid seventies. My uncle Clarence purchased the car and began to dissassemble it for restoration. After his passing my dad, my brother and I began to bring the car back to a drivable state first replacing the wiring and any parts that had been removed. Putting the car back together was a challenge at times having not dissasembled the car origionally.

We identified the engine as a 1963 250hp 327 from a passenger car. After the rebuild of the origional carb didn't take, I decided to replace the engine top end with an Edelbrock EPS aluminum intake and a Holley 600 cfm carb in an effort to get the car back on the road quickly. The exaust was showing it's age so it was replaced with exaust manifold back Magnaflow aluminized pipes and stainless steel mufflers.

The engine compartment doesn't look so bad in person. The photos really bring out the rust. Soon the engine will be pulled and the engine bay cleaned and painted with factory satin black. The 327 will receive a Comp Roller Cam and a set of Trick Flow 56cc chamber heads. I'm not going to have the block decked therfore the 56cc heads will give me around 10.25:1 compression with a .020" to .025" deck height (if my calculations are correct). The engine will get a coating of Chevy Orange paint and an MSD E-Curve distributor.

A Griffin or DeWitt radiator with electric fan will be installed. I'm going to trash the Generator in favor of a chrome 140 amp unit with a six rib pully. The remaining pulleys will also be replaced with the six rib serpentine style from March Performance.

The M-21 Muncie will be replaced with the new RS 600 5 speed from Keisler Auto. The RS 600 Is a descendant of the T56 six speed used in C5 and C6 Corvettes and shifts like a dream. The RS 600 has a smaller case and is lighter than the T56 therefore it can be installed in a 1960 Corvette with out modification to the transmission tunnel. Smooth shifting and a 5th gear over-drive for highway crusing.

The 250hp 327 is rated at 350 lbs-ft of torque at 2800 RPM and the open differential will not allow the car to launch at all. The right tire spins thru 3rd gear even with the 3.50:1 final drive ratio. The third member will be upgraded to a much needed 3.70:1 posi.

1963 Chevrolet 327 Engine Specs: