Bastardized 1959 "Coronet" build

A quick first cruise night...

First_Cruise_Night.jpg
 
Another cruise night last Friday. Car was swarmed... Hood latches are on, 3rd door skin brackets on, front fenders rolled but will still need more tweaking. They still rub on hard turns. Wife finally went for a ride. Asks if the heat works, nope, blower motor doing nothing... I'll need that for an October 14th ride to the sea coast. Plan now is more fender tweaking, refine the rear bumper brackets so the bumper doesn't look like it's falling off. (they were made very quickly and a rough guess).... I'd like to get the 1959 roof panel tacked in place.... we'll see if I can do that before the 14th.

The car loses power occasionally. Not sure why. It pulls hard and steady right up to the 5.7's redline but twice has lost most if not all power but it came right back... Maybe fuel delivery. Not sure how long the crasher was sitting around.
 
Loses power like it's nosing over or cutting out?
I don't think it's cutting out completely but it's hard to tell as its comes and goes pretty quickly. It feels more like the normal amount of throttle just isn't there. I was able to pull into a side road the first time. Engine was still running and after pulling over I was able to drive away normally. Second time, similar symptoms but I didn't pull over, it came right back and I kept driving.

I checked the salvage Corvette title and was a little surprised to see it was issued in 2011. Admittedly, I never looked (and probably should have) but I never got the feel from the seller that it had been crashed a decade before. My error as I might have awakened it a little slower knowing that... However, there was minimal fuel in it and I put 5 fresh gallons in it about a year ago and filled the tank with fresh and Stabil last week.

Anyway, now that I reread my description above, maybe it's electrical. I had moved the drive-by-wire throttle control module to the passenger footwell when I thought I was going to have an open engine compartment. Maybe I didn't get the plugs back on correctly or created a bad connection??? Hmm??? I know that when it's unplugged the engine runs but the throttle does nothing. (Ask me know I know that).
 
I don't think it's cutting out completely but it's hard to tell as its comes and goes pretty quickly. It feels more like the normal amount of throttle just isn't there. I was able to pull into a side road the first time. Engine was still running and after pulling over I was able to drive away normally. Second time, similar symptoms but I didn't pull over, it came right back and I kept driving.

I checked the salvage Corvette title and was a little surprised to see it was issued in 2011. Admittedly, I never looked (and probably should have) but I never got the feel from the seller that it had been crashed a decade before. My error as I might have awakened it a little slower knowing that... However, there was minimal fuel in it and I put 5 fresh gallons in it about a year ago and filled the tank with fresh and Stabil last week.

Anyway, now that I reread my description above, maybe it's electrical. I had moved the drive-by-wire throttle control module to the passenger footwell when I thought I was going to have an open engine compartment. Maybe I didn't get the plugs back on correctly or created a bad connection??? Hmm??? I know that when it's unplugged the engine runs but the throttle does nothing. (Ask me know I know that).
You might indeed have a poor electrical connection.

You may try to duplicate the issue by wiggling harnesses.

Maybe a poor ground?
 
Scan it and see what it says.
No codes other than the one for the air pump I removed on purpose.... I think I may have stumbled onto the root cause... It happened again today and I pulled off the road, engine idling but no throttle then as quick as it left, it came right back. Normal throttle and I drove away... Then I realized that I thought I got a wiff of brakes and I remembered that I thought that before also... So I thought, hey this thing as traction control. That sure seems like what traction control might do, apply the brakes and chop the throttle... I shut off TC with the console switch and it didn't happen again until after I stopped somewhere and then took off with TC on again. Except this time, I quickly hit the traction control button and all was immediately normal... Pretty sure I found it... Will I fix it? Probably, eventually....
 
A little digging around Corvette forums and turns out the traction control system will do this if the wheel/tire size has been changed... Guess what I did... Yup put C5 front wheels/tires on the rear to clear the 1959 sheet metal... Root cause found....
 
Ok this is really hard to believe... I had the opportunity to weigh the car today... Scrap yard scales said 3450 with me in the car. That makes the empty car 3250 lbs. Guess what a stock 1998 Corvette weighs... 3245! How in the world can that be? I know that backglass on the Corvette was heavy, but come on! What am I missing here....
 
Two questions now that it's drivable... Is it going to be painted or are you going for the rough patina look? And will I see this at the Syracuse Nationals next year?
 
It will be painted eventually.. I like to get them drivable, enjoy them and work on them. Hmmm Syracuse Nationals....... hmmm....
 
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