1966 Chevrolet Corvette Long-Term Road Test

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1966 Chevrolet Corvette Sting Ray: Safety First

June 2, 2015

Before we enlisted our 1966 Chevrolet Corvette as a daily driver, we first took it to a trusted shop for a safety check. Coast Corvette has been in the Corvette business since the 70s and sits just off Interstate 5 in Anaheim, neighboring a small business called Disneyland.

Chuck, the owner, has spent decades in the automotive world and nearly as long restoring classics, primarily 50s and 60s Corvettes. Ken was turning the wrench on our car, and he has some 30 years of vintage Corvette experience himself. We were in good hands.

We had a few concerns going in, but another caught us by surprise.

A few items were on our list. Neither the speedometer nor odometer worked, the parking brake didn't work, and both horns were out. On top of these issues, we wanted a general safety once-over.

The speedometer was a quick repair. Inserting a shim where the cable enters the transmission fixed the gauge and woke the dormant odometer. We aren't sure this will last, but it was the most cost-effective route and that's our goal, at least at this stage. Coast also adjusted the parking brake cable and popped in new horns. A lube, oil and filter also seemed like the right thing to do since we were there and we didn't know when it was last done.

During the safety check, Ken noticed the fuel line. A length of about 60 inches of rubber from the tank to just under the passenger seat hung sloppily in some areas. We don't know much history on this car, but it was clear this was a frame-on repair and could be done better. So he replaced the rubber section with a metal line, added new rubber at the bends and neatly tucked everything away.

Our Corvette was ready for business.

Mike Schmidt, Vehicle Testing Manager