Rebuilt the Carb, But Trouble Persists - 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Long-Term Road Test

Edmunds.com

Rebuilt the Carb, But Trouble Persists - 1966 Chevrolet Corvette Long-Term Road Test

In our last update the carburetor on our 1966 Chevrolet Corvette was drooling gasoline. We had it fixed and more.

Read the full story here

ams124

I am guessing a unrelated alternator issue. Don't know that there was a light for anything else.

Debunker

There are many forms that masochism takes. Owning a car like this is but one of them, but a particularly costly one at that. I suspect that fear and loathing are soon to arrive.

texases

"would not start" - as in, would not turn over? Would crank but not fire? More details, please!

zimtheinvader

texases said:

"would not start" - as in, would not turn over? Would crank but not fire? More details, please!

That is funny, "the car wouldn't start" is what your sister says to tell you exactly what the problem is with the car.

Debunker said:

There are many forms that masochism takes. Owning a car like this is but one of them, but a particularly costly one at that. I suspect that fear and loathing are soon to arrive.

Owning an old car has to be fed by a real love of the car. Either that or a big bank account and someone you pay to manage your collection. The love of the car can get you past the expense and make it enjoyable to work on the car yourself and fun to research problems and solutions online.

I'd also say if you are going to be using it as a regular car then there should be a lot of research into what cars can handle that better. I never see old Corvettes like that on my commute or at the grocery store. Maybe it is because the value is too high or maybe it is because they don't handle it well or a combination of both.

Granted I don't see many old Zs when I'm putting 500 miles a week on mine. Often the few I see are pretty rough but to me that is a good sign that with some tinkering they will just keep going no matter what.

texases

Only slightly less frustrating: "A single, red light in the center of the dashboard." Which light? No effort to figure that out?

fordson1

ams124 said:

I am guessing a unrelated alternator issue. Don't know that there was a light for anything else.

I agree.

$821.14...cha-ching...

thecardoc3

A few more experiences like this and you'll get to have an idea of exactly what it is like as a tech in a shop. "It won't start and a red light was on". The only thing missing from the story at this point would be the " You're the mechanic you figure it out", when you try and get some more information.

At least this does help let the readers get to see the other side of the counter. Sometimes it feels like they are afraid to tell us exactly what happened as if they think that doing so will end up costing them more, when in fact the opposite is true. The more precision we get with the symptoms, the easier it is for us to confirm them and from there the easier the diagnostics get to be. However they should avoid telling us what they think is wrong. Guessing what might be wrong and telling the shop/tech what they think is going on is more likely to lead to unsatisfactory results and disappointment. So at this point knowing what light came on, (overheat, charge, oil pressure) and what the car is/isn't doing right now would really help but a good tech can succeed anyway.

allthingshonda

Edmunds really shouldn't buy cars like this. People purchase old cars because they love cars and they love working on them. The typical classic car buyer wouldn't take it to the shop for a carb problem they would do it themselves. I don't think Edmunds has anybody on staff with oil and grease under their fingernails.

bankerdanny

Does the Corvette not have a voltmeter or ammeter? Either one should have told you there was a problem.

fordson1

allthingshonda said:

Edmunds really shouldn't buy cars like this. People purchase old cars because they love cars and they love working on them. The typical classic car buyer wouldn't take it to the shop for a carb problem they would do it themselves. I don't think Edmunds has anybody on staff with oil and grease under their fingernails.

I have certainly been one to criticize Edmunds for leaving all the work on their cars to professionals, but I must admit that most new car owners do just that.

With this car, though, I think it's different...most owners of 1966 Corvettes don't have all their work done by others, because your typical owner of a car like this LIKES to work on it.

And yeah, with an older car with idiot lights and a full gauge package, when a light goes on, you immediately scan the gauges for more info...sounds like that was not done here.

thecardoc3

allthingshonda said:

I don't think Edmunds has anybody on staff with oil and grease under their fingernails.

The list is of "don't have" is probably a lot longer than just that. This Corvette is the simplest of machines by today's standards. If they can't handle this car, then....

bankerdanny

allthingshonda said:

I don't think Edmunds has anybody on staff with oil and grease under their fingernails.

That is most definitely not true. They have several people with the experience to do most of what they did here (rebuilding the dizzy is pretty specialized).

But this car doesn't belong to any of these people and they all have other responsibilities. I suspect this is why they hire out the work most of the time. A regular owner would do it on their own time on the weekends because it is a labor of love and more importantly, because the vehicle belongs to them and so they benefit from their own labor.