Jack Panzica

Bonjour all, I was very sadden by the events in Pairs. However dark the cloud maybe , The French esprit and strength will win in the end. May you all be safe and strong Jack Panzica Corvette Vagabond

Bonjour , Day 5 " The Great Journey " Oh my God ! Look at that ! Goals for today : Remove rear from cross-member and open rear end to see what happen to it. A lesson to be learned. I have been driving this car for almost 300,000 miles in the North East and just about everywhere else. Winter and Summer , salt and rain. And not one bolt was rusted in or broke trying to take it out. It is sitting for years that rust these cars. Cars that are driven may get surface rust, but it seems the heat and oil must perserve the parts in some way. Sure , they wear out, but I never thought in a million years that the bolts would come out of the rear carrier. But I used a little heat and also used a bolt-out socket by Irwin Tools. It cuts into bolt or nut will take out rounded parts. I thought it best to use it first before a regular socket. I big breaker bar and very slow turning and out came all the bolts on the cross-member and rear carrier. Once the cover was off, it was very apparent what happen as you can see. The drive pinion gear was able to move backward into the Posi unit. The ring gear looks OK ....Posi not so good.... Comments are welcome. Any 3:36 posi rears not being used ? Heating up the cross member bolts. I used a big breaker bar and Irwin Socket (nut / bolt extractor socket) first before I even tried a regular socket Bolts that I though would never come out , came out Cover ready to be taken off , what will we find ? Not very pretty Day 5 Parts Collection

Bonjour my Friends ' C ? Hi to all my wonderful friends in Corvette Gang France I would love to have some one do the repairs, but I thought this would be a good time to have all the forum members come along for the ride. A lift would make it much easier, but that is not going to happen. Today I turn the heat on in the garage, set the stage for major surgery, take photos for the before and as I do each step. If I get into trouble , I will call for help, mostly , it is good to have an extra set of hands, if not just to drag me out from under the car. It will also be a testament to modern Human Replacement Parts. I have both hips and knees that have new joints, both wrists and ankles have been worked on and lets not even talk about my shoulders. If I can drive Thousands of miles, fix my car, go to the gym, then so can many of you out there who may be putting off such work. Give yourself a life.....if you need it, get it done... Pictures to follow later today ....waiting for the garage to warm up.. Jack

Bonjour Rocco, Merry Christmas to you and all the great people of Corvette Gang. I am sorry for my bad manors, I just want to say hello , as you and the Corvette Gang made my time in France the best.... Since there is no glory in changing the rear, get on a plane and come and help me....you may have to bring a good French cook, as I am always missing the great food that you and your friends cooked. May you see me again coming your way.......this time waving to you as I drive up !

Hi, took my son for little ride in car to feel thump in rear or drive train. Let him drive down driveway, he goosed the gas , bad idea ... Something let go in drive train. Stopped car, no drive shafts hanging, but... Car will only go forward or backward one revolution of wheel then stops. It will do it in all 4 gears forward and reverse. Called flatbed, to get car back to my garage. It seems that the rear let go.... I get the car up on jack stands.... time for rear end removal/ strut rods bushing, body mounts, tranny removal, and if possible crossmember , later after rear removal..plus a lot of stuff that is showing wear after 60,000 miles in the last three years. I will ask for help after the weekend , just to make sure I take it apart in the right order.... It will be a real job to do on jack stands....I may offer some Lobsters for lunch as a reward for coming up to Maine to get the tranny off my chest or to help pry the crossmember off the frame... Pictures later.....Son leaving Sunday, for new job in Seattle at Amazon as a robotics engineer... Thanks in advance for you kindness and understanding , and supporting me as I cry under the car.......should be quite interesting... Jack

How to remove and install a haft shaft with new u joints on your back. When you hear the squeak, then the clank, its time to replace a u-joint. I drove most of the summer, hoping my haft shaft would not be sitting next to me . So it was time for a repair. Not having a lift was a small problem, because you can not get leverage on the torque wench to break the flange bolts. It will hit the floor. I had to turn the wheel a bit then pull. The time to do the job was about 2 hours. Not counting the local shop that pressed in the u -Joints for a few dollars. The joints cost about $25 more less a piece. They may have had on them 30 or 40 thousand miles on them since 2011. First Take Off Spare Tire Carrier Not a lot of room Put car up on Jack Stands and then Jack below wheel, used to lift & lower wheel to release haft shaft from flanges on rear and hub. Tools ready, 5/8 and 9/6 wrench and socket for outer and inner bolts and nuts. Torque wrench 75 & 65 Ft lbs. I had a cheap one that only goes to 75. The problem is height of wheel off floor. My wrench would hit floor , so I would have to turn wheel for each little turn. Notice the leg work. Haft Shaft Back from shop with U joints inserted. Installing shaft, I used jack to raise wheel to bring haft shaft up and lock in u-joints in flanges. You do not need to loose any cams nuts for rear alignment shafts. Everything goes right back into place. Job done ! It took me about 30 minutes to remove shaft. Much faster if you had a lift. Took car out and ran it up to 100 + mph and the haft shaft was not sitting next to me. Must have done it correctly. You have too, you can do it. Total cost about $60 including pressing in joints.

Even though I have owned my 66 Corvette for 45 years, the only pictures I have of it prior to 2010 are my Wedding Day pictures taken in 1982. I had just restored it for the second time. It only had 175,000 miles on it at the time. The last picture is how it looks today after a 2010 restoration, with 300,000 miles on the original engine and drive train. 1982 My other true love Driving off on Honeymoon The car today with 300,000 miles on it

And the answers are ; 1954 1955 1956 and best of all a 1957 FI 283 Jack

Salut, il a été un été très occupé et je me suis arrêté pour prendre de l'essence à notre station de gaz locale, un homme a vu ma voiture et a mentionné qu'il avait quelques vieilles corvettes, il a une maison d'été dans le Maine et vit dans le Colorado. Je sortais de la ville à l'époque et lui ai dit de m'envoyer une photo d'eux. Il a fait quelques jours plus tard. Vous ne savez jamais qui vous allez rencontrer lorsque vous êtes propriétaire d'une Corvette. Qui voudrait nommer les ans?

Many thanks to Matthias, Frank , Bettina & Claudia for the wonderful gift. We drank it all, you play a game drinking from the boot without making a splash as the beer drains back down the boot. If you make a splash , you have to drink again.....and again...and again... [URL=http://s633.photobucket.com/user/jackfit87/media/Germany%202/BeerMugGermany-Copy_zps89f8bcb4.jpg.html][/URL

I had the pleasure to hosts 2 couples from Germany at my home and city of Portland , Maine. Pictures of ferry ride to Peaks Island, Food, and Lobster dinner at my home . Enjoy !

Hello to all, Sorry for lack of posts since I got back from France and the Le Mans race. I think 4 years of travel and posting just got to me. I had trouble sitting down looking at pictures or doing posts. I was driving my car every day when possible. Good news, I am back in the saddle and will host 2 couples from Berlin , Germany. They fly into Boston, drive up to Portland , Maine, stay for 3 days, with me lending my car to them to explore the coast of Maine. Matthias's parents where very kind to me on my first night in Germany, by letting me stay with them in their castle. Here are some photos of my time with them. I will post more once they arrive. I am still waiting for a few of my US hosts to come up for a visit. Nice parents Matthias's 66 Frank's Bat mobile I am lending them my car to drive along the coast of Maine, should be fun for them.

Your car is wonderful.....looks fast ...... Je n'ai jamais vu une telle merveilleuse corvette à la recherche ..... magnifique Jack