Chassis Part Pictures
Original Front Brake Cylinders.

Not judged my the NCRS, so only a real purist hunts down the orignal brake cylinders. Also used on pasenger cars. The 54 and 55 parts books suggests that the cylinders had a different casting number. I suspect the parts book have a typo, however. By all accounts, the 821 and 822 cylinders are the real deal. Passenger cars also used thes cylinders, so they pop up on ebay very now and then.



1954 Generator.

Should be black, but otherwise the real deal. 1954 Corvette Generator part number 1102793, with a June 15, 1954 date. Late 54 cars.



Coil
The real deal for an original 1954 corvette puuley and fan. Note the number inside the pulley. Corvette only pulley. I purchased the generator, pulley and fan on ebay at a great price. FedEx unfortunately broke the pulley during shipment. Ugh. A 1053 pulley has the number on the front side. Replacement pulleys do not have a number at all. Since the number appears on the inside for 54's, nobody can tell the difference.



Heater Shut-Off Valve
Original on the left, passenger car replacement on the right. Note the difference in valve orientation and handle.



Horn Relay - 775
Original horn relay on the left, later GM replacement on the right. Note the original has 3 screw holes for mounting, the later replacement has 5. If you are buying an NOS one in a sealed box, make sure that you are getting the 3 hole version. Dn't ask me how I know that.


1953-1954 Master Cylinder
This master cylinder comes off a Pontiac. But it is correct for NCRS judging. The cap is correct (far right), the end piece is accepted (middle), and the casting number with the large 233's is also accpeted on the inboard side. My 54 has a master cylinder that is exactly the same as the above,except the end cap ends in 320-G (instead of 320-H). The connection to the brake line is different as well.

Note that the NCRS manual suggests that only early 54's had the larger 233's on the inboard side.. But my 54 #3279 has it, and so does 54 #3182. Both of these master cylinders appear original to the cars.



Radiator Surge Tank
Original 1953 tank on the left, and original 1954 tank on the right. Note the difference in band markings across the top of the tank - 53 doesn't have bands, while the 54 does.

It is hard to tell from these pictures, but the 53 (to about car #280) has a much longer chrome overflow pipe. The overflow pipe has a 90 degree bend in it. Late 53's and all 54's have a short overflow pipe with no bend.


Speedometer Cable
NOS cable /Original speedometer cap will have AC speedometer casted in at both end nuts 53,54 and 55


Starter Motor
Top Pictures - Original 1954 Starter Motor with part number 1108035, and solenoid with part number 1118135. 1953s and early 54 starters had a part number of 1107109. This starter is dated 4E26, or May 26, 1954.

Bottom Pictures - NOS 1955 starter with Solenoid #1119767 having only ONE post marked "S" used for the key hot wire/ not two posts like later Corvette used . The 55 Solenoid also did not have a rubber boot covering the plunger.



Starter Relay - 886
Originals on the left (missing the black Delco cap) and reproduction purchased from Mary Jo on the right. This device is mounted on the firewall in the engine compartment, on the passenger side. The relay prevents your car from starting with the car in drive or reverse.

The original is stamped with an 886 on the back, and is a Corvette only part. Hard to find, and expensive.

You can buy a reproduction part, and make it look like an original. The reproduction part had two prongs in the front, whereas the original only has one. You clip off the prong on the right hand side, and the reproduction looks just like the original. To get the reproduction to work properly, you have to solder a wire on the back side running between the two prong mounts. The wire has to be thick. But when mounted, the reproduction will look and work just like the original.


Electrical Terminals
Original 6cyl electrical terminals. Each car has two. One on the driver's side, one on the passenger's side. The terminals are not mounted flush against the fiberglass, however. "Top Hats" go in-between the fiberglass and the terminals. Top hats are hard to find. And are not reproduced.



1954 Washer Lid
An NOS 53 washer setup on the left, a very nice original 54 lid on in the middle, and an NOS 55 lid on the right. . Early 53's had a foot pump activated washer system until about halfway thru the 53 production. Late 53's and all of the 54's had a dash knob washer activated system. I suspect the lids changed as a result of the change in washer activation. Lids came with either the yellow sticker shown above, or a red sticker. Either one works.

Note that the lids for the 53 and 55 differ. With the 53 lids, the two black connectors go in opposite directions. On the 55 lid, the two black connectors point the same way.


1954 Voltage Regulator - 1118827
Originals on the left of both pictures, later GM replacement part on the right. Looking at the pic on the left, the original has two screws going thru the cap, while the reproduction has the screws going thru on the base at the sides.

The part number of the original is on the side of the base (see left VR in the photo to the right). The part number is on the top of the base, left hand side on the replacement unit. Both these parts are dated 4D. For the original, that's April 1954. Don't ask why I have two VR's both dated 4D.

1953 Regulators are numbered 1118725, but look the same as the original VR above.



Wiper Units
Original on the left, passenger car unit on the right. On the original, the brass tube on the rear of then unit does not bend around. Just extends about 3/4 of an inch, without any bend. I have also seen some wiper with a different tube setup in the front.

The vacuum operated wipers were lousy. I suspect that's why Chevy migrated to an electric wiper system in the mid to late 50's on the Corvettes. Based on how poorly the wipers work and how leaky the car is, I bet that most 54's were driven only on Sunny days.


Wipers - Trico RB11
Originals in both pictures. The key thing to look for with wipers - RB11, Trico, raised dots, and a rubber black tip. The tip prevents the metal wiper from scratching the window if something happens to the blade.

Need to be careful here. Trico also produced RB-11s with raised dots, but without the black tip.