Rally68

Last year I started a rebuild of my rear suspension, prompted by a broken spring mount on my diff cover. I made a few posts in this thread:

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...uild-pics.html

I ended up doing a complete overhaul of the trailing arms, differential, etc. Others have done a better job than I ever could of documenting these jobs, so I won't go there, but I thought I'd share a few pics.

Before:


After:


Before:


After:


Before:


After:


Before:


After:


New trailing arms, bearings, bushings, brake lines, e-brake hardware, spring, shocks, u-joints, rebuilt diff with Tom's 3.73s in place of the stock 3.08s and an HD rear cover, new crossmember pucks, pinion snubber cushion, stut rods, cam bolts, all new hardware, and the frame rust-proofed and painted from the doors back. I've had a blast driving her the last 2 days. It goes without saying that I couldn't have done any of this without all the great content, advice, tips, and plain old encouragement I got from the Forum. Next winter -- the front suspension!!



Chris

Peterbuilt

That came out GREAT! Now go out for a nice ride! PG.

calwldlife

Rebelrob

Very nice. Im jealous. I don't like all my rust... I was about to ask if ya refinished and painted it all, but you said its all new.
Keep up the good work.

demonx

That looks awesome. Makes me think I should go back and re-do some of mine instead of being slack!

jeff79'

That is a job you can be proud of. It looks GREAT !...How does it handle now and how do you like the new gears?...NO MORE RAIN for you!

Tom's 79

Wow, what a difference! Nice work, now go drive the hell out of it!

ChrisMiami

holy crap! that looks fricken AWESOME! Dang, it makes you want to park it upside down, don't it? :-)

So who's Tom? 3.73 is the ratio I'd like to use for mine too, I think. How much difference (no pun intended) do you notice?

Awesome work, Bro.

Chris

Rally68

U.S. Gears here in Chicago manufactures Corvette ring & pinion sets under license to Tom's Differentials in Idaho. He is the only person they sell them to, so you have to get them from him. I bought from him on the advice of several forum members. The 3.73s definitely have more torque, the acceleration is like night and day. The launch is better, but the top of 1st and all the way through 2nd is where I can really feel a difference.

As far as the handling, it's like a different car. No more wondering which direction the rear end will go after hitting a big bump, no more bangs from the diff, no more "clunk" and squat when putting her in gear.

The only drawback is, it really highlights how thrashed the original FRONT components are!

THANKS TO ALL FOR THE KIND WORDS, especially since nobody else will ever see it!!


Chris

Clams Canino

I hope mine looks that good!!
I also wonder about this Tom feller and his gears? I'm still torn between 3.5x and 3.7x but the 3.08 is not gonna cut it later on, and I don't wanna go back in. Did you do the gear swap yourself? Special tools or talent? Lastly, how did you get the pumpkin so clean?

-W

Rally68

I did it all myself, but I was channeling GTR1999 and Stinger12, their posts on diff rebuilding are excellent...you will need to make a special wrench to hold the pinion yoke (a few dollars worth of angle iron and some bolts), and you need a hydraulic press, engine stand, bearing separator, dial indicator, and micrometer. Sounds like a lot but I bought all those tools either used or from Harbor Freight for under $250. Everything else is just standard shop tools.

I don't think I have any special talent, I'd never done this before anyway.

I used a fountain pump, a 5-gallon bucket, and some tubing and plastic plumbing pipe to convert one of my basement utility sinks into a parts washer big enough to hold the diff. I scrubbed the heck out of it, rust-proofed, and painted with Cast Blast.

I was worried about the rpms on the highway, but it is not bad at all. IMHO, go with the 3.73s!

Cheers,

Chris

fe1ixdakatt

Fantastic work! That's one of the projects I have on my list to start this coming winter, so I may shoot you a few emails for some tips and tricks. Fantastic job!

Clams Canino

ONe last thing. When it it came down, the differential cross member has marks on the top center area. In the front were 2 "diamonds" stamped in the steel and at the rear were some numbers. Do you recall which way yours were facing - or in your opinion is that member symmetrical anyway? I marked mine... but I trust nothing because of who last took it apart before I got it.

Note: the marks outta be between the two circles on top - fore and aft.

-W (who has a long memory)

groovyjay

That can't be the same car! What a difference!

redman76

That looks great; yours looks as good as any I've seen. Do you have to squat down and look at it every time you walk by? I find myself doing that . . . I guess it's just more symptoms from the C3 syndrome. I can't wait to get some 3.73s in mine, but that will be another year. I bet driving is a real kick now. Enjoy the fruits of your labor.

GTR1999

Looks good, did you polish & tune the posi as well?

Rally68

In my case, there was a mark, like a shadow, on the crossmember left by the rear cover of the diff. Even after I sanded, rust-proofed and painted the crossmember, the imprint was there so it was easy for me to see how it had been mounted. Okay, I just zoomed in on one of my other pictures, the double diamonds go forward--toward the front of the car.

Pretty much

I must confess, I did not. I dove into the diff reluctantly, based primarily on the success I had following your trailing arm thread (thank you, by the way). I put the car on stands last November, and between budget issues and three kids in every activity under the sun, I never did think I'd get it done. I got to where I had to make some choices, and that was one. The other thing I planned to do all along but had to cross off the list was replacing the fuel tank (it's in good shape but looks terrible, and I dream of finding my tank sticker up there). Maybe someday!

KevinZ

Only request I have is could you take a pic on the ground with the tires on!!!

I'd like to see how the axles look...and ride height!! (Please!!!)

Another proud moment!!

RATT7

well done !!

427-390

Very nice! I did the same thing on my '68 last year. My undercarriage was in a little better shape when I started, but the results looked identical to yours. And yes, this was the first time I disassembled the entire rear suspension. I farmed out the trailing arns to Bair's and just cleaned up the the differential (No rebuild needed), replaced ALL the bushings, replaced the rear spring, rear brake calipers, cleaned/repainted everything, put it back together. Took my time on the job so it would come out looking good. Anyways, your work came out looking very good.