sundance1

I am a new owner of a 1972 convert.
I will be overhauling the front and rear suspension systems ( shocks springs , ball joints, tie rods, bushings etc..... the works)

I am not sure if I can under take this endeavour myself as I do not have all the necessary tools, especially cutting tools. I and am thinking of giving it to an experienced mechanic.

I would like to know what I should budget myself for labour ( not including parts, as I have them) ?
How many "mechanic hours" do you think will be need to complete this overhaul? and what is a fair labour rate mechanics charge?

I have pretty much ordered all possible components that could require replacement so there wont be any fussing around ( cut and replace).

Thanks

Aflac

hmmm.. lots of times, the mechanic would rather order the parts than have the owner bring them in. i was charged 400 to put new springs, shocks, swaybars and adjustable strut rods on..i would figure on more than that if you are doing ball joints. if you are gonna order parts, make sure you get rear shock mounts as well. 95% of the time the old ones are too munched to reuse!

sundance1

I have the rear shock mounts just in case.


What would that equate to in hours of labour?

kona

My shop charges $30 an hour which is really cheap. They charged me 11 hours to completely redo the entire front end. Ball joints, tie rods, idler arm,springs and everything else involved with the front end.
I supplied all the parts and made double sure everything they would need I had.

Kona

sundance1

Thanks Kona

11 hours for the front seems fair.

I am wondering if it would be longer to to the rear?

GTR1999

Could you do the work if you had the tools? A lot of the time guys will break down their parts and send them to me to rebuild or I've helped local guys tear down and work on their cars. Do you have a local vette club near you,maybe there's someone there to help. Depends on how much time vs money you want to spend and if you like doing the work? No one will put the detail into your car like you will.

Gary

Gordonm

That is one of the reasons I do all my own work. I'm also cheap and figure if someone else can do it so can I.

You can do this project. It is just a lot of grunt work and cleaning. Is there someone local that might be able to help or ask if you have questions. The best way to learn is do it yourself.

adam

I agree - shops will budget 11-13 hours of time for the front end.

Now for us, double that

We are doing it for the first time.
We will clean up things and paint things
We won't have parts on hand and may have to wait a while.

For the back end, I would say 30-40 hours. This is because of the
time to cut out the frozen trailing arm bolts, cleaning and possible
work done on the rear end, cleaning, etc.

Check the brakes too - you'll have the calipers dangling while doing all this,
so its a good time to replace them if they need it...
Same with the Ujoints - replace them as you have all the pieces off.
Same with the Ebrake...

There's a lof of 'while I'm at it' in here..

Good luck.

sundance1

your right....It would be fun to attempt this work myself, but I have no time ....2 small k ids and long days at work.
The time I do get to myself I would like to cruise.

So for now.... I have to "subcontract out".

30-40 hours for the rear ....wow.
Is there that much more complexity in the rear compared to the front.

MYBAD79

12 hrs for the front and another 8hrs for the rear would be reasonable. Now... you may find a shop that does the work for $40/hour... I believe you will get what you pay for... $90-$100/hour is not too high, depending on location...

Do you rally want to spend $1700-$2000 for somebody to do this work for you only to see that they re-installed all the rusty and greasy control arms that YOU would have cleaned and painted ?? Just one example... You're paying a ton of money for them to work on your car but they won't pay attemtion to the details as you would, unless you pay for that extra...

I'd do it myself and learn as I go.... oh wait, I just did that last year...

Seriously, I rebuilt mine last year and all 'special' tools that you may need are available at the local AutoZone.

Aflac

tha majority of the time inthe back is for the trailing arm forward bolts.. they are nothing short of hell trying to get them out. just make sure you go to a garage that has worked on a corvette recently. you may want to talk to someone in a local corvette club in your area and see who they recommend for the work. you may pay more, but your'e paying for the experience.

MYBAD79

I completely overlooked the trailing arm bushiings - these are terrible.... BUT... if you cannot get them out, you just go inside, take a break and drink a beer... go to www.corvetteforum.com and get help....

Now... if "they" have problems getting the bolts out they just charge more

Can you tell ? I don't like shops and I don't trust mechanics

1974ta

I have not begun the work on my vette yet but I have restored a 68 GTO Vert. Remove all the major subassemblies yourself. This would include front upper and lower control arms, the rear spring, trailing arm etc...

The trailing arms can be sent out to Bair's Corvette for 299.00 per side and they will come back looking like new. You can also take the front control arms apart although if they have the factory ball joints ,the rivets are a PITA to get out to remove the ball joints.

Then you can bead blast the parts and refinish before installing the new ball joints. A machine shop can usually pressing the bushings pretty cheap. The majority of the specialty tools are needed for the trailing arms. The specialty tools for the front end can be borrowed from someone or rented cheap.

There are a lot more details but I think you get the idea.

If you have not joined a corvette club check and see if there is an active club where they help each other with their cars.

Bottom line is unless you have a large budget you will never get the quality of work you get if you do it yourself.



Bill L.

skydaddy

I agree - there is only one mechanic that I trust and that is because I married his daughter.

The forum guys are pretty good about helping each other out. Maybe if you ask, someone with some knowhow will offer to come over, bring some tools and ya'll can knock the front end out on one weekend and the rear on 2 other weekends. One thing that i have learned is that it is alot quicker with another set of hands helping out and not so many tough positions trying to get things back together.

NHvette

Every time I do another front end rebuild, it gets easier and faster.
Best to find someone who has done this before, whether
paying them or just getting help from a local member(s).

If RnR-ing the front end yourself (sending out for bushings):
One thing I strongly recommend in general is to go with poly
bushings on the front control arms. With poly, you don't need
to torque the retainer bolts with the car on the ground. You can do
them in a vice. Anyone wit ha plastic radiator shroud that has done
these can appreciate this. Also, getting one click at a time on the
torque wrench with the lowers ... takes forever. Poly: torque them
up and bolt them on.