Thanks JIM.....(I was just picking about you and the $30 damper/NOT $30 any more!).

It is surely not within the ability of most people to repair a damper, as a metal lathe would be needed to do the job correctly and to re-apply the small knurls (notches) around the welded area.

I think I have discovered how to assemble the piston pieces by lining up the wear marks (shiny spots) where the pieces contacted each other (I wish I had been more careful laying out the pieces as I dis-assembled the cylinder, but with my "condition", I take what I can get.....LOL!)

It may be a few days before I post any results, as I will be on a trip.

Thanks again for responding, Jim S. You are a great Member

 

I think any of us whom buy an un-restored C3 are a bit touched in the head!

 

Easy Mike.........................a man of few words!

Your info is now my Plan B!

Thanks for not raking me over the coals for doing it the difficult way.

 

Your not touched ~ your special.

okay we are all nuts.

 

 

Aaah "the big toe" sgt hulka.
Just wanted to say even if I did I not like corvettes, I would read your posts because they always entertain me.

 

Thanks! I am not an outgoing, talkative person....but I'm doing it in honor of my son who was murdered by an Illegal Mexican with a violent arrest record......but I digress.......

My son Blake, 20 years old had a great sense of humor....so I fight off the sadness by "cutting up" like he would do when I post replies on the Forum.

As for being entertaining......"Stupied is as Stupied does!"









Let me grab a couple cookies and head to the garage to weld that damper barrel back together .

 

Keep up the good work and the good word, DG!

 

Thanks, F22........................here Ya' go.....have a laugh or three on me.........


Here we go.........................re-assembling and welding the damper barrel-end on

The piston has been set up and bolted to the end of the rod.......






Next, it is about to be inserted into small diameter "inner barrel".....






I am adding gear oil to the "inner barrel" to prevent air cavaties.....

{oooops---forgot to take a pic of the oil being squirted into the inner barrel.....Sorry!}






The thick metal valve gets tapped into the "inner barrel" by using a hammer and punch---not much force is needed.....It is the darker part that has the spring sitting in the top of it......the inner barrel is the shiny tube that is LIGHTLY clamped in the vice.............






Now pay close attention to this step! Do you see how the inner barrel/rod/piston assembly has been inserted into the main (black) barrel?????

Do you see how I am adding the remaining oil between the inner barrel assembly and the outer main barrel??????



Do NOT Add Oil YET!!!!!!!

Silly Rookie me added the oil almost to the top of the outer main barrel-----IT LOOKED GREAT!!!!!!!!!!!!

B U T..........WHEN I STARTED WELDING THE TOP CAP OF THE BARREL TO THE MAIN BARREL, OIL STARTED EXPANDING AND SEEPING OUT OF THE UNWELDED GAP, causing my weld to spit/sputter...

R A T S !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!



NOW.....I realize that I should have not put the oil in before welding

First......I should have drilled a 3/16" diameter hole in the OTHER END OF THE OUTER BARREL about 1/4" from where the "eye" factory weld is so that oil could be added later after the weld was cool.

Had I known this earlier, I would have been spared nearly an hour of "touch-up welding" to seal off all the tiny "pinholes" in my weld created by the heated oil seeping out.......

I should have submerged most of the damper in a bucket of water letting the area that needed to be welded about 1/4" above the water line to keep the barrel and cap cool while being welded.


Anyhow.......I ground down my weld to a smooth ridge around the outer barrel.........................

Then I had to touch up more pinholes with the mig welder...........................RATS!!!!!


So.....theoretically....if I had added the oil LAST......Then welded up the 3/16" diameter oil "filler hole".....the project would have been a lot of F U N.......BUT i DIDN'T AND IT WASN'T


Now....you guys get in your garage and put me to shame by rebuilding a damper the CORRECT WAY the first time!

 

The welding was a tough enuff task, without the problem that arose from the oil. But you came up with the oil fill hole idea, while you were dealing with the super mess! That's cool stuff for the next poor sap, that has to deal with that! Good one and as always, great pics and technical advice!

 

Even Rookies stumble upon answers every now and then

Here's a copy from another thread:


You are right. The problem is...since I have driven manual steering vehicles in New Orleans, I have had the steering wheel "taken out of my hands" a few times when driving less than 20MPH while in traffic or turning corners---and hitting a pothole/etc...

So I wanted a much "heavier" oil to stop the serious feedback.

After rebuilding the damper, it requires the same force to be compressed as my new SkyJacker steering stabilizer on my manual box '34 truck (w '93 steering box)....in other words the Vette damper is as good as a 1/2 ton truck damper after being rebuilt with heavier fluid, considering that the Vette barrel diameter is 50% smaller than the truck damper....

And because of the old seals which I could not replace, I needed "thicker oil" to prevent dripping/leaks.

The main mistake that I made was filling the damper with oil before I welded the end-cap onto the outer barrel causing me to spend an extra hour rewelding leaking pinholes

I would rebuild one in a New York second after learning THAT lesson!

(If I only had a metal lathe....I could have used a knurling tool to put the markings onto the barrel over the weld....just like the General did)

 

Hi D,
If you could duplicate the General's 'knurl' I think you could have a nice business rebuilding dated shocks!
Regards,
Alan

 

I am honored that you would think so. From the pic you posted, I would need a knurling tool with well-worn wheels...to be absolutely GM correct....(new "cutting" wheels would leave nice sharp/crisp "serrations" around the barrel, rather than the ones in the picture-----I guess the machinists wore the knurling wheels out on the previous years production cars)...LOL!

(It's "funny" that a rookie would notice something like that---I guess I learned something being a machinist)

Note: The above info about "one" of the many parts on a Corvette is really one of those "things" that restoration owners have to duplicate that was done wrong.......errrrrrr.....cost effective...similar to the way some parts were never painted/halfway painted--bellhousings/etc. to begin with at the manufacturing plants

 

Duplicate of Fla. vacation thread that I just posted:

Are there any members in the Navarre Beach, Florida area?

I'm stuck here for the week eating great seafood, cruising in my '34 street truck (until the Vette is completed) in all this sunshine with a cool Gulf breeze for the next week..... .....just kidding about the !

I'd like to drive over and see your car(s) if that would be O.K. (I'm on my Nam PTSD meds...and am completely harmless (unless jets fly over from the Naval Station)---then I might start cursing/screaming/etc....


"Mister....You would REALLY do all that?!?!?"




Maybe.....but I can be restrained with little-to-no-effort....







P.M me....

 

I MAY be aquiring a pair of chrome D.D. rear bumpers tomorrow!!!!!!

They will fit perfectly here....(no....not on the wall....Ohhhhhh, O.K.........on the wall for now!)



I will wrap them nicely so my kids can surprise me with them on "Favver's" Day!

 

The Cavalry has arrived........1960fi is going to bail me out with a set of shiny bumpers!!!!!!!!!
18950

 

Another rookie question..............

First......the info...........

the previous owner installed a rebuilt 1970 350 engine a long lonnnng time ago using the infamous cork gasket which leaked like a sieve and is no more........









SO.......why would this type of exhaust manifolds be on the engine-----other than those are the ones he grabbed first....(I'm not complaining---there is plenty of clearance everywhere because of them)...I don't know if they flow well, but I'm happy with them not leaning against the firewall....





I'm out of town...so can't post a good pic of the heads.

 

Because they came with the and he could not get them off the engine he installed so just go with it.

 

I was....I am....thanks for confirmation...




If only some of that leaking oil would have made it's way to the trailing arm pivot bolts and shims!
19200

 

Doorgunner, I think that, that knurling is how the end was welded. Gas tanks are welded that way. The ram's horn exhaust manifolds are suppose to flow better than the log type used on standard Chevy motors. Lou.