Hey all, have a 78 SA L48, new to me for 3 months. Finally am able to get into my corvette mechanic and my goal is to have them check out and possibly do anything I can’t DIY. Any ideas on checklist of things you’d have them checkout?

Thinking the following:
- Safety first items, evaluate brakes, wheel bearings, suspension.
- Have them fix / change transmission fluid and gasket (assumption is leak is coming from gasket)..plus too hard to DIY
- Change Dif fluid and add additive (too hard to do otherwise)
- Maybe change out brake lines for SS; evaluate pads, calipers, and rotors with goal of keeping original.

 

A lot of my answer depends on the condition of the car underneath. No need to change out things like brake lines if they are not clogged with schmoo or rust from poor maintenance.

• I'd have a mechanic do simple regular fluids (oil, trans, coolant, differential (use 2 bottles of GM additive).
• Inspect the brake fluid but only flush the system and not do anything to the lines or calipers unless they are leaking.
• Same with the power steering — Corvette power steering and brakes are very touchy to disturbances such that if they're not leaking, leave them alone.
• Check/repack the front wheel bearings and grease the suspension and steering joints.
• At this point, I'd not do anything to the u-joints, rear bearings, ball joints/tie rod ends, or suspension bushings (unless they have disintegrated and the components are unsafe).

That should get the car to a starting point of updated maintenance so that you can then evaluate for more complex needs.

 

don’t forget belts and hoses.

 

C3 brakes are different 'animals'. Don't let them replace the rotors unless they absolutely need to. And if they do, they need to make sure they shim the rotors and get the run-out .002" runout or less.

GM did a quickie machining on the hubs. The hubs often don't run 'true'. Then GM riveted the the rotors onto the hubs and machined the rotors. So the original rotors can run true, but when a mechanic puts new rotor onto 'untrue' hubs, they will likely have a lot of run-out. And run-out causes air to be sucked into the brake system (causing potentially a loss of brakes). Therefore its paramount the rotors run with as little run-out as possible.

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Good call, especially lower radiator hose which looks original and hard to reach for DIY

 

The original lower hose probably has a spring inside which keeps the hose from collapsing. Make sure your mechanic knows this.

 

The rubber parts associated with the suspension parts on and around the rear end should be worth a good inspection.

For sure the brake hoses.

How does the engine run right now? Is the engine/engine compartment mostly stock?

 

I may be being a bit sceptical, but unless you really know the mechanic and trust him, I'd like to have an idea of what needed doing before I gave him carte blanche!

And, it depends on how the car has been looked after before you, how much it has been driven, what maintenance was carried out. It may need nothing, or it may have been untouched for years, you haven't said either way.

So yes, change fluids, engine, trans, diff, assuming he knows what he's doing there - trans gaskets need a special routine to bolt down to ensure no leaks, and the diff needs to be pumped out and as mentioned, two bottles of GM additive put in before the oil. Maybe the coolant too, but don't break the radiator drain plug and re-fill it in the correct way.

As said, a visual check of the brakes will tell you if it needs new pads - you can almost see that without taking a wheel off. A need for new rotors is unlikely, mine have 136k miles on them and they are still nowhere near needing a change. Plus, changing them is tricky, as said. Have a good look at flexible brake hoses, bleed the brakes maybe, remembering that the bleed screws can easily break if they haven't been opened in a while - and that means a new calliper in most cases, so take care! If the callipers show no sign of leaks, and the hoses look good, leave well alone. Same for adding S/S lines - not worth it in my view.

Grease all the grease points, including the rear U/Js if they have grease zerks.

Check belts, hoses, and have a look at the steering "rag joint" and the P/S hoses, but unless they look bad, don't meddle.

If the mechanic knows what he'd doing, then maybe check the distributor to ensure the centrifugal advance is all working as it should, and change the plugs, air filter and check plug wires.

And then you'll need to drive it a while to see what, if anything else it may need. It's a 46 year old car, so it'll need something soon! And in thge meantime, I'd advise getting hold of a shop manual, and maybe an AIM, and try and get familiar with doing some work yourself, unless you have very deep pockets!

Good luck and have fun!

 

Thanks. All good advice. This place specializes in classic cars and vettes so my goal is to have them only do stuff I just can’t do without a lift such as differential change, trans flush, wheel bearings. Basically, just have visual inspection and only give green light to things that warrant it and I can’t do. I’ve fixed vacuum system, changes hoses, fixed wiper motor, changed oil, new tires so far.

 

Check fuel pump for gas leaks. Usually you can smell it in your garage and see a puddle. Both rubber hoses may be rotten at the fuel pump. Check fuel filter in the carb. And fuel sock in the gas tank may need freshening up.