Hi all,

I was just wondering what tools are required to replace the front and rear suspension on my '70 vette.

I have a complete poly bushing kit (front and rear), replacements for all ball joints etc, new front springs, new mono-leaf rear spring (vb&p, thanks pattie!) and 'smart' struts, along with a set of bilsteins.

I am just wondering what tools (apart from myself ) are required to install all of this.

I am willing to buy the necessary tools because, for better or worse, I want to do all the work on my vette myself and have the right tools to do everything, I drop enough $$$ on the vette as it is so I may as well have a well equiped shop to go with it.

Cheers,
Cosmic

 

i think there are threads with pic's ,,but search doesn't work for me

 

Hi,

yeah I tried a few different things in search but didn't come up with much.

 

From corvettefaq here is a link on Lars' procedure for the front.
http://www.corvettefaq.com/c3/HowtoRebuildFrontEnd.doc
I did most everything the way he said but I had to burn out some of the bushings first.

The suspension page has several links for the rear rebuild.
http://wiki.corvettefaq.com/index.php?title=Suspension
If you're lucky you won't need a sawzall.

Have fun and be careful.

 

basic tools are all that's required for removal.

For starters I wanted the car up and stable/safe. Used a set of rhino ramps for the front. Then a good floor jack to lift up the rear at the rear spring mount. I then put 3 ton jack stands on all 4 x corners.

I used deep sockets with 1/2" drive and a breaker bar for big stuff. Ratchet wrenches were helpful as well in narrow spots. I found an angle grinder with wire brush was handy underneath, also used the cutting disk a couple times. I got much better rpm with the angle grinder brush, than I could ever get with a drill/wire brush combo. However I did use the drill/wirebrush in tight places.

To remove the TA shims, I used a punch to pry out the shims. Used a punch since it was stronger than prying with a screwdriver.


I bought a sawzall/reciprocating saw from harbor freight. cheap set up, but worked for my purpose. Get good blades though if you're cutting through something like the TA bolts. I used 18TPI Lazer blades from Lowes.

A good set of floor lamps also made life better. Was using the standard lightbulb on a long cord. Bought a couple halogen floor work lamps from WalMart for only $8 a piece. really made a difference.

2-jaw gear puller to remove the crossmember (borrowed free from auto zone). Fairly inexpensive at harbor freight. Used a pickle fork on my strut mounting bolts, but then quit and cut them off with the angle grinder. Other folks have successfully used the pickle fork to pound out the strut mounting bolt. Also used a set of 6-8" C-clamps. for rear spring removal.

For reassembly, you need a good quality torque wrench.

I went to a local machine shop to have bushings pressed out and installed. Sent my TA's and Diff to Van Steel, not sure what tools are needed for that stuff.

I did my entire rear end with just basic tools and CV Forum
Good luck - Swede

 

let us not forget the most important tool of all, a BFH!

 

2nd and 3rd most important: beer and bandaids!

 

A factory shop manual is probably going to come in REAL handy, if not an AIM.