Hello, I bought a 1975 L-48 corvette about 2 or so months ago. And I've been reading this forum very often for many things that I've been trying to fix and you all have been very helpful. I've replaced most of the front bushings except for A-Arms. I replaced the links to stabilizer bar and bushings on that as well as the tie rod ends. I was thinking about doing the idler arms while doing the A-Arms and so I had a few questions about some of the work I've been doing. How hard is it to do the A-Arms on a corvette? I've done it on a VW beetle but that was a little bit different. I've heard that you cannot compress the springs with a normal spring compressor so could you point me to one that would compress them? Also I've been looking at these detachable hood links from Mid America because I'm going to be doing a lot of work. Such as pulling the radiator and having it flushed and the condenser so while it was in the paint shop I wanted to have them put them on if they are any good.

http://www.madvet.com/shop?frame=4.7019

Also I've read that if you adjust the idle screw on the carb you get better gas mileage. Where is that on a 1975 carb? This vette before I took it to the paint shop was getting around 10 or so miles to the gallon without me pushing the peddle at all really. I have a 455 olds 98 so I've learned the peddle is very unforgiving on my mpg lol. I've also put true duals on it and am going to redo the interior so any suggestions on A/C and interior that you all have ever run across would be great. I've read a lot about your A/C post.

 

Also by like suggestions about A/C and stuff. I am redoing the whole system because it was is clogged up somewhere but i do not know where. Thinking its the expansion valve.. So basically trying to replace everything except for the evaporator.. I put a new blower motor hoping the fan would blow quickly but it blows really slow. So maybe how can I speed that up?

 

The only solution I have seen for speeding up the air is to install a blower from a different car. Just the nature of the old one to be slow I guess. As my A/C has not yet been repaired, I can't help you much there.

Removing the A-arm bushings is not the most fun thing, there are numerous ways to remove them. Personally I drilled and burnt them out which was a pain. Pressing them out may be an option but years of corrosion make that unlikely. The method that seems to work is taking an air hammer/chisel to them, forum members who did it that way would call this task "easy". That's the last word that comes to mind the way I did it! Unfortunately I didn't have an air compressor back then... The a-arm bushings will help tighten up your front end but the idler-arm for me made a HUGE difference in tightening up the steering and is extremely easy to do.

I've gotten up to 17mpg with the stock setup on my '77 L48, however it was never really tuned perfectly. Turning in the idle screws (an equal amount each side) might reduce your fuel consumption however it can also screw up your mixture at idle, and across the board. For instance, when I was learning this (the hard way as always) I turned them in pretty far and stopped later to find glowing light-orange exhaust manifolds! Carbs are a really complicated subject that I don't feel prepared to do justice here. The #1 advice I can give you is to be methodical, be careful it COULD be worse!, and umm... ask Lars

Good luck, keep up with that maintenance, and enjoy it!

-Chris

 

Alrighty thanks.. anymore suggestions?