Hello everyone, Well i think its time for me to tackle the front end issues of my 79 L82. My car seems to be floating on air at times and doesnt handle all that well So, I would like to get some feedback from fellow Corvette Forum members on the difficulty of a novice mechanic (me) buying a front end kit and installing it myself. Has any novice mechanic tried to do this? If so, where do you suggest I buy a kit from? Also, am I going to be required to have any special type of tools? Thank you...Marty

 

i am a novice too, and recently rebuilt the front end of my '69. it was hard and took a long time. i would do one side at a time so you have something to look at. it is suprising how quickly you forget where the small parts go, and how they attach. the hardest part for me was removing and reinstalling control arm bushings. burn and cut out the old ones, and press in the new ones. i bought the kit from vbp 1-800-237-9991 and it was excellent
greg

 

I did my 78 during this summer. I removed the upper and lower arms.
It is a PITA, cause you need to remove the radiator and associated parts. Used a local shop to clean the arms and press the bushings.
Cleaned and painted what I could reach, and then re-installed my the arms. It is do-able.

 

I bought a front end mono spring kit from VB&P about 4 months ago. This was about a week after I installed a rear mono spring. The rear spring made so much difference I had no choice but to do the front. Very happy with both. The front kit made as much difference as the rear. Very smooth and you can adjust ride height at each wheel so it's very easy to get the look you want.

When I bought the front parts I also bought upper control arms but didn't install them at the time because I couldn't figure out how to remove the upper control arm bolts. Big mistake - the old ones have some dry urethane bushings and squeak badly. I am replacing them either this week or next. Here is a link to the solution http://www.vetteweb.com/tech/vet_030..._replacements/. When you get VB&P's new light weight control arms the bushings are already installed.

As far as installation goes, until I bought the Corvette I had not even changed my own oil since I was a kid - a long, long time ago. We took the old front end off on a Saturday afternoon and put it back together on a Sunday morning. Pretty easy! The hardest part was one ball joint didn't want to come apart. I spent a half an hour on that.

We replaced springs, shocks, all 4 ball joints, tie rods, tie rod ends, sway bar bushings, power steering cylinder and idler arm. Parts about $1,300 to $1,400.

By the way the 'we' is me and . . . my wife. She has never a serious wrench in her hand in her life.

She also discovered that she still likes a beer now and then.

We also replaced the lower control arms.

 

I have installed the front and rear monoleaf kits on 4 different vets now. It is pretty easy. Be sure to take lots of pictures and bag and bag and label wach nut and bolt taken out. When you remove the upper control arms make sure you keep track of the shims, there are 2 bolts on each upper arm I put all the shims in seperate bags so I knew how many of what size went to each bolt. It might take a little time so make sure to give yourself at least a weekend to complete and friends coming to help are always a great thing.
I did have friends helping me (thank you Tim and LA).
I also have pics of all that I have done so if you need a reference, let me know.
VB&P is where I got all my kits from. They are great. I had bad experiences with Vansteel although I did get one of my 3 rear end kits from them.
It is a great improvement. I recommend it to anyone. If you dont have a shop full of tools, most local shops will help you with pressing bushings in and out if you need it.

 

what bad experience did you have with vansteel?

 

The hardest part for me was removing the coil springs, those things can reach out and touch you if your not careful. I used a heavy chain around them attached to the frame just as a safety measure (knowing my luck). Once you have them out the rest is just wrenching until you get to the control arm bushings. I used a hole saw from home depot to drill the rubber and a 12 ton press from harbor freight to press the shells out of the arms and press the new ones in. It is doable just take your time be careful with the springs and you can do it.
www.angelfire.com/al/swhite7/frontend.html

YBnormal...drive a vette