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Rear Drivetrain issues?

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Old Mar 31, 2014 | 05:17 PM
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Default Rear Drivetrain issues?

New C3 Corvette owner here... new as in drove it 1500 miles from its previous owner yesterday. No pristine queen here... just hotrod land. 1980 Black-on-black t-top 4-speed 350 (modified 4bbl L48).

The rear end gives me a bit of a whine and an occasional thump. What should I inspect? The hod-rod guy in me says check the driveshaft and make sure that the differential fluid is full. Any other suggestions from the experts?
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Old Mar 31, 2014 | 05:32 PM
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Originally Posted by cyveiliog
New C3 Corvette owner here... new as in drove it 1500 miles from its previous owner yesterday. No pristine queen here... just hotrod land. 1980 Black-on-black t-top 4-speed 350 (modified 4bbl L48).

The rear end gives me a bit of a whine and an occasional thump. What should I inspect? The hod-rod guy in me says check the driveshaft and make sure that the differential fluid is full. Any other suggestions from the experts?
If it's dry, the limited slip requires an additive for the clutches
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Old Mar 31, 2014 | 05:50 PM
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for the thump check the bushings top and bottom on the front mount for the differential. If you dont know the service history on the rear pump the fluid out, refill, and add the additive.
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Old Mar 31, 2014 | 06:15 PM
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Rookie here......

Congrats #1........on the new Vette!

Congrats #2........on successfully driving it 1,500 miles without having it serviced/fluids changed before you started the trip home!

Congrats #3.......on getting ready to get greasy.........or bring it to someone reputable so they can get greasy
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Old Mar 31, 2014 | 07:38 PM
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Default Thank you... bushings it will be then.

Congrats #2........on successfully driving it 1,500 miles without having it serviced/fluids changed before you started the trip home!

-I changed the oil, checked the fluids, replaced missing bolts, cap-coil-rotor because they had issues... basically, I did the inspection before I drove off.


Congrats #3.......on getting ready to get greasy.........or bring it to someone reputable so they can get greasy

-I'm pretty good at getting greasy... and very cut up in the process! I have, *counts* 10 cuts on my hands from the weekend. Mostly from replacing missing header bolts and working around an overly large intake in a small space. Also had to wire up a power point since someone had stripped this poor car of its power point.

Basically, I was making sure that there wasn't something corvette specific to look at. This is by FAR not my first muscle car, but it is my first 'vette! I will check those bushings. I bet a dollar they are bad... it's from texas after all.
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Old Apr 1, 2014 | 01:44 AM
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Pics of the progress in this thread............
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Old Apr 1, 2014 | 08:50 AM
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Default Bushed bushings

I went underneath and all the bushings are shot. Where do you guys suggest getting new bushings for a decent price?
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Old Apr 1, 2014 | 09:13 AM
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I got a comprehensive poly suspension bushing kit from corvettemods for under 200 bucks. Depends where you stand on the rubber v. poly debate.



-Curtis
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Old Apr 1, 2014 | 04:49 PM
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The bushings for the rear differential front are about $31

http://willcoxcorvette.com/product_i...ducts_id=12141
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Old Apr 1, 2014 | 05:29 PM
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Depends where you stand on the rubber v. poly debate
In case you were wondering about the "debate"

http://forums.corvetteforum.com/c3-t...r-bracket.html

I took my poly out and put rubber in there. This does not appear to me to be any part of a handling issue.
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Old Apr 1, 2014 | 10:11 PM
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I tackled the rear end of my 79 about three years ago because of a thumping, bumping sound. It turns out that the two bolts holding the driver's side of the differential to the cross member had backed nearly completely out, leaving a gap of about half an inch between the differential bolt holes and cross member. I don't know how common that is, but you might want to check that too.
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Old Apr 6, 2014 | 02:04 PM
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1963-82 rear coilover system/offset trailing arms. best way to mount upper reinforcement brackets to frame. van steel system
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