rebuilding the front end of 81, seen a few rebuild kits include upper/lower ball joins, tie rod ends, idler arm. is it worth rebuilding the stock upper and lower arms, buying rebuilt units or going with tubular? vette is for cruizing (no drag racing or autocrossing)

 

I rebuilt mine using stock bushings, moog components for ball joints (lower only, chances are good that your uppers are just fine), moog idler arm, new tie rods, etc. Just a good cleaning and repaint and it should work great without having to worry about changing the design. It should handle great after the rebuild. Consider stock bushings as opposed to urethane if you don't want to worry about lubricating and squeaking.
Kirk

 

thanks Kirk. going to check for rubber vs the other stuff.

 

Go poly. Lately, there have been reports of rubber bushings shredding. Poly is much, much easier to install and only squeak if you didn't lube them properly. They also will help with tightening the front end better than rubber which is a good thing for alignment.

 

That's interesting??? I must be out of the 'loop' because I was aware that the polyurethane bushings would disintegrate and fall apart....because I have seen that....supposedly a bad batch of urethane that made it out on the market....but I have not seen fresh rubber failing. Hmmmmmm.

And depending on whose polyurethane control arm bushing you buy...some go in fairly quickly.......others need to have the inner sleeve correctly cut to length to get the proper air gap between teh bushing and the washer....which can be a task at times....and no where near 'easy'. So...it depends.

And for those who may be looking for another option. I have installed the Global West Del-A-Lum bushings for the control arms that have grease fittings so they can be maintained....and from what I have received as feed back form my customers who have them in the car (for years now)...they are very happy with them. And the fluted delrin sleeve can be swapped out if and when needed. Worth taking a look at BUT it is not a simple 1,2,3 install at a home garage in a few hours. It take someone with the ability to do it....and the tools to do it.

Upper control arms
http://www.globalwest.net/1030.html
Lower control arms
http://www.globalwest.net/1055.html

DUB

 

I redid my 71 two years ago , friends 67 - 3 years ago and my 72 last year. Plus a few friends over the last 5 - 7 years all are ok.

I used Moog on all items - no issues. The 67 and 71 are driven a lot.

I ordered from Rock Auto and got the MOOG PROBLEM SOLVERS for the upper. It helped in the alignment on the 67 and 71.


Any high quality part will work and last.

 

There's Moog rubber bushings, and crap rubber bushings, just as there's Energy Suspension or Prothane polyurethane bushings, and crap polyurethane bushings.

 

I agree that any quality part will work whether rubber or poly. I put poly upper and lower control arm bushings on my 78 about 10 years ago and would never use rubber again on the control arms....nice firm solid ride with much better steering response and handling. The poly bushings and the front spreader bar really make the front end feel like one piece versus very sloppy with rubber and no spreader bar. I check my poly bushings every year and they look brand new last check. I do like DUB's suggestion of the Global West Del-A-Lum bushings for the control arms that have grease fittings and would consider those if I ever have to replace my poly...BTW-I have zero squeaks from the bushings after 10+ years so far.

I would stay away from front suspension kits....buy the parts separately, preferably Moog, unless you can get a Moog or name brand kit.....many kits have Chinese junk parts today....

 

Dub, someone posted their rubber bushings were disintegrating. It may have been NOS and hence, age may be a factor. Bottom line is to spend the few extra bucks and buy known, quality parts (if that can be had these days), rubber or poly. Both work fine if installed properly. I wouldn't be able to hear squeaks anyway due to some hearing loss and side pipes.

 

I used Energy Suspension on the bottom A arm and used a VPB upper for more caster.

Moog for all other parts, but went with a R&P because I needed a new steering box.

Must use lock tight on poly bushings.

 

I got the front end major rebuild kit from Willcox a couple years ago. It's good stuff.

 

Yep. Get the deluxe kit.

 

Did this a while ago. Purchased kit from a supporting vendor. After about 2000 miles maybe less the lower ball joints were worn. Front wheels had excessive play/shake in turns.
Replaced lower ball joints with Moog. That fixed the problem. Think some of the kits are China made.

 

I know it's arguing terminology, but there really isn't a "front end rebuilding kit", per se. It's simply some vendor collecting the various parts, such as ball joints, control arm bushings, tie rod ends, and an idler arm, then putting it all in one box, and calling it a kit. The parts manufacturers DO NOT make a "kit", the retailers do.

Having said that, the problem is that a number of these retailers sell what we used to call at Advance Auto Parts, where I worked part-time, for a while, "white box parts".....cheap Chinese made stull, in unmarked, "house brand", white boxes. We sold that crap to mostly the used car dealers, who just needed a part or two to last 4-5000 miles or so, or to some broke-azzed college kid, who was "band-aiding" a car to last two semesters.

If you truly want quality parts, parts that will both work and last, you have to go through the Moog catalog yourself, and get each individual part number, then order them in the quantities you need. It takes a little time, but you'll be sure of what you're getting.

One other caution, as C-3s get older and older, and fewer and further between, replacement parts aren't going to be made in large quantities, anymore. Therefore, it's possible that even if you buy Moog bushings, you may be getting parts that have been sitting on a shelf somewhere, for a period of time, drying out. Be careful, and inspect your parts carefully, before installing them.


Off my soapbox..........

 

Easiest place to source parts is rockauto.com...They have a great on line parts section and you can view various brands for the same parts as well as part numbers. I buy lots of parts from them but also use their online catalog to source part numbers, often research if the same part is used on different model cars and years etc...great tool.

I not to long ago bought 2001 Impala POLICE struts for my 01 Pontiac grand prix...there are no police parts for the GP but lots for the Impala (same W body car). Another example, I bought 01 Impala 12 inch front rotors and impala caliper bracket to upgrade the GP 11 inch rotors for the 12 inch Impala's. I use rockauto for the parts as well as the research for the swap.....

Example for 78 C3 Balljoints:

http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/c...ll+joint,10070

 

From the Rock Auto Catalog link that "jb78L-82" posted:
Moog upper b/j $37.89
Mevo-Tech upper b/j $7.36


Which one are YOU going to trust your life to??

 

Old NOS parts in a box...that can do it. IF installed properly....that is important.

Kinda like buying NOS tires with the correct date codes and actually driving the car on the street with 40 year old tires...I would 'say'...is quite insane.....much like old NOS rubber suspension parts. Buy fresh parts...because I really have a hard time thinking that someone can tell if they are original NOS parts or not when installed. Maybe there is someone out there....

DUB

 

I called Summit and they matched Rock autos pricing on all my new MOOG parts. Rock Auto shipping takes 5-7 days to get to me in Florida, Summit is next day.

 

[QUOTE=DUB;1594079821]That's interesting??? I must be out of the 'loop' because I was aware that the polyurethane bushings would disintegrate and fall apart....because I have seen that....supposedly a bad batch of urethane that made it out on the market....but I have not seen fresh rubber failing. Hmmmmmm.

And depending on whose polyurethane control arm bushing you buy...some go in fairly quickly.......others need to have the inner sleeve correctly cut to length to get the proper air gap between teh bushing and the washer....which can be a task at times....and no where near 'easy'. So...it depends.

And for those who may be looking for another option. I have installed the Global West Del-A-Lum bushings for the control arms that have grease fittings so they can be maintained....and from what I have received as feed back form my customers who have them in the car (for years now)...they are very happy with them. And the fluted delrin sleeve can be swapped out if and when needed. Worth taking a look at BUT it is not a simple 1,2,3 install at a home garage in a few hours. It take someone with the ability to do it....and the tools to do it.

Upper control arms
http://www.globalwest.net/1030.html
Lower control arms
[url]http://www.globalwest.net/1055.html[/ur

In all my research on this forum.. on suspensions for our cars Global West is the direction i am going!

 

Just got the Global lowers and uppers for my car. Beautiful and beefy stuff for sure!