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Well the rubber bushings arrived late
today to rebuild the parts when I remove my differential to replace a loose C clip on the end of one side yoke. No point in putting the 50 year old rubber parts back on. In about a half hour I got the spare tire carrier and leaf spring off, then called it quits for the day. Hope all goes as smoothly tomorrow with no frozen bolts or problems. Everything gets polished and painted before re-installing, so I can take my time. Hopefully this is the last under-car job I need to do.
That's a great question. Where is that clip now? I just rebuilt trailing arms and while everything was out I pulled the differential to replace the pinion seal that was dripping a little. When the cover came off I discovered the differential was eating itself up. It had not been put together correctly 18 years or so ago. Everything inside is new now including the posi carrier. I hope you have better luck than I did.
"What's the story with the loose c-clip? " The side yoke has a C clip on the splined end of the shaft inside the differential. It keeps the yoke in proper position. When I got my 68 convert I noticed the left side yoke had about 3/8 inch of shiny metal showing next to the seal going into the differential. The side yoke had moved out of position. Most common cause is the C clip has come out of the groove in the end of the shaft, due to wear, the groove not being machined properly, etc. I have driven the car in this condition for two years, but having the left side yoke out about half an inch affects the alignment and worst case might accelerate wear on the splines and finally break. I am hoping the clip just dropped to the bottom of the diff and did not get ground into a million pieces of schrapnel floating around in the gear oil.
Also I found the PO had installed strut bars from 75-83 Vettes, which have larger diameter bushings, so I had to re- order the bushing set I have. The PO also managed to install a right lower shock mount that is incorrect for the car and required over an hour to remove it. The left side popped off with a couple turns on my ball joint tool. The right side broke the tool. Heating with a torch failed to loosen it. I finally made an adapter for my A arm bushing tool, which has a heavy frame, and pressed the !@#*() thing out. New part on order.
Must be something in the air. I finished my install last night and just test drove it a while ago.A few months ago the rear couldn't be aligned due to excessive play on one yoke. Turned out that the clutch pack was toast! all bearings races and seals were replaced too.Since I was there already I went ahead and replaced my greasable Moog U joints to Spicer Solids. ..Good luck on your install!
I thought I had found all of the Bubba stuff until today. Bubba must have had the rear suspension apart at some time. He left off the French locks on the outer flange bolts on the axle half shafts- almost all were loose. Half of the nuts on the u joint u bolts were loose. The four bolts on the strut arm bracket that bolts to the diff were so loose I could turn them with my fingers. I am envisioning one of the axles coming loose during one of the dyno runs I did last year. That would have been exciting.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
My PO had the french locks but didnt bend the ears. Most of mine were loose and I could turn them with my fingers. Not a good feeling to find stuff like that after you've been driving the car for a couple of thousand miles. Im still painting my engine compartment but I may drop my rear end today.
I've bought a 64 3.70 posi rear and I had it apart, no cracks, back lash is tight, but it still has the dana posi. I'm going to drive it until that fails while I try to get my hands on a new rear end to rebuild. I'll still have the 3.55 thats in it now incase that happens sooner than later. I may be buying one from Johns Vette next week. I also picked up some half shaft safety loops. I'll be very happy when I get those installed, after I'm done fondling them of course.
I'm also installing a VBP front and rear mono leaf tunable suspension I picked up a year ago. I cant wait to get it on the front and drop the front end about an inch and a half. My vette looked like a gasser with the front end jacked up like it was. I drove JKippin's car with that system, thats why I bought it. It felt like a race car, and its tunable if the stiffness gets to be too harsh on my back. The PO installed a pro touring setup that feels good, I just want the tunability and I didnt want to cut springs.
Are or did you guys put the big plates on your rear arm where it bolts to the frame. Its supposed to tighten the rear up considerably.
RR- I saw those "locator plates" in a couple catalogs, but there was no good explanation what they were for. I thought they were just to locate the diff carrier when installing, so I did not get them. I'm replacing the large bushing, so I hope that helps.
2020 Corvette of the Year Finalist (performance mods)
2019 C3 of Year Winner (performance mods)
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
Originally Posted by ronarndt
RR- I saw those "locator plates" in a couple catalogs, but there was no good explanation what they were for. I thought they were just to locate the diff carrier when installing, so I did not get them. I'm replacing the large bushing, so I hope that helps.
this is the caption under it. its 2/3 the way through the story
This round aluminum disc is used for differential crossmember reinforcement on 1968–1979 Sharks. The reinforcement prevents the differential from breaking the rubber cushions; if that happens, the disc prevents the crossmember from coming loose. A set of studs are provided to allow the use of a washer and nut to retain the crossmember cushion to the chassis. Then the disc is held with an additional nut and washer. These are a must have for a serious race application; more so with drag and road racing than autocrossing.
"[SIZE=3px]The Corvette Differential Crossmember Reinforcement Kit will reinforce and stabilize your differential crossmember. This will greatly improve the handling of your Corvette, and give you a smoother, easier ride."
corvette mods[/SIZE]
Last edited by Rescue Rogers; 01-27-2019 at 02:19 PM.
Just to clarify...knowing that we are dealing with a facotry differential here...the side yokes are not held in by a 'C' clip...they use a snap ring that takes snap ring pliers to remove....so...it can be that it fell off due to it was not installed correctly....because there is a way to do it correctly so it will not possibly pop off....or your side yoke has worn down so far the groove for it is no longer there and it has fallen down in your gear oil.
A 'C" clip is used on straight axle differentials.
And YES....I have also come across more cars than I care to discuss where the previous idiot mechanic left fasteners hand tight.
Thanks, DUB. I should have used the correct term- snap ring. I got the diff out late today so I have not taken the cover off, but my suspicion was correct I can pull the driver side out, so the only thing keeping it somewhat in place was the axle and the trailing arm limited its travel. Hope it did not bugger up the end and the groove where the snap ring sits. If Bubba installed the snap ring he probably assumed it was in place and did not rotate to check if it was in place all the way around. Good ole Bubba.
Glad to know you still have a groove for the snap ring due to many I have seen have worn down so far the groove is gone and the dust shield on the outside of the yoke is wearing away on the differential housing where the outer grease seal goes and damages it. Look at the snap ring real good so you install it correctly due to some snap rings are stamped out and have rounded edges on them. IF your snap ring has rounded edges. Make sure it is facing to the outside and not towards the center of your carrier.
DUB- You have many times passed on information to forum members that saves them time and heartache. For example- your comment about the snap rings maybe having a rounded edge due to the way they are stamped. I have used snap rings many times any was not aware of that fact and if the new ones have a rounded edge. I have a 50/50 chance of installing it wrong and having to do this job all over again.
I will put on my glasses and see if the new snap rings I got from Ecklers have a good side and a rounded side. The one Bubba put on was lying in the soup in the bottom of the diff case, the groove in the shaft is OK and there were no metal pieces in the gear oil, so I lucked out. I will also check Buba's ring, but I suspect he installed it incorrectly. Thanks again.
01-24-2019, 08:47 PM
differential remove/install
