I have my 75 on jack stands at the moment. I took out the front bracket bolt and swung it down, installed the bushing. I'm trying to put the front bolt back in and cannot for the life of my pry hard enough to get it to line back up. What can I loosen or take apart on the rear end to relieve some pressure from the differential? Thanks in advance for the help, and yes I searched and read through 10-15 threads but nothing describes how to loosen the tension if you can't get the bolts back in.

Jake

Oh, and this is my first Vette, picked it up 3 days ago. Will be really fun to drive once I get the whole rearend freshened up.

 

I know my method of doing this is nothing like what you did due to I do not need to mess with the two bolts that secure the front differential mount bracket.

All I can say is that I leave the mount bracket connected to the differential housing and I can pry down on it to slide in the thick rubber cushion that goes in there and get it all to get back together .

It is a bit touchy when messing with bolt and upper cushion...but I can do them all day long and not have to remove any other bolt other than the bolt for the front differential mount cushion

In order to release the TENSION you are feeling when trying to pry it down,....you need to disconnect the rear leaf spring outer bolts so the spring can hang down and then it may work for you ...and IF it is still hard to move...you will then need to LOOSEN the two bolts that hold the differential cross member to the frame and get the cross member to drop down a little bit. Which I why I said to LOOSEN those bolts and NOT take them out.

A LOT more work on parts that can cause for problems....so I would advise that you get the bolt back in and pry down on the mount bracket and slide the cushion in and go from there. YES..I know the brake line can get smashed IF you are not watching what you are doing....but I have done countless and never damaged anything.

DUB

 

As DUB says you will need to disconnect the rear spring and if you haven't done this before be very very very careful. Do the research to see how to properly do it. If the bolts are worn that would be a good time for replacement. With the spring released I had success on mine by putting scissor jacks under both trailing arms and raising them as high as they would go ( the car itself on jackstands)...that gave enough relief to get everything in place. The suspension geometry kind of goes nuts when it's on jackstands and it hard to tell what's going on.

 

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...0-82-c3-s.html
Read #18 regarding poly just for giggles. https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...-problems.html
And this.
http://repairs.willcoxcorvette.com/1...-instructions/

 

Dub, I took your advise and took the snubber off, reattached the bracket, and pried the crap out of it to squeeze the snubber in. Thanks you for the tips. Car rides much better now with no clunking and popping after fresh CV's on the half shafts and the snubber. I've got a week to get the thing ready for my birthday road trip to New Orleans...

 

So by reading this I assumed my advice or suggestion worked for you.

Glad that you did get the bushings in and secured. I know it is kind of a pain ...somewhat...but it goes faster than messing around with a bunch of other stuff...like I previously mentioned.

Glad that this part replacement fixed your problem also.

DUB

 

Yes, although a pain in the butt it was easier than trying to get the bracket bolt back in. There is more leverage on the end of the bracket to squeeze the rubber in.