What else should be updated before I start driving any distances? 1978 L48 auto w/20K miles, been in storage for past 20-30 years. I’ve now replaced the entire exhaust, brakes, cooling systems and alternator. Repacked front wheel bearings, changed all belts, many hoses, plugs & oil. Car seems to run and drive fine but only been in the neighborhood so far. The front


control arm bushings look bad; have ordered new. Also getting tires replaced next week.

After checking, this is what I found doesn’t work so far:

1. Steering seems to work fine but leaking fluid around valve, cylinder and related hoses. What to replace?
2. A/C: plan to take it to a local shop for inspection and recommendation.
3. Windshield washer – plan to remove check and replace pump as needed.
4. Power antenna
5. clock
6. Questions:
7. Ball joints – cannot imagine not changing while I’m doing the bushings, thoughts?
8. Sway bar links – same as above, but no visible degradation.
9. Tie rod ends
10. Shocks?
11. Rear control arm bushings?
12. Fuel pump?
13. Carburetor rebuild? Seems it idle too high at cold start. Also takes a while at first start of the day.

 

If the vehicle only has 20K showing, I would not bother with suspension parts until 40 - 50K miles.
Fuel pump should be fine. But the PS will need several parts before this story is over.

Two things that I would do, not because of the mileage, but because it has been sitting, maybe collecting condensation:
Purchase a fluid transfer hand pump. Remove everything you can out of the rear diff and refill. Both of the GM fluids are available on Amazon at a reasonable price.

Then, I see you have a hoist, so I would order a trans pan gasket, new filter and the required amount of ATF. Drop the pan, and renew that portion of the drivetrain.

 

The tires if you haven't done so already.

 

If the car is wearing the original or 20 plus years ignition wiring I would change just because of the age. I would also consider changing the rubber fuel lines at the tank and at front frame to the fuel pump. Keep an eye on the fuel pump. Over time ,the diaphragm gets hard and may fail. Check your oil frequently for gas. Jerry

 

I would inspect the fuel tank to see if the fuel has gummed up. Possibly steam clean it on the inside. When you went through the cooling system, did you do a coolant flush on the engine as well?

 

Get a spare ignition control module (or two!) and a spare ignition coil and carry them with you. 45 year old electronic parts can be iffy. If your car was stored dry, you might be okay for a long time. Unfortunately current replacement parts on the market can be hit or miss on quality, hence the recommendation for a backup of your spare.
it is what it is.

 

Both of my 78’s mostly sat for the 20yrs before. The clock most likely will run again with a cleaning and lube with clock-oil. Need to take the center console apart to get the clock out, so change the dash bulbs for new GE’s while you have it apart and service any electrical connections along the way. Harmonic balancer rubber came loose on mine; migrated rearward making a scraping sound when the pulley rubs. Motor mount rubber gets brittle with age; on failure fan will start hitting shroud when engine torques. The ultra-low mileage car still had grease in the turn signal/high beam pivot, but it had become rock hard. Switch failed and the early 78 version is hard to find a replacement for. Don’t click the turn signal on all the way until there’s some other reason to go into the steering column and clean/relube. The grease in the window tracks also hardens with age. If gas has dried in the carb you’ll be much happier with the way things run if it’s taken apart and cleaned out. Send to Lars (v8fastcars@msn.com) for a rebuild or request his carb and timing papers and get parts from Cliff’s High Performance to rebuild yourself. Lars has done some great write-ups with lots of pictures of carb rebuilding here on CF.
Charlie

 

Sounds like a pretty good list, mine was sitting ~20 years when I bought it and I did all the above. Pretty much every rubber bushing was rotted. I also did the differential and spring bushings. I would get a rebuild kit for the steering, super easy job, lots of video's online how to rebuild it. Don't forget the heater hoses.

 

Mine was 28000 miles..

tune up, fluids, safety items..drive it..
because no matter how you prepare short frame off something will break
heater core leaks, e brake falls apart, gas lines rusted…etc
enjoy!

 

Thanks for all the feedback! Below is my new list. BTW I took the car out on the open road today and have a bad vibration...seems to be coming from the rear. I have new tires on order and have an appointment next Wednesday to replace, so I hope that's it.
1) Change the front control arm bushings but not the ball joints or tie rod ends, yet. still need to find a spring compressor...any suggestions.
2) Change differential lube
3) Trans filter and fluid
4) Change rubber fuel lines at tank. I changed the front hoses near the pump already. I need to get the spare out of the way. The key lock is frozen but haven't spent that much time yet trying to get it off.
5) Change the ignition control module. This may be the reason it cranks so long when cold, based on what I read. I assume I should also change the cap, rotor and plug wires. If anyone has recommendation for best quality brand/source, please share.
6) Rebuild the carb. My old boss (retired) said he'd do it and claims he wrote the manual when he worked for GM, Rochester NY in the late 70's. I assume I just need to buy the rebuild kit from Cliff's, but which one? Seems to be many.
7) My turn signal seems very difficult to move. Need to Figure out how to clean and lube it.
8) Clean and lube the clock, change the dash light bulbs.
9) Power window work, but agree should pull door panels and lube tracks.
10) I noticed my rubber bushing on the rear leaf spring look bad, so I'll order that kit and replace as well.
11) More research is needed on the steering system.

 

Spring compressor shouldn't be a problem, this worked for me

 

Why do you feel the need to change the front control arm bushings?

 

If you do not have grease zerks on the driveshaft and halfshaft u-joints, change them. The grease in originals is completely dried out. At some point have your trailing arms freshened. The grease in the bearings is completely dried out.

 

cool car

 

Its amazing how the to-do list grows with more and more "while I'm theres" and "might as wells", isn't it?

If you're going to do the control arm bushings, you might as well do the ball joints too. The arms will already be out of the car at that point. Include the swaybar links and tierods in that group too, since they're coming out or being disconnected anyway. Check your idler arm, if you haven't already. Trans service is not a bad idea. Diff fluid change is good too. The fluids may not be in that bad of shape, but you'll have piece of mind knowing exactly how old and how many miles they have on them once they're changed. Grease all of your zerks that you find (but not the one on the steering control valve!). For your steering, replace all the components as a set (valve, ram, lines) and source your replacements from LoneStar Caliper if you don't want to rebuild them yourself. The Corvette parts vendors, like VolVette, Zip, etc. usually get their rebuilt PS components from them. Avoid the parts store rebuilt crap!

Once you get the safety things tidied up and have driven it for a bit, then make a decision about the shocks. The ones on the car may still have life left. Or just check them when you pull the front suspension apart for the bushings, ball joints, etc.

The clock? Meh. If you're going to tear into the center console to get at the clock, I'd replace it with an '81-'82 Oil Temp gauge, but that's me. If you do decide to fix the clock, make sure you change all of your light bulbs while you're in there. Replacement incandescents are cheap and there's no better time to do it.

Carb rebuild? Send it to Lars.

Taking a while to kick over while cranking is probably more fuel-related than ignition. The carb bowl is probably emptying when sitting (being siphoned out and back down through the fuel pump) and it has to be refilled on a cold start, which would take longer for it to begin spitting fuel into the intake. Bottom plugs on Q-jets very rarely leak.

 

The rubber that is visible outside the control arms is dry and crumbling away; chunks missing. I don't have a picture of mine but will take one. I assume this is not good, but honestly I don't know what the effect of leaving is. I just read about and see others changing theirs. The ball joint boots look good even though they are also 45 years old. So I'm curious why one piece a rubber rots while others don't? I assume it has something to do with fluid / grease exposure or perhaps differences in thermo cycles? My heater hoses I could literally pull apart by hand. The rear leaf spring mount rubbers look equally as bad, so I plan to replace those also.

 

Re: carb rebuild; call Cliff on the phone. He’ll set you up with exactly the right kit.

 

You are correct about the bushings. What you are describing warrants replacement.

On the carb, if your old boss did indeed write the manual, Lars probably knows him, or knows of him. Lars is a walking encyclopedia of Q-jet knowledge.

 

Do the silicone wires really break down by just sitting like that? I know the really old wires types do but I literally resurrected a 64 bug that had been sitting since 2004 and the silicone plug wires are like brand new with no signs of deterioration. I did have to replace all the rubber sections of fuel line as they started seeping fuel.
YMMV but I found the diaphragms will typically soften back up so if your going to have an issue with them you would have had it from the get go

I would pick a spare HEI ignition module to keep in the car along with the toolsto change it but thats advice for any c3 with an HEI not just one thats been sitting.
also clean your battery cable connections at both ends.

 

Sounds like you need to start at the rear of the car and have a rubber party working your way forward.