Have started to take the front end apart now for my upcoming complete rebuild.
As usual, questions pop up as the work goes on. Here are the first ones

1. When I removed the shock absorbers I noticed that the shaft on the right one would stay where I put it, but if I pushed the shaft in completely on the left one it would push itself out again. This must be a good sign that it is time for replacement or?
The shocks are Gabriel Gas Ryder, original?

Any tips for best replacement shocks? Are VB&P Bilsteins shocks any good?
It's not a race car but I like real good handling without having to loose all comfort.
Will probably replace the springs with 550 lb ones.

2. I'm as usually having great problems with my brake lines. I want do disconnect the brake lines where the tubes connects to the flexible brake lines at the frame.

The calipers will be replaced and I want to change the flexible lines for SS-braided ones!
Any tips for the loosening of the brake lines? They wont give after for my attempts.

3. This has nothing to do with the front suspension, but I'll throw it in here anyway
Anyone recognize the markings on these heads and can tell me if theyre original or not?


Thanks!
Christian

 

You definitely need to replace your shocks. I don't have experience with Bilsteins but VB&P recommends them for the stiff springs. I liked the KYB's when I had then on the Vette. I now have semi-coil overs and I think they are great.

For the brake line there are two things you can do. Heat the fitting with a propane torch (clean the grease before you do it so you don't catch anything on fire and have an extinguisher close by). Oh, and watch out because heating the rubber hose will cause it to blow off unless the other end is removed from the caliper first.

The other method I use is with a pair of flat tip vise grips. I clamp on the flats of the nut as tight as I can get it. Then carefully try to loosen it. If it at all looks like the pliers are slipping then stop pushing. Get them tight so they don't slip on the nut and you can usually get it loose. This can be done without damaging the nut if you are very careful about it.

Sorry, can't help you on the cylinder head. Your best bet is to remove the valve cover and get the casting number.

 

You need to tell us what year your car is. Maybe someone with knowledge of that year would chime in.

As far as I know Gabriel shocks were never factory installed. I believe 68-72 used Delco Raeteck shocks. Later models probably used Delco also since it was a divison of GM until the late 90's.

As far as replacements go it depends on what you want to use the car for. AC Delco still makes Reatecks if you want the factory look. They have been updated and are much better than the originals and give good performance for regular driving. Autocross, drag racing, etc all require different types of shocks from multiple manufacturers.

 

Hejsan,

Gas charged shocks should extend after you push in the rod. If they don't the gas charged is gone and they are doing nothing. Yes, it is time for new shocks. Gabriels are not very good... Bilsteins are. Good choice.

To remove the brake line you will probably need vise-grips:

 

As far as shocks go I have heard lots of good things here about the KYBs. Sounds like the Bilsteins are the best but the KYBs are pretty good too for a lot less money.
On removing the brake line it always helps to heat something up red first like Burners said. I never have much luck with vise grips. I like to use one of those little pipe wrenches. They won't slip. The harder you crank the harder they grip. They can be had for around $5 around here.

 

how about letter "K"....casting number 487...71-76 large chamber head
these can be funy to read with out comparing them side by side


http://www.angelfire.com/tx5/randysr...Headguide.html

 

Thanks for great replys guys!
Tomorrow I'll go shopping for vise grips and propane torch!

This is nearly the best part of working with this car, buying all these new fresh tools

The car is a 1972 but customised pretty much by previous owners so I dont give anything for originality.

 

I installed the KYB shocks for $149 for all four - these are pretty good shocks, ride quality is good and they are not too stiff... it's up to you if you want to spend the extra $100 for the Bilsteins... most of the guys who have them say they're great....

I'd get the 550 lbs springs for the front, you won't be happy with the ride height with 460lbs springs, they sit way too high, the 550lbs are about 1" lower but you may still want to cut 1/2 coil off.....

 

Did all that on my '81, winter before last.

Those tubing flare nuts on the brakelines were a real heartache. First, let me say emphatically, unless you are prepared to trash the nuts, buy new ones, and reflare or possibly replace the lines, DO NOT crank down on them with a set of regular Vise Grips! Being hollow, the nut will simply pinch the line, not only ruining the nut but fouling the last 3/4 inch or so of the line. Note that you do not have much, if any, slack to work with on that line. Note that all 4 wheel brake lines are unique, with one or two being very long and nut-crunchingly hard to get to.

You need to be using flare wrenches. I don't mean to insult your knowledge, you might know all about them. But in case not, flare wrenches are basically a 6-point box-end wrench with a slot cut into the loop to allow it to go over the brake line. In fact, I have made my own in a remote situation by doing exactly that.

Notwithstanding all that blather about flare wrenches, I discovered that even a correctly-sized high-quality (Snap-On) flare wrench would not do it in my case. I believe my '81 came with a sub-standard set of flare nuts on the brake lines. I have never seen flare nuts that were so damned soft. The flare wrench was just rounding them off.

I was doing the trick that has helped with so many things on this car, where I hit it with the propane torch, then spray it with LiquidWrench, then put ice on it, and repeat. Did that once a day for 3 days, feeling sure they would loosen without being destroyed. Didn't work.

Then I talked to a mechanic friend who suggest a special kind of Vise Grip pliers. These pliers have these weird V-shaped jaws, so when you clamp them onto the nut, they apply pressure on 3 of the 6 flats, alternating around the nut every other flat. I bought two sizes of the pliers.

Those special pliers plus the heat/cold cycles plus the LiquidWrench penetrant finally got them loose without fouling the line. The nuts, however, were totally trashed. So I still had to buy new nuts and cut off the last 1/8" of the lines and reflare them. You can get 1/8" of slack in those lines without too much trouble.

Later, I took a new flare nut that I bought as a spare, and put it in my bench vise, and crushed it, just to see how hard it was. Then I put one of the old ones in and crushed it. The old one crushed so easy compared to the new one I couldn't believe it. No wonder I had so much trouble with the damned things. The new ones must have been 3 or 4 times as hard as the old ones. Bad parts.

About the shocks: I've had KYB's and the Bilsteins from VBP, and I like the Bilsteins better. But honestly I don't know how much difference their reallyis. When I had the KYB's, my suspension was not in good shape, and when I rebuilt it all with new bushings and springs, I changed to the Bilsteins. It rides and handles better than new, now.

Here's my car:

http://www.rogerscorvette.com/free/morris.htm

Good luck with yours!

 

Gator81
Thanks for an informative reply! I can imagine that these nuts will be a complete hell to get loose.
I fought with a few bleeder valves last winter and the originals were all very soft and tough to get loose. Most of them got trashed but a pipe wrench did the job good

I've bought a high quality vise plier today, will test it tomorrow... Hopefully that will do the trick!
One thing is for sure, you learn a lot doing these jobs!

You seems have gotten lots of experience through your rebuild, can I contact you later if more problems occur? (not if the occur, when they do )
Would be really helpful!

Thanks everyone for your replies! I will keep you posted on the progress and result!

 

do you have a 4 1/2 hand held grinder....just grind off the top of the rubber hose carefully reducing the outside diameter of the shoulder where the tube goes in....this will loosen up the end both physically by reducing the metal and the heat generated should help....the down side to this is if your are not careful you will ruin the fitting or line....

 

yea hes right about the flare wrenches, id only use the grips if it was last resort. only i would have tried to loosen them WHILE they were hot instead of the cycling. another trick is to spray penetrant in advance, couple of days. rebuilt my whole frontend last year. this is easier than most cars, as the ball joints unbolt instead of pressing in and out. but you still gotta have the a-arm bushings pressed. ( DONT USE HEAT AND HAMMER! ) you may even have to bend a wrench to get good access to the lower a-arm shaft bolts. this is really hard to tighten properly, with engine in place.also i had some urethane shock bushings/bumpers, laying around and found they are excellent replacement for the old mushy rubber ones on your power steering cylinder rod, where it bolts to the frame. i also found the ride height of the 550 springs was high, and they did not seat properly in the spring groves in the upper and lower mounts. i eyeballed a straight line down my spring, and cut it so as to make the ends line up. this resulted in about a 1 1/2 long peice to be cut off. it now fits in both pockets top and bottom, and i have 1/2 inch or so from tire to fender. looks awesome sitting low. and count the # of turns on the ps valve as you remove it. your alignment shop wont know why your steering wheel wont line up straight and their machine says everything is good. been there!couldnt get that last turn, thought it would be ok! duh! cant afford the bilstiens yet, but they ( or equivalent ) are a must with stiff springs. good luck

 

Now I've been working on the car for a few hours today.
Big thanks for the tip about the vise grips, bought one of good quality and it was no problem getting the brake lines loose, the nuts got some damage though, haven't decided if I will re-use them or not.
The nuts had been drowned in 5-56 for a few days, don't think they would have gotten loose without that.

I've gotten so far that the springs are out, a little scary but it worket out good thanks to the method lars wrote about in his paper.

But the lower balljoints won't give up!
I only have one of these forks and a hammer but that has been enough for the upper balljoints. Any winnings tips for getting them loose?

 

My lower ball joint wouldn't give up either.... I removed the rivets at the lower control arm and put the spindle in a vice. The picture shows it upside down, I clamped on the spindle next to the ball joint and hammered it out... a little heat (not too much of course) helps, too...