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I have the rear brakes instAlled and have to say I'm a bit irked by the Russell stainless braided brake hoses. I had no issues with the front set but the rear lines seem stressed with the suspension as full extension. It looks like they need another inch or so in length. I confirmed I received the correct ones, 94-96 Corvettes. What do you all think?
I guess I'll mention that the hoses do have some wiggle in them if I grab them in the middle and wiggle. They are not so tight that they feel "solid". I can deflect them with ease about 1/2". It's just that where hey connect to the hard line and have to bend a bit they seem more stressed than I expected. Maybe this is normal for a braided hose as it's more rigid?
I always used standard replacement brake hoses on cars in the past, this is my first use of a SS braided hose so looking for your input - (hopefully to squash my worry)! With the suspension loaded this shouldn't be a problem at all.
They're tight, 30 ft lbs on the banjo bolt and whatever I felt was right at the hard line connection, then installed the retaining clip. It's just that they seem to be a bit short and the radius of the bend near the hard line connection seems to be a bit much/stressing. The hose isn't so stressed that it's hard to move, if I grab the middle of it I can wiggle it around. I just think they need to be an inch longer with the suspension at full extension.
St. Jude Donor '09-'10-'11-'12-'13-'14-'15-'16-'17-'18-'19-'20
Originally Posted by jmgtp
They're tight, 30 ft lbs on the banjo bolt and whatever I felt was right at the hard line connection, then installed the retaining clip. It's just that they seem to be a bit short and the radius of the bend near the hard line connection seems to be a bit much/stressing. The hose isn't so stressed that it's hard to move, if I grab the middle of it I can wiggle it around. I just think they need to be an inch longer with the suspension at full extension.
I agree with them looking short, but that's how things are.
The Ghost has been hanging on stands for months, and no problems
One thing I haven't touched is the rear tie rods. I do t detect and any slack but wonder if I should just go ahead and replace them. I believe the inner tie rod is a ball/socket if I recall correctly. What's typically done here, replace the rod as a unit or keep the rod and replace the tie rod ends? Not sure if the inners are serviceable? Don't have a good view of it at the moment but will see how it looks in the FSM.
Installed new rear tie rod ends today and vacuum bled the brakes. I got a new air powered vacuum bleeder which made it very easy. One issue with it is that the threads on the bleeder don't seal so while it does pull fluid and bleed the air it also sucks a bit of air around the threads so you never get a sure sign that you're done by seeing no bubbles. That said, it does its job well and quickly. Nice solid pedal.
Lookin' good. I've had the same issue using the Mityvac vacuum pump, with the air coming through the threads. I see they suggest a dab of grease on the threads to seal, but haven't tried it yet.
I considered grease, teflon tape, or pipe dope. But, as soon as I loosen a bleeder I begin losing fluid so I didn't bother. I got a solid pedal so it seems good, will no more once it's running and bleed again if necessary.
The wheels will be going on in a few minutes then I'll be letting the car down onto the wheel dollies. I keep the car stowed against the back wall of our extra deep garage so our daily drivers can both be parked inside during the winter. It's takes some muscling around to get back there and out again but it's worth the effort.
The LT1 fired up like it just ran yesterday. Less than a 1/4 mile, just down the cul-de-sac and back. I can report no strange noises, always a good thing after a lot of work. While the car tracks straight, the alignment is all out of whack as expected. The steering doesnt return to center on its own quickly.
On to the good stuff...
The brakes feel phenomenal. I never exceeded 25mph and they impressed me with such a superb pedal feel. I'm sure its a combo of the rebuilt calipers, new pads/rotors, and the braided lines. They're not besdded in yet, but what a great precision feeling.
The steering too... not handling obviously. But the precision in the feel. The slop in the steering wheel seems to be resolved. Whether the replaced front end hardware was the key or the new rag joint, I don't know.
I'm anxious to get it aligned and on the road. I imagine it will feel as close to a new C4 as you can get. No doubt with 23 years and over 100k miles my suspension was worn out. The car felt loose. In my brief test drive I can already feel that its going to be great. I have a little more house keeping to do, bleed the clutch, replace the low shift boot, and a few more things. I'm going to take my time with them. The roads here are still salty anyway.
Just a quick sum up of the work done over the past ~6 weeks:
Replaced Upper and Lower Ball Joints
Replaced all control arm bushings with poly urethane
Replaced sway bar end link bushings and chassis bushings
Replaced all 4 shocks
Rebuilt all 4 calipers and installed with new discs/pads
Replaced all brake hoses for SS braided
Replaced front and rear tie rod ends
Doesn't seem like a lot typed out! Maybe I'm forgetting something.
Previous work done to rear suspension (2014)
Replaced wheel bearings and teflon washers
Replaced all bushings for poly (trailing arms + end links)
I'll leave you with a pic of the car on the ground and out from its hole on the back wall. I'll be sure to follow up on how it drives after I get it aligned. Not sure when that will be exactly, I'd like for the roads to be cleaner.
Thanks! The picture may not show it but there is an inch of dust on the car!
I really only drove down the street m, so too early to say anything about increased noise. Certainly didn't detect any squeaks that some report with poly bushings.
The rear suspension has been poly bushed since 2014, I've not once heard a squeak from it nor did I notice any increase in noise. I have stock mufflers with an x pipe instead of resonator so the car is very civil sounding. Only mentioning that because if the car was loud I imagine I wouldn't notice any additional road noise due to the changes in the suspension.
Minor update - car has an appointment at a reputable vette/musclecar/rod shop for an alignment. It took some searching to find a place that was capable, competent, and could hold an intelligent conversation. Goes in on the 17th.
In the meantime I've been buttoning up some loose ends including replacing the rubber shift boot under the console which had a hole in it. The reproduction piece went in and secures with the same 4 acorn nuts but I'm not really happy with it. For one it rubs the console when the trim is back in place, enough so that I can see the console moving so I imagine that will be a problem in short order. And two, the rubber squeaks. Too bad the oem piece isn't available. I did also replace the leather boot with a reproduction piece, no complaints there. I also managed to break the delicate reverse lockout lift ring. Waiting on the replacement to arrive (a new oem piece).
This shifter boot interference issue has me bummed. May pull it apart again to see if there is anything I can do.
In the meantime I've been buttoning up some loose ends including replacing the rubber shift boot under the console which had a hole in it.
This caught my attention. It's tangent for this thread, so feel free to reply by PM if you prefer. I'm just wondering how accomplished getting the edge of the boot secured properly around the outside of the raised lip on the tunnel? Specifically, the driver's side seems impossible to prod into place, even with the top console plate removed. Did you have the entire console out? Maybe approach it from underneath the car? Inquiring minds want to know.
Nice thread and nice work jmgtp. I'm in the process of doing the same job. I have a question for you. What did you torque the upper control arm bolts to. Not the nuts for the bushings I know those get 40ft lbs and red loctite. I'm looking for the bolts that attach to upper control arm to the car. Did you use loctite on those as well?
I've been working on the front of my '87 for a while, glad to see some references here.
Tidbits to share for folks chasing the same later via search or Google, since it took me a while to find!
For the upper arm shaft 'big' nuts, I used heat to remove, but instead of a torch I used a heat gun on low. Helped, but those things do stick! When installing, I found many references asking for torque. Many mistakenly quoted the torque for bolting the arms to the frame. Others said tighten like crazy. Others noted poly bushings move more than OEM bushings. On and on.
My final decision was try myself and go up a bit in small increments until it felt right, eventually settled for 35 ft-lbs. After that, I noticed a bit from Corvette Central that they use 35-40 ft-lbs, again for polyurethane bushings: http://tech.corvettecentral.com/2014...shing-service/
Excellent!
Next chase, upper control arm replacement ball joints use bolts in place of the rivets. I'm still searching, what torque should be used for these? I'll update post with right answer later. I've noted one source (PLXR!) mentioning 13 ft-lbs. That sound right?
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Last edited by kael; 04-07-2017 at 12:07 PM.
Reason: bushing type
03-19-2017, 12:00 PM
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