C3-Phil

Hey folks, just picked up a 78' and I got way to many questions.
I have a friend with a parts car; 80' with 50k on it (mauled by telephone ) I'm faintly mechanically inclined and have access to most tools.

It needs new front control arm bushings, from my research doing it myself would be quite the challenge, is it relatively straight forward, just labor intensive? To save money could I just replace the bushings with a press instead of the whole control arms? is it worth it to try an salvage the arms from the parts car? What parts do I need to order? any suggested vendors?

It also needs lower ball joints and axle CV joints, for which I have the same questions.

Thank you for spending the time and reading through this. Any and all help is greatly appreciated.

Haggisbash

Hi, I haven't had to replace universal joints as yet but have done the control arm bushings and the hardest part of that job is getting the old ones out. There is more than one method, I used a hole saw to remove the inner bush by drilling through the rubber , then cut through the outer with a hack saw before collapsing it and driving it out. I have read that you can make quick work of the whole removal job with an air chisel.
I would suggest Moog rubber bushes, thats what I used, some prefer poly I suggest you read up on both.
Lower ball joints are straight forward, they are most likely riveted in but quick work with a small disc grinder (going the head off the rivet flush with the arm) then use a pin punch and hammer to drive the rivets out! No need to rivet in the new ones (unless you want complete originality), they can be easily bolted in.

0Willcox Corvette

I'm a little confused... you say the car was mauled by a telephone (pole) I'll assume. If so how mauled is it. are you wanting to use the parts from this car to fix your car or are you wanting to fix the mauled car. The reason I ask is because if your fixing the mauled car then you would want to make sure the frame is straight as well as the A arms.

Replacing the bushings and ball joints is just labor... Remove all four of the arms from the car, then you use a air hammer (or hammer and chisel) to remove the old bushings, then just hammer the new bushings in place. Original ball joints were riveted to the a arms so you'll have to grind the old rivets off (unless the joints have already been replaced). When you go back you use bolts (included in the kit) to bolt the new joint back in place. You can rivet the new joints in place but it's not necessary.

To remove the A arms, if you are a do it yourself-er... use this http://repairs.willcoxcorvette.com/w...1963-1982-.pdf To make a good spring compressor.

Now before you take the load off the springs, loosen (don't remove) the nuts on the ball joints... then smack the hell out of the knuckle and the ball joint should pop loose. Once you have the upper and lower ball joint loose then compress the spring and remove the nuts. When you un-compress the springs the arm should be free.

This kit is the only kit I will install in my shop, it's USA made and consist of Federal Mogul and Moog parts. (Federal Mogul owns Moog). and it's on sale until Sunday. https://willcoxcorvette.com/corvette...63-82-usa-made

Willcox

GUSTO14

Rebuilding control arms is an involved process with some pitfalls. The biggest problem is bending or distorting the control arms in the process of pressing out and in the new bushings. If you do not have a lot of experience in using a hydraulic press, particularly in supporting correctly the item you are pressing against, control arms are items that can be bent or distorted easily. You might consider sending your control arms off to someone like Vansteel or Bairs and having them preform this task. They do this daily and have the experience and all of the tools to do this without damaging the control arms. They can also install new ball joints at the same time and use original style rivets if you desire.

Having said that, if you're comfortable around a hydraulic press give it a try, but be very careful in supporting the arms as you press on them.

You might read through this link a few times before starting to become more comfortable with the process and some of the pitfalls.
http://www.corvettemagazine.com/tech...nsion-rebuild/

As for using control arms from a car that has been hit in the front, I would use that as a last resort option because they can easily get tweaked in an accident. Even a minor tweaking can cause difficulty down the road when it comes time to align the front end. Just be sure they are not damaged before spending any time with them. With even 40k on them, you'll also want to rebuild them while they are apart. The rubber in them is as old as your originals and is no doubt deteriorated.

Good luck... GUSTO

Big2Bird

I would start by buying the dealers service manual for that car.

sparky77

If You don't want to remove and replace the bushings Yourself ,just remove the arms, buy the bushings ,and take them to an auto repair shop and for a few bucks the can do it for you. Chevy has been using that bushing set up for a long time and the repair shops have been replacing them for longer.Tip clean and paint the arms before you take them in.

ronarndt

You will read about a number of methods to remove the old A-arm bushings. Spend about $50 and buy the GM A-arm bushing tool. You will not need to burn, chisel, hammer or use any other method to get the old bushings out........without bending the A-arm. The tool also installs the new bushings properly. Check on ebay for best price.

0Willcox Corvette

Ron,

I've got the original GM tool here.. but I find it faster to just use the air hammer to push out the bushings. Not fair because I don't have one of those generic air hammers, I have the IR brand that is a bad Azz... lol .

I chuck the arm in the vise, hammer them out.. And driving them in is a snap. Seems to work pretty good.

I'm not sure how the imported version of that tool would work or last but I see lots of generic imported tools are flooding the Bay of late. I had a customer buy the imported blind hole pullers and they lasted one gear box.

IMHO,

Ernie

'75

Very fast using this method, not more than 5 minutes per arm. Cleaning and painting the arms is another story.

0Willcox Corvette

LOL.. we cheat on that too...

Dean...

We made a tank years ago that uses sodium hydroxide (Lye) as a cleaner and sodium bicarbonate (Baking soda cooked at 400 degrees for 30 minutes or better known as Soda Ash) as the electrolyte ......

With two positive anodes on the outside and a grounding anode in the middle for the part, this monster will strip off all the grease and all the paint from any part. When you pull the part from the tank all you have is a black **** which washes off with soap and water. In simple terms it's like reverse plating... anything on the part ends up on the outer anodes.

If you are interested in building one, email me at Service@Willcoxcorvette.com. I did a video of me and Kevin explaining how this works but for liability purposes I had to pull it from Youtube. It's still there only in a private video with a disclaimer. It's not dangerous, but I didn't want to have any issues and my insurance company about had a hissy fit when they saw it.

The by product of this process is hydrogen bubbles on top of the water solution which could be dangerous but in the limited amount it only causes a laugh when you trick someone into arching it.. (like a tiny firecracker)... But this thing works like you'd never imagine.

The neat thing about this is it is more effective than blasting, takes no man hours time wise (just the juice) and parts are cleaning while you work on something else.

Ernie

'75

Nice job on the cleaning tank, looks like a huge labor saver and a lot less toxic than blasting.

Hayes69

Ernie,

is this the method that that requires a sacrificial anode like rebar? I did that once for a grill. Worked great! I definitely need to try that on vette parts.

jim2527

Send them out. Unless you have special tools some things aren't worth the time or effort.

0Willcox Corvette

Email me and I'll send you the build link when I can.. My internet is horrible where I'm staying... it's like dial up only worse... but the next time I check my emails I'll send you the build link.

And yes and no... to your question.. you'll see when you watch the video. The fun part about this for me is the hydrogen bubbles.. I love scaring the crap out of a newbie....lol I know, I'm old and probably a bit to old for playing tricks but it is funny when they blast off from a spark... Kind of like loading a distributor capacitor and tossing it to someone.

If I don't get back with you soon enough, Dean has the link and this is me giving him permission to share it with you... Build at your own risk is my motto... I wish I could leave this for the public but it's not going to happen.

Ernie

ronarndt

Ernie- I know there are a lot of ways to remove/replace the bushings, but my car shop motto is "It's always a good job if you get to buy another tool". I have tools that I use on a regular basis. Like every five years. RA

JayRay

That seems to be for any repair on these cars