I got to relax for 45 minutes in the passenger seat. Sitting in the sun, warm.
CK5
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Eileens 79 Corvette resurrection. It survived 1450miles on Power Tour
- Thread starter ktmoutfront
- Start date
No. I had to wait for an x-ray on my wrist a couple of weeks ago.
Yep. Old man go down on ice.
I play fall down.
Nope. I know gravity is a heartless master and hates me.
Somewhere in this thread someone, @76zimmer , said Corvettes suck to work on. I don't know what Chevy was thinking.
To install new studs, it is a lot of work. Remove the 1/2 shaft, proceed to drop a u-joint cap and needle bearings everywhere. Remove the shock. Remove the lower(only) link. Remove the spring bolt. I did find out that the single spring in this car is the super tricky one. Break line and caliper removed. E brake cable disconnected. Then the trailing arm bolt. This nut is in a tight location and 1/6 of a turn at a time to remove. castle nuts and cotter pins on everything. Up to this point it has been pretty uneventful. Just time and figuring out what to do next.
Now that the arm is out, the pain in the butt starts. GM decided that the spindle, basically a really short axle, needed to have both inner and outer bears pressed on. And when they have been on there since 1979, removing is not easy. I built a stand to stabilize the arm. Heated the inner bearing and beat spindle 3 times with a 12 pound sledge hammer. It fell out.
I decided to replace said spindle. I have a local Corvette guy, Rick at Corvette Central, 40 minutes south of me. Has every part and if I am paying cash, he is cheaper than the on line stores. After meeting him once and buying the spindle, bearings and seals, he gave me his set up shim drawer. Told me to get it back to him Monday. Who does that??????
He told me them machine the spindle down to make the bearings slip on. So on the lathe it went. Now the bearings are easy to install.
When I was looking over everything, I noticed that the arm had been welded on. Then noticed it had been bent. Called Rick. He said he could get one by Monday. Then he calls back 10 minutes later. Says he will pull the new one off of the car they are restoring and I could grab it the next day. Who does that?????
Went back together in about 5 hours including the spindle set up. Added Gorilla Automotive shoulder lug nuts. They add 0.30 inches into the wheel beyond the taper.
Drove it to a friends house 2 miles away. Checked everything. Drove 3 miles to the church. Checked everything. Drove 4 miles the the gas station. Filled the tank. Drove 5 miles home. The speedometer quit working after the fill up.
But it drove nice. Eileen is going to hate the transmission.
To install new studs, it is a lot of work. Remove the 1/2 shaft, proceed to drop a u-joint cap and needle bearings everywhere. Remove the shock. Remove the lower(only) link. Remove the spring bolt. I did find out that the single spring in this car is the super tricky one. Break line and caliper removed. E brake cable disconnected. Then the trailing arm bolt. This nut is in a tight location and 1/6 of a turn at a time to remove. castle nuts and cotter pins on everything. Up to this point it has been pretty uneventful. Just time and figuring out what to do next.
Now that the arm is out, the pain in the butt starts. GM decided that the spindle, basically a really short axle, needed to have both inner and outer bears pressed on. And when they have been on there since 1979, removing is not easy. I built a stand to stabilize the arm. Heated the inner bearing and beat spindle 3 times with a 12 pound sledge hammer. It fell out.
I decided to replace said spindle. I have a local Corvette guy, Rick at Corvette Central, 40 minutes south of me. Has every part and if I am paying cash, he is cheaper than the on line stores. After meeting him once and buying the spindle, bearings and seals, he gave me his set up shim drawer. Told me to get it back to him Monday. Who does that??????
He told me them machine the spindle down to make the bearings slip on. So on the lathe it went. Now the bearings are easy to install.
When I was looking over everything, I noticed that the arm had been welded on. Then noticed it had been bent. Called Rick. He said he could get one by Monday. Then he calls back 10 minutes later. Says he will pull the new one off of the car they are restoring and I could grab it the next day. Who does that?????
Went back together in about 5 hours including the spindle set up. Added Gorilla Automotive shoulder lug nuts. They add 0.30 inches into the wheel beyond the taper.
Drove it to a friends house 2 miles away. Checked everything. Drove 3 miles to the church. Checked everything. Drove 4 miles the the gas station. Filled the tank. Drove 5 miles home. The speedometer quit working after the fill up.
But it drove nice. Eileen is going to hate the transmission.
Not yet.
I had my spindles rebuilt about 30 years ago, I had none of the equipment or experience doing it....Corvette Central is located by me also...70 mi to the west. they've been in business at least 30 years. good luck Wade!
But it sounds like it was worth the trouble...
Got the transmission cooler lines cleaned out and hooked up. I did not want to put too many miles on without it working. Had it bypassed just to make it run and move.
Went 8% leaner on the primaries and it runs so much better. Fires right up and idles. The cam is nasty. Some day I will swap the front cover for the new to me one with a timing tab on it. When I do, I will pull the numbers.
Put 80 miles on it today just running around town. Has an ever so slight stumble right off of idle. Never quit. Going to change the accelerater pump speed.
And I hooked the head light vacuum line up. The lights popped up and were on.
Went 8% leaner on the primaries and it runs so much better. Fires right up and idles. The cam is nasty. Some day I will swap the front cover for the new to me one with a timing tab on it. When I do, I will pull the numbers.
Put 80 miles on it today just running around town. Has an ever so slight stumble right off of idle. Never quit. Going to change the accelerater pump speed.
And I hooked the head light vacuum line up. The lights popped up and were on.
Video! Need to hear this!Got the transmission cooler lines cleaned out and hooked up. I did not want to put too many miles on without it working. Had it bypassed just to make it run and move.
Went 8% leaner on the primaries and it runs so much better. Fires right up and idles. The cam is nasty. Some day I will swap the front cover for the new to me one with a timing tab on it. When I do, I will pull the numbers.
Put 80 miles on it today just running around town. Has an ever so slight stumble right off of idle. Never quit. Going to change the accelerater pump speed.
And I hooked the head light vacuum line up. The lights popped up and were on.
A little bit of an update. Driving it daily if I need to run for parts or lunch and the weather is nice.
Pulled the side pipes to add some street legal baffles. Just about dropped the first one when it slid off. The thing must weigh 40 pounds. I was expecting a hollow 4" tube. Nope 3' of baffles, but the center is open. Added the new baffles after a lot of grinding to fit. Still on the loud side, but the rasp is gone. So much better.
Was warm enough Sunday to pull the t-tops.
And don't comment on the parking job. The stalls are too short for that car.
It needs FI really bad.
Pulled the side pipes to add some street legal baffles. Just about dropped the first one when it slid off. The thing must weigh 40 pounds. I was expecting a hollow 4" tube. Nope 3' of baffles, but the center is open. Added the new baffles after a lot of grinding to fit. Still on the loud side, but the rasp is gone. So much better.
Was warm enough Sunday to pull the t-tops.
And don't comment on the parking job. The stalls are too short for that car.
It needs FI really bad.
8.1?
No. That one is going into the Wildcat.
