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project: 'smooth cruising' 76 vette

6K views 28 replies 11 participants last post by  smooth cruising 
#1 ·
I'm in the process of beginning some maintenance and rebuilding of a 76 vette i acquired last fall. more or less in the planning stages for some ideas coming to mind and getting an idea of where i want to go with this car.

heres what im working with..









 
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#2 ·
picked up a rear end from a 1973 for $350



the plan is, to replace my current trailing arms with rebuilt units. ill be completing this using kits from 'Vansteel' which are on order as i type. my arms on my car are in bad shape as the bottoms have large holes but the bearings still seem to be holding up. i also have no parking brake at the moment. after the rebuild i will have functioning rear parking brakes and worry free units to instal in the spring.





beginning dissasembly and cleaning



last bearings installed were done improperly, this side lacked the critical shim between the spacer and bearings. the tightness resulted in a near failure for this driver.. the spindle on this side will need replacement. the bearing race had been spinning on the spindle and heavily wore it down..



you can notice the grease coming out of the spindle hub where the seal was compromised and play was evident



cleaned and prepared.. one side done.. repeat for the other and wait on parts!







i will be using por 15 products throughout the project on all frame related components. any core housings, hubs, calipers, etc will be done in automotive enamel
 
#3 ·
my current axle is doing the usual described binding around corners when warmed up. could probably be fixed with some new gear oil as it seems it is either low or contaminated, reacting with the clutches. but in the long run ill be piecing together a nice new trouble free rear for the car.. but new oil in the spring for sure.

taking a look at the carrier from this 73 rear end,
once out of the varsol tank, looked like this.







i pulled the cover off and this fell out, any ideas????????





checking side yoke end play, between .035-.040", time for some maintenance. since i can wait on this i will take my time and set this up with either new clutches or invest in a trouble free eaton tru trac with new gears.. im undecided at the moment.



 
#7 · (Edited)
right now the rear suspension is the concern for me. just before i stored the vette in the fall it began making a horrible noise that would sound like nuts and bolts rattling in a can. driving around i thought a tire was going to fall off! i pulled over and checked most likely areas but nothing was reletively loose or problematic. i have heard a similar noise on my solid front axle in my truck,, sounds just like an axle ujoint with dusted needle bearings ratteling in the cups.. but nothing was found in this case.?

i figured it would be best to invest in the new rear end, working on it bit at a time and replacing sections from the chassis with refurbished units. i have no expectations that anything has been altered on the under body in a very long time. i suspect most of the rotating parts are due for replacement or service. I simply find it easier working on this car to have a spare core to work on so i have less down time on the running vehicle.

as for the rest of the car i need to do some minor repairs.
oil pressure is through the roof! i'm sure the sending unit is to blame. i also have a few oil leaks and vacuum leaks to address. i will also need to look into the motor more. it takes a little longer to crank then it should and the electric choke isnt responding as it should.. something interrelated.. may end up replacing the motor another summer if i find a little cash or a good buy. But im sure its just a tweaked setting

next week im going to be investing in a beautiful manual conversion kit i stumbled across on kijiji. it consists of a super t10 trans 42 spline with 903 case and 2 ring input. the guy who is selling has made a whole conversion kit for a chevy project he went a different route with. so the kit consists of an all new aftermarket clutch pedal, hydraulic slave, new willowood manual master cylinder, some new high end clutch (not sure of the make), he also has a new output yoke i would need for the vette shaft and proper bellhousing, he even has the throw out bearing.. all i need to get is a flywheel! that may sit in the shop for a while until i figure out the order of attack on the motor problems.

most importantly i want the car mechanically sound and safe! once the rear end is done i will move onto the front and continue replacing bushings, and and ball joints, rod ends i suspect are due. after the car is fully tight and sound ill begin the cosmetic and body work.. the car does leak water like most and i do suspect rust problems.. but ill take it one step at a time and ill post logs of each area i touch in hopes to help others in their restorations.

thanks for the support!

ill keep you posted!

~Dan
 
#8 · (Edited)
when i acquired this car it was equipped with a new edelbrock intake and carb. it also had a new radiator and hoses! new windshield too.. someone has restored the interior with vinyl covers i suspect and dyed/painted alot of the interior plastics.. it all looks professional but the white/grey isnt my style. black exterior and tan interior is in its furure ;) but a very sharp car for its year. i found the car on a lot near my work.. you can imagine driving by this thing every day has had its effects on me lol.. now i own her! my wallet will never be the same :(
 
#13 ·
just a bit of trailing arm updates,

the one side spindle was damaged as i mentioned earlier due to improper bearing setup,,

i decided to take a closer look at a pair of spindles i found for $60 on kijiji. when i picked them up in the dark one evening they looked just fine, when i got back to the shop i noticed the damaged threads... what a shame. it looked as if one was attempted to be corrected with a die but instead bubba chased the thread and crossed it just creating a burr for a thread. the other was justas bad with heavily damaged threads..

i ended up turning the remainder of the mess down and built them up, then thurned my own 3/4-20 thread on the spindles.. good as new! but what an unnecessary headache.

i just pressed out the studs, and dressed the shoulders. the new van steel kits come with new lugs! nice touch i think.. i received confirmation the kits are coming and should be here soon.



 
#16 · (Edited)
Assembling trailing arm bushings,

I made a contraption to compress the rubber in the sleeves and set the taper. Took a matter of minutes to create and I couldn't imagine doing it any other way.

You can also see I decided to use a vise to form the taper in the sleeve, purely for comfort. I felt more comfortable having felt the force being applied then guessing and damaging it in a hydraulic press. a mechanical press is another option but I found this way most ergonomic and pleasing.. Just make sure to use a heavy duty vise!

Any questions?, just ask.







 
#17 ·
A little more trailing arm updates,

Using an old spindle with decent front bearing already seated I began setting up the final bearing shim on the left side. I cut off the old front seal and for ease of setup I ground down the inside diameter of a decent rear hub bearing so it could be pulled on and off the spindle by hand, instead of force.





I pressed the new races into the hub and laid out the shim and spacer kit included with the rebuild parts. Starting with the largest shim and working down I got within .003" and called it good enough. That will be the end play on the left side. With new bearings and final snug might tighten it some another .001" possibly. I measured the end play with a small dial indicator and used a couple small pry bars between the spindle and hub to make my movements,, method not shown but worked well.



Assembled parking brake hardware and installed all studs for left side, then mounted hub to arm.





Bearings will go in tomorrow, but I need to aquire some wheel bearing grease.. Right side to be repeated!
 
#20 · (Edited)
Shimming up the right side hub bearings I noticed the one outer race seated in the hub was spinning in its seat by hand.. This problem isn't something I consider a major issue as long as there is no side to side movement noticable. I inspected the hub for any cracks but found nothing. since there is a tolerable amount clearance I decided to use some loctite 680 around the race and then seated it in the bore under some preload in a stacked spindle assembly until cured.

Taking a closer look at that side hub looks to be a case of an overheated bearing to failure,, at some point of that hubs life. Thankfully not on my car! Evidence on the outer rim of the hub show some wear when the bearing failed and spindle crashed into the bore. Im glad I wasn't in that car when it happened!! But I feel the hub will live to drive many more miles
 
#21 · (Edited)
More bad news for that side spindle assembly.. just finishing off the last of the assembly for the right side. Pressed the new bearings on the new shaft and inserted the spindle into the hub. After I got it snugged up I noticed a tough spot in the rotation, I then looked into the round out of the spindle and it was very off!!... $#!t... :down:

Must be a bent spindle?! I set up that hub using a different spindle without these problems so im going to assume that's the case here..


I did manage to remove the new bearings without damage and am now in the process of converting the spindle for my 2nd best spindle, but it does have mild pitting on the journal and im not excited about using it... But it is only a grease seal and not an oil seal, which isn't nearly as critical for fluid retention
 
#23 ·
I need some caliper assistance!

Im trying in all my power to use as much as I can from this rear end I found. After the arms I want to get the calipers sorted out. I've already gone over one of them, disassembled one completely and found no sleeves and quite a bit of corrosion. Im not ready to rule them out and turn them in for core if I can save alot of money rebuilding them.

$50-70 dollars is still too much money for me to justify spending on something I could likely recreate on my own time,

I want to know what a standard bore size is on one of these rear calipers. I also want to know the tolerance between the bore and cylinder. And I also would like to get full specifications on a reproduction 'o-ring cylinder.. As in dimensions, o-ring groove locations and sizing, and also any special features, as in shoulders or a radius. Pictures would also be priceless to have. Also if anyone could tell what size o-ring was used in the kits also.

Thanks for any assistance

 
#24 ·
$50-70 dollars is still too much money for me to justify spending on something I could likely recreate on my own time,
If they're original un-sleeved units, I wouldn't waste my time on them, when you can get SS sleeved units for around $100.

Anything you could do to the OEM pair will still leave you with cast iron bores which are prone to corrosion.

I would turn them in as cores for a reman. SS sleeved pair. Plus you get a warranty with the remans. Totally worth the $, the time savings and peace of mind!:thumbsup:
 
#25 ·
Yea but $100 is still $100,, while I could sleeve them in stainless or whatever I have on the shelf then make new pistons. Saving the money for other investments. pointless to me to be lazy about it since I have the equipment readily available to set up with.

I replaced a front caliper last season and got one from the white box store 'car quest' couldn't believe it cost me $180 plus core for a remain unit... Easily the most expensive cali I've ever purchased. Maybe a Canadian thing? if calipers were under $50 id be all over replacing them
 
#28 ·
One of the only real perks of working for a small custom machine shop in in this great city, im certainly not here for the pay I receive lol. But my personal work I can accomplish is priceless

I went ahead and sourced some adjustable strut rod kit and a trailing arm shim and bolt set from mid America, couldn't really beat the price for them so they are coming along in time. Thought about making them but lack correct size left and right hand tap selections. and after cost of joints and hardware I just couldnt beat these. Seen here, http://www.mamotorworks.com/corvette-c3-c2-strut-rods+1963+1982-adjustable-1-157-1435.html
 
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