1975 Plastic fantastic aka Corvette

[SuperBuickGuy]

Nope, dope....spill!

Old lady stepped in front of a bright red Hummer. Fortunately, it didn't even scratch the Hummer.

I am but a simple country gent, but I think buried in this bit by the big city lawyer is a suggestion that I go to hell... ;)

this is a surprise?

[SuperBuickGuy]

soo.... a day of nothing done; except move my office... so nothing really done on the Corvette. I have all the parts, and found the right shim for the johnny joints (grainger carries them) - which was delivered on Friday. I swear, sometimes it seems like the world conspires against me. When I have all the time in the world, the parts take the longest possible time they can take. When I order early figuring I won't get to it for a bit.... right on my doorstep. The Yukon stub shafts, and the Grainger shims arrived in less than 24 hours from the time of the order.... kudos to them, but I spent the day thinking "I could be doing something a lot more fun than this..."

[Bob Holmes]

I can order from Summit, and the part is here on my doorstep (well, dumped over the gate on the gravel drive) in 24 hours. McParts store take at least a day for anything ordered and I have to drive 15 miles.

Waiting on parts is a pain.

[langleylad]

Summit has never gotten an order to me quickly . Usually it takes 3 weeks if I'm lucky and I only live about a 2 hour drive north of SBG, I know I live in Canada but come on ! . Right now I'm waiting on a back order for an MSD cap and rotor for a Chevy V6 . 2 weeks on the back order then plus probably 3 weeks delivery . Customs doesn't delay an order that much . Thanks for letting me vent !

[Bob Holmes]

Its probably because I live down the mountain from their Reno warehouse. But, it works for me.

[langleylad]

That's another thing , they ship to me from their Ohio warehouse and not the Nevada warehouse . I believe Nevada is closer to me than Ohio .

[SuperBuickGuy]

I think why it didn't take 2 days was for the same reason (both sellers)

Grainger was sending it from West Seattle, which, while it sounds close, is a tortuous 1-2 hour drive away

I think Yukon gear is aka Richmond gear; which is located in Everett .... same distance, but 45 minute drive in the opposite direction

I hate waiting, but I hate paying 2-3x more for the part from the local NAPA.... funny (to me) aside, I took a spreadsheet to my local napa and showed them how much I spend on parts.... at least I get a discount now; but for some reason I can't convince them that being 1 1/2 more expensive than mail order would actually net them more business.... after all, buying online, I've got tons of parts that "should have fit" - but are so inexpensive that to send them back would be too expensive. If Napa was reasonably priced, I'd use them a lot more.... but to the immigrant owner, that just doesn't make sense to him. Ah well - they're still good people, and I do use them even when it would save me a little to buy from Summit.

[BangShift McT]

You showed a pricing-demand layout spreadsheet to someone who works at NAPA?

I thought lawyers were supposed to be smart? Did the smell of burnt-out brain electrons fill the air suddenly?

[SuperBuickGuy]

You showed a pricing-demand layout spreadsheet to someone who works at NAPA?

I thought lawyers were supposed to be smart? Did the smell of burnt-out brain electrons fill the air suddenly?

...and I get a discount

anyway... assembly of trailing arms

press races in place


schnazzy tool (not from Napa)


works like this


used for checking play (should be between .010 and .025)


shims are in the inside but this shows assembly



starting the assembly of trailing arm

[SuperBuickGuy]

more progress
For those who wish to rebuild brakes - here's how the brakes go together


one of the problems I had was a frozen adjuster... best I could find locally was one from a Camaro - so a bit of modification was in order

there, fixed

this is the completed parking brake assembly

my press paid for itself tonight


hey, getting back together

and the other side


I've got a ways to go yet, I need to change the geometry of the lower control arms, and put the rest back together... then get it aligned (not enough alignment shims either - but I made due)

[Bob Holmes]

I'm sure you meant that you were going to square it up and align it yourself. No way some stiff on a machine will be as exact as you are.

And its good stuff to know.

[SuperBuickGuy]

I'm sure you meant that you were going to square it up and align it yourself. No way some stiff on a machine will be as exact as you are.

And its good stuff to know.

nope, I meant what I said and I said what I meant

Some stiff is ONLY going to set the toe on the rear because I cannot get it as accurate as the stiff on a laser alignment table.... however, if you'd like to buy me a 4 post lift, then yes, I would do it myself. And I will admit to considering purchasing an old laser alignment set up.... but it ain't going to happen before I get the toe set on this one.

you did notice how flopped over the rear arms are now? that's why I used Johnny joints - now the suspension can work as the original designers envisioned

[Bob Holmes]

a block of wood, a way to scribe and a tape measure. The laser is a way to spend a bunch of money on equipment that is unnecessary.

We do it all the time, on a concrete floor and only need a floor jack to raise the tire off the ground to spin the tire for the scribed line. Then you set them back down, roll it back and forth and bounce it up and down and then measure front to back.

The laser is a gimmick, its nothing more than a very accurate way to measure an imprecise mechanical mechanism.

If I get up there this year, and can arrange a visit, I'll show you how to do it.

[SuperBuickGuy]

a block of wood, a way to scribe and a tape measure. The laser is a way to spend a bunch of money on equipment that is unnecessary.

We do it all the time, on a concrete floor and only need a floor jack to raise the tire off the ground to spin the tire for the scribed line. Then you set them back down, roll it back and forth and bounce it up and down and then measure front to back.


The laser is a gimmick, its nothing more than a very accurate way to measure an imprecise mechanical mechanism.

If I get up there this year, and can arrange a visit, I'll show you how to do it.

that would be cool, but I'm not waiting for your visit to drive my Corvette

the issue is getting the car to settle right on the ground to do the toe. (for those reading, the tires move out from the center when the car is fully settled on the ground, but when you jack the car up the car doesn't completely settle to ride height, or worse, only settles on one side)... not to mention it's a full-on PITA to pull the shims out and move the rear trailing arms around when the car is on the ground. I've seriously considered - and may yet do - building tables to set the wheels on that are 4' off the ground (with slider pads) so I can use it on my lift.... but again, this shortcut gets my car driving a lot faster - so it's going to be what it's going to be

[milner351]

Greg Smith and I'm sure other sell the "glider pads" to set the wheels on, can't recall what they cost.

More reason for me to get a drive on hoist for the new shop.... I hadn't thought of... hmmmm