Half shafts

[Rooster]

Hey guys!

So I know it's been awhile. I ran into a slight issue when working on the car. Whilst I was checking under the front of my car at my tranny lines that were leaking, I noticed another green little puddle. I had my radiator recored just a year ago and while they were at it they upgraded it to a 4 core. It never really cooled as well and the coolent never seemed to really circulate properly. So they obviously didn't do a great job.

Anyway, local shops wanted $800+ for an alluminum radiator. I ended up buying a champion 3 row aluminum radiator off ebay for $350 CDN including shipping. I had to do some minor modifications though which included cutting the lower rad rubber mount. I also had to make a custom upper rad mount and put new foam all around. My uncle is also making me a custom rad cover to make it look a bit more clean (I'll post pictures of it once it's done).

So, as far as the rearend goes I didn't end up sanding the powder coating on the flange mounts. I talked to my father about it and because the one surface isn't flat it would be very difficult to get a nice level surface. So I decided to leave it on to ensure it was a flat, smooth mount. I also tried to use my french locks which I painted. They ended up twisting when I started to torque them. So after some more research I ended up using blue locktight and some grade 8 lock washers with grade 8 bolts.

My treads on my one spindle were also to messed up to be used and the other spindle was slip fitted by a shop. This gave it a very loose fit and a very bad rotor runout. I ended up having to buy some new spindles.

So far I have the half shafts, smart struts, trailing arms, and shocks on. One trailing arm has been shimmed and I'm working on the other side. I also have the new parking brake half installed.

Another update to come!

Looks great. Nice work!

 

[Jr. Corvette]

Looks great. Nice work!

Thanks Rooster!

 

[Jr. Corvette]

Hey guys!

So I finally got my vette on the ground! This is how it looks right now.

I used the 8" bolts but from the ground to the wheel arch, it is 29". I really thought it would lower it more than that. Any ideas why it still sits so high? I'm planning on buying some Ridler wheels in about a week so I want to make sure the ride hight is where I want it. As far as the fronts go, any wisdom regarding cutting the springs? Other than to cut the same amount off the top and bottom or one whole bottom coil?

Here's a picture of my custom rad cover/ fan shroud mount. I've primed, filled and sanded it now so I should have it done by the end of the weekend.

 

[nascar03]

Jr...
Nice clean work there young fella.
Awesome.

I would think the suspension will settle down once you get it out and roll it around.

Graham

 

[Jr. Corvette]

Jr...
Nice clean work there young fella.
Awesome.

I would think the suspension will settle down once you get it out and roll it around.

Graham

Thanks Graham!

Hopefully it does. I absolutely love your car and the stance it has! What did you do to lower it like that? How many coils did you cut up front?

 

[nascar03]

Hey Jr... thanx.
I'm runnng F41 series springs all around with BFG KDW 255/45-17 tires. (25.5" dia)
My rear fender lip is 26 3/4" and the front is 26 1/2" high.

I don't think cutting coils is the correct way to go up front.
They never sit right when cut, and they really aren't that expensive.

Graham

 

[12cents]

Never cut coil springs for lowering a car. The spring rate changes as you cut coils off. The car will not ride nice and there is no guarantee both sides will be the same which will lead to other issues over time. Like Graham says, coil springs are relatively cheap to purchase and you are assured of what your end result will be. After all of the work you have put in, why cheap out now. The car is looking awesome BTW and I have thoroughly enjoyed following along.

 

[nascar03]

Jr... that rear end pic is going to be my screen saver for a while.
Nicely done..so clean...
Are those double fuel filters mounted above the rear end housing?

Graham

 

[Jr. Corvette]

Jr... that rear end pic is going to be my screen saver for a while.
Nicely done..so clean...
Are those double fuel filters mounted above the rear end housing?

Graham

Thanks Graham! The one on the left is a fuel filter and on the right is a AEM 380lph fuel pump. Both are for my Fitech fuel injection system. Hoepfully one day I will find a tank that has a in-tank fuel pump option.

Never cut coil springs for lowering a car. The spring rate changes as you cut coils off. The car will not ride nice and there is no guarantee both sides will be the same which will lead to other issues over time. Like Graham says, coil springs are relatively cheap to purchase and you are assured of what your end result will be. After all of the work you have put in, why cheap out now. The car is looking awesome BTW and I have thoroughly enjoyed following along.

Thank you guys so much for the advice on the springs! I can't believe how many people out there cut their springs. I just thought it was common practice. I'm going to phone Mopac on Monday and see what they have. Whenever I tried to google C3 corvette drop springs, I always came up empty so I thought the only way to lower it was to cut them. I had heard that spring rate could be affected, along with ride quality which worried me. Really apprecaite it guys!! Thank you!

 

[Jr. Corvette]

Hey Jr... thanx.
I'm runnng F41 series springs all around with BFG KDW 255/45-17 tires. (25.5" dia)
My rear fender lip is 26 3/4" and the front is 26 1/2" high.

I don't think cutting coils is the correct way to go up front.
They never sit right when cut, and they really aren't that expensive.

Graham

Hey Graham,

I also looked into my suspension a bit more and because I have the gymkahana suspension I believe it has the same rear leaf and front springs as a F41 suspension. It must just be the new alluminum radiator, and the new engine with alluminum heads and intake, as well as my AC being taken off which has caused it to sit so high.

 

[nascar03]

I haven't checked for a while now..(many years actually!,) but I believed that gymkana was FE7 and F41 was beyond that and never offered as an option.
I could be wrong.
The rear springs for Gymkana and F41 are both 7-leaf, but different spring rates...
The base spring for 1980(?) and prior was 9-leaf.
I believe that '81 and beyond had the new fibreglas rear springs.

graham