Driveabeater C3, never be afraid to settle.

Pretty sure I need this livery in a wrap for a c3.

In reply to a_florida_man :

Haha.

Ok, so the body is lifted about 4" and Ive pulled the old mounts out.

Pretty sketchy.

These are all on the Drivers side.

This the #4 mount body bracket.

#4 Mount and shims... I have a hard time believing that these shims were stacked like this at the factory... but considering the shape everything is in, its also hard to believe its ever been disturbed. Good news is that taking out a boat load of shims should fix the door gap.

#3, completly wasted. and NO shims..... hmmmmm

#2, pretty bad, 1 small shim.

#1, not even an honorable mention here... this bushing is almost a no show.

So good news.... they were all horrible and all of this is 100% worhtwhile.

More good news... the mounting tabs are solid! This is #1 DS.

#4 DS

The #4 DS well, where the caged nut sits. This is all cleaned up and ready for new hardware!

Fantastic! Having never done body bushings, id be intimidated. 

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Fantastic! Having never done body bushings, id be intimidated. 

Thanks... its a lot of work... but required if you want it to be right and to keep it from really getting bad. The alluminum just seems to crystallize and turn to dust over the years. At least on the later rubber mount cars the mount does not just disappear!

a_florida_man said:

Thanks... its a lot of work... but required if you want it to be right and to keep it from really getting bad. The alluminum just seems to crystallize and turn to dust over the years. At least on the later rubber mount cars the mount does not just disappear!

What material(s) are you using for your replacements?

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Same materials.

Prefabricated kit.

Im 53, it will outlast me.... or at least they will outlast my drivers license... lol.

Im 

a_florida_man said:

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

Im 53, it will outlast me.... or at least they will outlast my drivers license... lol.

ha! I would have guessed you're at least 60.

In reply to AngryCorvair (Forum Supporter) :

No worries... to be honest.. today I feel like 70.

Eight things that will not be a problem on a road trip...

Just in case you cant see the hole in the line...

And Im not done... these are just the first.

Im taking advantage of the body lift to replace the brake hard lines on the frame.

When I lift the passenger side I'll do the fuel lines.

Almost all of the brake system was original.

Original master cylinder, booster, rotors, lines, hoses....

EVERYTHING is getting attention.

All new cables, lines, hoses, calipers, rotors, rebuilt MC.

Notice the front rotors have never been off. They are still riveted to the hubs.

Rear rotors are  original, but rivets were drilled, presumably to adjust or repair the parking brake.

For the Challenge C3 I want to use hard mounts for the body to frame. I didn't realize the older cars used solid mounts. I was hoping it would help stiffen the car. Thoughts? Bad idea? Will it cause the body to crack in places? Any idea how the racers did it back in the day? Guess I need to do some research.

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) said:

For the Challenge C3 I want to use hard mounts for the body to frame. I didn't realize the older cars used solid mounts. I was hoping it would help stiffen the car. Thoughts? Bad idea? Will it cause the body to crack in places? Any idea how the racers did it back in the day? Guess I need to do some research.

Do you have a build thread?

As for stiffening the frame... probably not very much if its a coupe and none at all if it's a roadster.

A good multipoint roll bar  or small cage welded directly to the frame would do far more...

I don't think that switching from rubber (later style) to solid (early style) would crack the body in a specific way as the bodies and birdcage were primarily unchanged AFAIK.

Making the change after x many years and many hidden body repairs later? Who's to say?

a_florida_man said:

vwcorvette (Forum Supporter) said:

For the Challenge C3 I want to use hard mounts for the body to frame. I didn't realize the older cars used solid mounts. I was hoping it would help stiffen the car. Thoughts? Bad idea? Will it cause the body to crack in places? Any idea how the racers did it back in the day? Guess I need to do some research.

Do you have a build thread?

As for stiffening the frame... probably not very much if its a coupe and none at all if it's a roadster.

A good multipoint roll bar  or small cage welded directly to the frame would do far more...

I don't think that switching from rubber (later style) to solid (early style) would crack the body in a specific way as the bodies and birdcage were primarily unchanged AFAIK.

Making the change after x many years and many hidden body repairs later? Who's to say?

 

Found the thread.

In reply to a_florida_man :

30+ years ago when I used to sell parts to local shops, the rotor and hub were usually sold as a single assembly.  Core-return required.  I typically sold them with all new bearings and seals as well. 

Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to a_florida_man :

30+ years ago when I used to sell parts to local shops, the rotor and hub were usually sold as a single assembly.  Core-return required.  I typically sold them with all new bearings and seals as well. 

Even as recently as the late 90s it was this way when I was selling parts for these. That was only....

berkeley. Im older than i think. 

Interesting... that makes more sense. It would be a little wild if the brake pads were the only changes over 55 years.

I know the MC is OEM by the stamped production code letters. 

And just to reiterate, I'm not concerned with originality per se, I'm just trying to gain an appreciation of what the car has (or has not) been through.

So keep up the feed back, it helps to frame what I find.

Dusterbd13-michael said:

Ian F (Forum Supporter) said:

In reply to a_florida_man :

30+ years ago when I used to sell parts to local shops, the rotor and hub were usually sold as a single assembly.  Core-return required.  I typically sold them with all new bearings and seals as well. 

Even as recently as the late 90s it was this way when I was selling parts for these. That was only....

 

 

berkeley. Im older than i think. 

We all are... lol.

Its later than you think.

a_florida_man said:

Interesting... that makes more sense. It would be a little wild if the brake pads were the only changes over 55 years. 

The rotor might have been changed, but it would still be riveted to a hub as that's how replacements were sold back in the day. 

I see that Rockauto only sells the rotor without the hub, so I can see now why one might think the one on the car is original.  These were also from the era when turning rotors with a pad change was still a viable option.   You should be able to find the thickness spec, although you'll need a disc-brake measuring caliper to check it - similar to a standard measuring caliper but with conical ends to fit into wear grooves.  Some older garages might still have brake lathes and remember how to use them.

Funny... I also sold auto parts (retail and wholesale) through the 90's, worked as a mechanic, turned hundreds of drums and rotors... just NEVER worked on or with Corvettes enough to remember this detail.

One of my freinds owns a garage (Harry's Brakes) and he still has the ability to turn and, get this, reline brakes. It's a specialty deal and people will send him shoes to reline and rotors to turn from all over. Obviously this is mostly for old and rare stuff. 

Big news!!

I actually put a NEW part ON the car.

BEHOLD!!

More news to follow!

I was able to get the rear rotors off, luckily the parking brake adjusters were not frozen.

The passenger side requires a little more oomph.

And PB Blaster.

And Time,

The hub surfaces were a tight fit!

Just surface rust.. but it really glued things together.

This is a picture of the underside of the birdcage channel hat the runs along the frame. Since the body is lifted 3 or 4 inches, you can see it. Its great to see more green primer than surface rust after 55 years!

I removed the remnants of the factory side pipe insultaion from this area. Im thinking I'd rather have it be open air to dry out quicker...

My side pipe plans dont hold the exhaust quite as tightly under the car.

This is a picture of the front of the rear frame "kick up". This is where most c3's rust and die. This looks nice. Just minor surface scale!