bennettrp

Hi Folks, Been a while since I've posted, but here we go..........................

I'm looking for a bit of expert advice on what might need to be done to "ensure" :-) that a C1 is driveable for a long distance trip.
I bought my '62 from a college buddy 3 years ago. He had it for 34 years, but only put 28 miles on her. He had rebuilt most of her but had a stroke about 23 years ago, and then she just sat in his garage. His wife pushed me into buying it so I acquiesced. I've been working on her ever since. Engine frozen, clutch frozen, all kinds of other repairs. She finally quit smoking after three months of driving. Anyway, this resto has brought me back to the days of my youth, altho I never had a car this nice when I was in my teens. I've put about 1500 miles on her since she's been running. (had to be towed home three times. :-) HA!)

Besides "finishing" the resto, I've performed: carb rebuilds, oil/trans/diff fluid changes, suspension grease, replace rubber fuel lines, brake and fluid changes, tach and speedo grease, etc.

I noticed the "ball to roller" bearing mod on this forum and decided that would be a good thing to do, particularly since I have aspirations of running Route 66 from Illinois to AZ in the next year or two. Well when I pulled out the old bearings, the grease was rock solid. It's a miracle I didn't burn one out. But this observation gets me to wondering........................... What about rear wheel bearings and U joints?

What else might need inspection/changing on a 50+ year old vehicle? Especially one that had been sitting for over 20 years.

These days she fires up every time I turn the key, but I'm always looking over my shoulder. Any reasonable advice is appreciated.
thanks.

desertpilgrim

Radial tires.

DZAUTO

FIRST: Ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto, ditto, and oh ya, radial tires-------------------inflated to 32-34psi. Nothing wider than 75-series tires on the front--------------------almost anything out back is OK.

FRONT SUSPENSION/STEERING
First: Use either a floor jack or a bottle jack. Place it at the OUTER ends of the lower A-frames and lift the front tires off the floor (a buddy or extra set of eyes will be VERY helpful). DO NOT GREASE YET!!!! Grasp the top and bottom of the tires and try to wiggle them in and out at the top and bottom. Check for play/movement at any of the suspension joints.
Do the same thing side to side and rotate the wheels lock to lock and check for play/movement in any of the suspension joints and steering linkages (tie rod ends, drag link, center steering arm, etc, etc).
Center the wheels. Grasp the center steering arm out at the tierods and work it up and down aggresively-------------------there should be virtually no movement-----------------if there is significant movement, the center steering bering needs replacing (it can be a challenge!!!!!).
When all of the above is done, and if all joints seem to be acceptable (these 53-62 frontends have ALLLLLLLLLLLLLL metal-to-metal joints, thus, SOME small amount of play is normal).
Next, GREASE, GREASE, GREASE every joint (I think there is a total of 26 grease fittings on these cars). And yes, it will get messy-------------------have PLENTY of rags handy to wipe off the excess grease-----------------------------YOU CANNOT GREASE THESE FRONTENDS TOO MUCH!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
After greasing everything, set the car down on the floor flex the suspension several times by bouncing the frontend up and down aggressively and turning the front wheels lock to lock with the steering wheel------------------------you will not like this part-----------raise it again and grease it again.
Remove the fill plug on the top of the steering gear box. Fill it with good chassis grease---------NOT gear oil (Chevy put out a service letter on this in 59). Just stick the hose of the grease gun into the hole and fill it.
DRIVE LINE: Grasp each end of the drive shaft and try to wiggle the U-joint ends to see if there is any slack-----------the U-joints should not have any slack. If the U-joints have grease fittings, grease them until grease comes out all 4 cups. EVEN IF THE FRONT U-JOINT HAS A GREASE FITTING, IT CANNOT BE ACCESSED UNLESS THE DRIVESHAFT IS REMOVED!!!!! If there is looseness in the U-joints------------------IF THE U-JOINTS DO NOT HAVE GREASE FITTINGS, THEY CANNOT BE GREASED -----------------UNLESS------------THE CAPS ARE REMOVED. Thus, might as well replace the U-joints---------------------YOU DO NOT NEED A U-JOINT FAILURE ON A LONELY STRETCH OF HIWAY!
Check the rearend center section oil level--------------should be at the bottom of the oil fill hole. Oil lever in a manual tranny should be at the bottom of the fill hole. If your manual tranny (3sp or 4sp) has a drain plug, I'd recommend changing the tranny oil.The 56-61 axle housings have a drain plug on the bottom of the housing------------62s DO NOT! It would be good to change the rearend oil. To do this on a 62, the oil will need to be sucked out through the fill hole.
When driving, there should not be any whine or growling from the rearend. A quick test for oil leaking from the axle bearings is to remove the rear brake drums and inspect for oil inside the rear brake areas. If any noise is detected from the rearend when driving, at normal speeds, turn left then right. If a growling noise increases during a turn, that is typically an indication of an axle bearing going bad (on the side which is loaded during the turn). Replace the axle bearing.
On these early cars, all of the above is basically routine and preventive maintenance.

You asked, that's my recommendation for a car that has sat for an extended period of time. You have already seen what the grease looks like in the front wheel bearings.

6D2148

There you go! DZ just answered all your questions, no gray area just facts! He knows what he is talking about! Chip

bennettrp

That's just the kind of definitive list I was looking for. It all makes sense. Thanks a mil.

I have done a number of these things, but many I have not or simply forgotten. So I'll use this list to go over the girl again.

Especially appreciate your detailed review of the front suspension and the steering box.

Dick

Dan Hampton

The time the car spent in purgatory would make me want to throw a replacement fuel pump in the trunk or to change it outright. If there is anything that will get you stranded on your Martin Milner, Route 66 journey, it is 34 yr. dormant fuel pump.

ghostrider20

SDVette

My car napped for 40 years before I started refurb..
DZ listed some good items there.
I think the key is to build confidence with short trips, working up to longer ones.
After a year of local trips (<100 miles), I worked up to a 500 mile trip last summer.. All good except the front U-Joint started grinding near the end of the trip.. but made it home fine.
Next summer I'm planning a CA to Chicago trip on route 66... I'm going to upgrade to roller bearings in front, get the wipers working, and do my best to weatherproof it..

Here is what the U-joint looked like. This is likely untouched since new!





Fred

emccomas

When you put DZAUTO and C1 information in the same paragraph, you can take it to the bank.

PS: The driveshaft is on the way Tom.

Frankie the Fink

DZAuto's advice will keep your car fit for a LONG time.....the other area is the electrical. These cars were lightly fused and you can have 25-30 amps coursing through the full flow ammeter just above your left knee - UNfused. Search for a thread by me titled "C1 fuse points" and consider the advice... The wiring in general needs a close examination and you might be in for a harness replacement. A bit of a chunk of change but its a safety issue - enough said.

Then add a small fire extinguisher to the cockpit and just drive and enjoy the car...

Personally I wouldn't have driven with a failing front U-joint as SDVette did, there is a reason Shelby put a driveshaft safety loop on his racers... That could have gone badly...

Finally - I finished a Route 66 trip recently and EVERY place you stop is a picture of a C1 - literally. If you run that road in a C1 you'll reach celebrity status in the first mile - I should have done it in my 61 before I sold it.... You'll be swarmed with giddy foreigners for sure - they were everywhere gawking at the memorabilia...

Factoid

DZAUTO

I'm in Mustang, OK (suburb of OKC on the west side). OKC is about the middle of Rt66.
405-745-8383
tparsons6@***.net
If worse ever comes to worse, I can haul a car to the house on my open trailer.

98vettered

Thank you op for asking the question I have asked myself. And DZAUTO for a very informative answer.
I have only owned my 62 fuelie for 6 months. Presently on my lift..So I at least do have time to do some of these inspections and looks like I will get the grease gun out again.

Frankie the Fink

The ST-12 manual is online now BTW:

http://chevy.oldcarmanualproject.com...csg/index.html

Makes interesting reading - supposedly those 24 zerk fittings need a shot of grease every 1,000 miles....
Of course, with modern lubes you can extend that. I always tried to hit them annually at 5,000-8,000 mile intervals...

DZAUTO

For checking the play/slack in the front suspension joints, putting the car on the lift will NOT work. As I mentioned earlier, some kind of jack (floor jack or bottle jack) needs to be placed under the lower -------OUTER END-------------A-frame until the tire is clear of the floor. By doing this, the pressure that is loaded by the spring on all of the upper joints (those wear the most) will be removed, which will allow easier movement of the suspension components. Routinely, the MOST wear seems to occur at the REAR upper-inner bushing/shaft. Next most common wear occurs at the upper-outer shaft/bushings. If these old metal-to-metal suspensions are greased regularly, they will last a LONG TIME!!!! UNFORTUNATELY, the 53-62 Corvette frontends are a 40s technology design, and it took until 1963 to correct that old design. The 53-62 suspension geometry is OK (NOT great, just OK)-----------------it's just the metal-to-metal design that is not conducive to long life if not kept lubricated. I CANNOT EMPHASIZE THIS ENOUGH!!!!!!!!!!!!!

AZDoug

I would also inspect/replace the rubber brake hoses that go to the rear axle and the front wheels. ANY deterioration or light cracking in the outer rubber is good clue they need to be replaced. Flush the brake system at the same time.

Replace the radiator hoses and heater hoses if it hasn't been done. Its good time to install shutoff valves in both heater hoses up under the fender for when the heater control valve starts to leak, or the inner hose to the heater core nobody ever replaces splits. Personally, i wouldn't trust the water pump after sitting that long, get it professionally rebuilt if it is original, or get NEW NAPA pump if it isn't. The bearings are going to go out on it, due to small seep leaks from the seal, sitting that long.

I would also get the generator bearings/bushings replaced. They will fail also. This isn't really an issue if it has been converted to an alternator.

Get the fuel pump changed, the diaphragm in it will go bad shortly.

Doug

Doug

SDVette

Just to clarify, I didn't realize it was the U-joint grinding.. it was very subtle for the last 25 miles of the trip.. I actually suspected it was the transmission. I had greased it before the trip, and it took some grease, but obviously, it didn't make it to the 'dry' side. On the next drive I heard it as soon as I pulled out of the driveway, and retreated to the garage immediately!

But yeah, dropping the front of the drive shaft while going down the road would be..... uh..... bad!

AZDoug

On a C1 its not problem, the X of the frame contains it. It can be hard of the tunnel fiberglass though. BTDT. Other cars, not so much, i saw a '68 Camaro come in once that dropped a front U joint, the drive shaft caught something,and bent in half, coming up through the floor pan and middle of the back seat bench.
Woulda been painful for someone sitting in the middle back there, but just a thrill for someone sitting on either side.
Doug

LouieM

Really useful for C1 owners. Is there an equivalent for C2s online? (I didn't fine one searching)

bennettrp

HA! It seems like many of us have gone thru the same "hard knocks". Yep, I carry a fire extinguisher. yep, I had to replace the fuel pump. Yep, rebuilt the starter. Yep, I checked out the electrical system. Yep, I put Cragars and radials on her. Yep, I started with short trips, the last one was almost 100 miles.
My buddy is/was a fiberglass/paint guy. The car was partially burned when he bought it, and he installed a new firewall, driver's fender and front end wiring. Rebuilt motor, trans, diff, all original. New kingpins up front. Body and paint are like new. But I have learned to be a skeptic of somebody else's rebuilding............... Besides finishing the car, I've had to fix a ton of stuff.
I've been using this forum as my "bible" for "how to's", especially when trying to keep the car fairly original.
When I did the front wheel bearing mod, I came to realize that I needed a step back to reassess where I was with the car in making it reliable. The list compiled in this thread takes me a long way in that direction.
Thanks for help.
Dick