brushmor

I am replacing my radiator on my 82 Collectors Edition and with all of the extra space I have a clear view of my upper a-arm bushings and they don't look so good. Is this something you think that I really should be replacing while I have the easy access? My only fear is that "while I am at it" I'll just get the front end rebuild kit, replace the shocks, etc.

tfringo

Not pretty but I bet they are fine. Just age related cracking in my humble opinion. If put to regular use, they might not last very long because of dried out state.

Worn out one's will not hold the pivot shaft in the center. Yours looks to still be in the center. Don't use oil or WD-40 to lubricate them. Don't use oil on rubber, it eats the rubber.

Terr Just my humble opinion.

interpon

Are they horrible safety wise? I don’t think so but i will say from a handling comfort factor...all new rubber bushings moog and consider springs and shocks while there..not really that expensive...and ball joints..idler arm was on my change list too..
one of the best things i did..mine looked similiar.

doorgunner

"Annnnd then I looked at the lower bushings.....and there was excessive play in one of the ball joints.....and a tie rod end was even worse"

You could wait until "something starts rattling or develops a shimmy".......then rebuild the front suspension completely. (Just keep an eye on the suspension).

davidchristopher

you might have easy access to them, but you have to pull the control arms to replace them. not an easy job at all.

interpon

yup here's my front end job...

https://www.corvetteforum.com/forums...rs-method.html

brushmor

Thanks all for the feedback. I am thinking that since there are not many car shows this summer, I may just bite the bullet so I can take a cross country trip next summer.

Buccaneer

Just replace them all and be safe and handling will be better especially if they are original, but who knows.

brushmor

I am certain they are original. I bought the car last year with only 12,000 miles and even the tires were the original Goodyear's.

SwampeastMike

That's about what the ones in my '79 looked like. Had some other problems and wound up replacing all the bushings, tie rod ends, ball joints, idler arm, etc., etc., front and rear. The difference is truly amazing! Only thing not replaced were the trailing arm bushings as they still seem in reasonable condition and I wasn't ready to open that can of worms...

As to safety, the understeer when going into sharp curves at speed was spooky since it was new to me and having never driven a C3 when new figured it was the nature of the beast. Wrong! That "spooky" feeling is gone even though I know that the system was designed with understeer. Still have the original steering gear but all the PS system is new. The steering is tight, crisp and confidence inspiring--it had a touch of slop before but that is also gone. It's easy now to understand why the C3 was the fastest, best handling US passenger car throughout its production that lasted far longer than any other Corvette generation.

I wasn't comfortable removing the control arms and springs so had the work done at a nearby shop that specializes in Corvettes. They mainly work with high-end resto-mods. Both the owner whose daily driver is a '69 and his lead mechanic told me it's now one of the best handling C3s they've ever driven with the owner saying that it's better than his gorgeous looking yellow '69 because he's never completely reworked the suspension. . Mine has a Gymkhana suspension. Everything in front was replaced with Delco Professional parts and I used high quality poly for the bushings replaced in the rear. They also sandblasted and painted all of the original parts removed during installation and the front in particular now looks like it just came from the factory.

7T1vette

Now that you have it apart, replacing worn and damaged suspension parts is a VERY good move. And, if you do that work yourself, you can do it for reasonable money. You may wish to farm out some of the more difficult stuff....like getting the old bushings out of the control arms....and maybe pressing the new ones in. If you have a press and an ascetelene torch, you can do that yourself. Otherwise, it's a few bucks spent wisely. If your joints are the original pieces, new ball joints, idler arm, and replacement of worn steering knuckles is also a good idea.