77 vette

Dan
I've been there, had to replace my 2 aft body mount supports, only had to lift the body up about 1 1/2" and cut those bolts off to, I did one whole side at a time.
I also hammered the **** out of my shock bolts untill they where worthless, but they did come out after about 9 thousand blows with my 5 pounder and drilling the center out. I also had to cut off the upper shock bolts to get the shocks out.
The trailing arms are another story that everyone has, you may want to invest in a nice sawsall with lots of blades.

tfi racing

You guys are lucky.Mine were so rusty the spindles cracked and broke,just about every rear end part is broken or rusted beyond repair.Guess I'll be wearing out the old visa.Should I go with offset arms and aftermarket strut rods,since almost everything will need replacing,I would like to get the most for my dollar.

77 vette

I went with double off-set t/a from Van Steel, these are so beefy that they make your stock assembly look like junk, I also went with a 2" shorter 330lb VPB compasite spring with the smart struts, all bolts are new and everythings cleaned and painted, my rear now comes apart very easly and I have some nice fatty tires/rims stuffed under the rear.
PS; Get the Van Steel Video and play it out in the shop as you work, a picture is worth a thousand words and this sure worked for me.

Danspeed1

You might as well put my name in front of this post. I am having the same problem. Unfortunately I do not have the funds for this right now so its becoming a nuisance. In any event when the cars done at least it will handle 10X better. Thats the only thing driving me at this point.

P.S. I just don't get/see the need for the "offset" trailing arms. Could you guys post some pictures so I can a better idea of that actual difference.

Thanks,

Dan

marks68

Friends, beer and luck.

Had a garage full this past Saturday helping me out. After we got both t-arms off (both came off without cutting bolts - I know I am going to pay for that stroke of good luck), we hit the shock mount bolts. First one came right out with a good whack from the BFH on the shock mount removal tool. Second one took an hour, 11 sawzall blades, a hold in the wall, and several cold beers. Unfortunately, I think we bent the ears from the t-arm.

My advice, if the mounts do not pop out using the removal tool, buy alot of sawzall blades, put the arms in a vise and start cutting.

Good luck!

77 vette

Off-set t/a's from Van Steel are fab'd from solid steel double "t" angled material (really strong stuff), with a 5" to 5 1/2" off set rim the shorter spring is not even a consideration for interferance.

ruby76

Any pics of using the sawzall? I have same issue (just ordered new mounts) but am a little unsure of where to start cutting!!!

Just alongside the strutrod bushing?

Jeremy

mooneyd

Forget about it and drive that black Vette back there

Jim71Vette

I'm in the process of doing this now. Right from the start it was going bad. You would think removing the spring would be the easy, but no... the nuts were WELDED to the spring bolts and had to be cut off. I then waited for the removal tool from VBP to arrive and started again. The driver side shock mount wasn't moving (soaked both sides in PB for days), moved to pass side, few hits with 4# hammer and it was out!
Cool.. I thought "this is easy". Went back to D side, after a few hits the removal tool "lost" its threads and became useless. The mount did move out about 1/8", maybe I can get a puller on it. I hope that puller will help with removing the differential cross member. This is SO..MUCH FUN I can hardly stand it !!

77 vette

Mine was the same, I resoaked the bolt then hit it back to it's original possition, resoaked and hit back and forth until it came out. Some times the fork will spread and the bolt will get stuck.

72-LT1

Why worry you will end up replacing it all with new any way right?

mstock

Good point
Nothing is more rewarding than a 1976 Corvette rebuilt with all new parts

ruby76

Never mind, I just got one of those stinkin shock mounts out today, the second one (on driver's side) has come about 3/4 of the way out and then now is stuck on something. Decided to come inside and tackle it another day. That inner sleeve on the strut rod bushings is TUFF - my sawzall wouldn't cut through it. But ended up cutting the threaded end off of the mount after I mushroomed it with the hammer

sweethence

I will be doing this this weekend,

here is what i have in stock.

new control arms VBP forged ends
new shock mounts left and right
new shocks
new spring and spring bolts, and spring plate
new spring end links and busings
antiseize

plan

cut of all the old stuff period, no banging no soaking, straight to the cut off tool ( have sawz all cut off tool, and torch ready).

clean all srufaces of rust and clean threads
use antisieze

install the new stuff

trash the old


Thanks everyone for the lessaons learned

tim

Tonytz06

Rusted bolts and nuts, if you can heat the area up and melt a little candel wax in around the threads. Then try and remove. I have done this and it has worked.

SwedeAWACS

Do a search for "Broke the Saw-z-all..." and "Picture of TA bolt_" both these threads were helpful to me when I removed my TA's. I tried, but unfortunately I don't know how to attach these files to this thread.

The first one has a good discussion on type of blades to use. The second one had good photo's of what you're gonna need to do when you take the sawzall to it.

Another bit of advice I received was to use a wire or Plant hanger S-Hook to support the Trailing arm from the upper shock mount when you cut. Helps support the TA when you cut through the bolt.

Good luck

Calm Screamer2

You got the right idea...time is money, spend it wisely. Cut the old stuff off in an hour...install new stuff. Less stress on the car and your sanity. Besides, most of the time we end of destroying the parts during disassembly. BTW I usually use a 9" variable speed angle grinder with a 12" cuttoff blade. Man, that thing has saved me soooo much time. Beats the heck outta a saw-all (space permitting of course).