69_BigBlock

Had to pop start my vette the other day at work and jerked the car pretty hard when I popped the clutch. When I came in this morning I found 3 of these lying in the parking lot exactly where I popped the clutch. Two are about 3/16" thick, one is about 1/16". I'm guessing some kind of shim but don't know for sure. Took a quick peek under the car and didn't see anything obvious. Any ideas???



Thanks!

Ron

Chuck Gongloff

Rear trailing arm shims...the later "slotted" design as opposed to the earlier "2 hole" design. If you have this kind of shim, they should be retained by a large...6 inch or so....cotter pin through the frame.

69's didn't originally use this type of shim. Chuck

68raggtop

Those are for sure the shims for the rear trailing arm! You will need to get your rear aligned, or at least get the shimming back in so the TA won't move.

Paul L

Chuck wins the prize! You must have a pretty loose rear end at the moment.



If you look closely you can see the head of the shims retaining cotter pin in this old pic.

jdmick

Man I wish mine would have come out that easy. You're half way there on a rear suspension rebuild now. You better keep going.

MEGALADON

Yea, get it fixed, I would not drive to much like that

LOTAHP

Maybe pop the clutch a couple of more times and the trailing arm will come out. OR just to do a wicked HOLE SHOT

69_BigBlock

Thanks everyone for the quick responses. I was able to get the shims back in until I can get it aligned properly.

Odd thing is that the frame does not have the hole for the retaining cotter pin. The shims are just kind of resting inside the frame "bracket".

I haven't taken a real close look yet, but during a quick inspection with the wheels still on I couldn't find the hole on either side of the car. Is it common for these holes to be missing on a '69 roadster?

Thanks again!

Ron

Chuck Gongloff

Corvette didn't use the slotted shims till mid 1970 as I recall. Before that, 63 and up used the "2 hole" shims. Those shims did not need a cotter pin to retain them, as the T Arm bolt went through one of the holes to retain them.

Problem was at alignment time, you had to pull the T Arm bolt to change shims.

My late 69 has the holes in the frame for the cotter pins, but they weren't used. Somewhere along the line, your shims have been changed to the "later" style slotted shims. Chuck

MYBAD79

I didn't know that they had the 2-hole design - what a dumb idea, shim changes are nearly impossible without major frustration and/or pain..... at least they got smart and changed it....

The shim shown in the picture appears to be stainless, it's from either VBP, Ecklers or one of the other suppliers. If there are shims missing, you better order another shim/bolt/cotter pin kit - it's only $30 and comes as a complete set.

Once the shims are installed properly you should drill a hole for the cotter pin to secure the shims.

69_BigBlock

Makes sense. Thanks again for the quick reply!

Edzred72

Yeah....and the "cheezy" alignment shops just jammed them in, wrote up the bill...and sent you on your way. Might be why yours fell out!!
Eddie