Blackened 79

I purchased the rubber disc only to do a re-build on this, but didn't realize what is involved in getting the old fasteners (rivets?) off. How do they come off ? And can it be done with the unit on the car ?

Jim Shea

I really don't recommend those rebuild kits with the rubber disc and the bolts to replace the hot staked stop pins. Those stop pins were considered critical safety components so to insure that they were always in place and secure, the tail end was pressed into the steering gear flange and then it was hot upset in place at the Saginaw manufacturing plant.

To remove the original stop pins you will find that you have to grind the hot upset head of the stop pin off of the flange and then you will have to knock the remaining part of the stop pin out of the flange with a punch. You will need to remove the flexible coupling from you car in order to get at the flanges.

Since you already have to remove the old flexible coupling assembly from the car anyway, I strongly recommend that you replace your assembly with a new unit. They can be obtained from GM dealers or from many of the Corvette suppliers.

The GM part numbers are:
1968 and early 69 (gear input shaft has full round serrations) #7806391
Late 1969 through 1982 (gear input shaft has a flat on one side) #7818568

Jim Shea

Blackened 79

Thanks Jim...it sounds so easy from the catalog description, but I thought the same thing about the safety issue...it's going back to Paddock.

jbroughton

Jim also has a great how-to article hidden away somewhere on the internet. I used it to do mine, and it was a great help, but I can't find it now.

Jim, is that info still out there somewhere? :confused:

Jeff Broughton

LiveandLetDrive

CorvetteFAQ
http://www.corvettefaq.com/listing.asp?group=7

aka Flex Coupling

:thumbs:

I should get to this on my car too.