76greenlar

First time owner, I am not doing a frame off and the car is a survivor.

(1) Have a low break pedal and some noise coming from the left front when I did a jam on the breaks to test it . I will start with bleeding if that doesn't work, it may be rebuild or replace time. What suggestions can you give me? Should I replace with rebuilt calibers? Should I get rebuild kits and rebuild what I have? Also suggestions on who to buy from?

(2) Also myfront suspension looks like I have a lot of dried out rubber bushings etc. I am thinking about replacing everything to include ball joints. The car has 80,000 on it, if I tear it all apart should I replace the coil springs? If it is suggested to do so, will the new springs make it appear that the tail end is lower than the front? Must the control arm bushing be pressed out or can I drive them out and replace them myself. Again suggetions as to where to buy what i need would be helpful.

vettfixr

If the car has 80K on it and you're not sure of how hard a life it's had before you bought it I would recommend the following. Replace all the calipers and pads with stainless sleeved rebuilt units from a reputable company like Vette Brakes & Products, or Stainless Steel Brakes Corp and replace the hoses while you're at it. Many of the venders are resellers for these companies so if you get your parts from them it's OK. Take a dial gauge and check the runout on the rotors. If they are more than a few thousanths out you should have them resurfaced or replace them. C3s are very sensitive to rotor runout so if the local shops in your area don't have good equipment or are sloppy in their work it might pay to just get replacements and avoid problems down the road. Once the brake system is done run it for a few weeks to insure that you have no leaks and that the master cylinder and power booster are functioning correctly. If they are not replace them but usually you're pretty good on these two parts. The front end is probably tired and should have a complete overhaul. You can get the bushings and other various parts from many different venders. You can get packages from Vette Brakes and products that include springs, shocks and sway bars. You can get the bushings out yourself but it's a tough job and the a-arms may be damaged in the process if you don't do it right. It may be easier to take them to a machine shop and have the old pressed out and the new installed. You have your choice of original rubber or polyurethane replacments. You'll hear pro's and con's for both types from different people. The choice is really up to you. An alternative to all this is to replace the front suspension with a fiberglass monospring conversion from VB&P. I just completed this and I'm very happy so far. It allows adjustability of the ride height and also the spring stiffness. Their kit includes new lower tubular a-arms with poly bushings and new ball joints. I also went with their offset upper a-arms which allow more caster for better tracking and handling. It's not cheap but it's all quality stuff so again the choice is yours. Good luck with your project.


[Modified by vettfixr, 7:42 PM 5/5/2004]

joeveto

:iagree:

As far as the brakes go, examine the pads for wear (it sounds like they are shot) and examine the rotors for scoring. Also, check your master cylinder for low fluid, and look at the insides of your tires. Do you see fluid? Could be a sign of leakage.

Your front calipers aren't as picky as the rears. The rear brakes can pump air past the seals, into the system, if the runout isn't right. A way to fix this in a way you'll never have to deal with it again, is to switch to o-rings from Vette Brakes. It's easy and it will save you a lot of headaches.

If your brake fluid looks like root beer, replace it. Flush the system, but make sure you don't allow the master cylinder to go low. If you do, you'll have to pull the master cylinder and bench bleed it. It's enough of a pain (not that it's hard), that you'll want to just replace it, should this happen.

You can do worse than replace the front end. If you've never done it before, it's not technically hard. But it can take some time. The biggest issue, is removing and installing the control arm bushings. You need a sturdy press to do this. If either you or a friend have access to an industrial press, be thankful. It helps.

You can pick up a good rebuild kit from Vette Brakes or Zip. They run around $150 with rubber bushings and the idler arm. If you're going to have it all apart, and you don't know the car's history, you can do worse than replace the springs.

I would also suggest replacing the rag-joint (flexible steering coupler). All the front end work in the world won't matter much, if your coupler is shot. A new coupler will give you nice steering feel.

Also, plan on an alignment when you're done. It helps, if when replacing the tie rods, you count the threads on the old tie rods, and try to duplicate that with the new tie rods. Also, remember where the shims are on the control arms and replace them in the same manner. This will make driving to the alignment shop easier.

One last point, finding a good Corvette alignment is really tough. If you don't have someone you can trust, ask around.

Good luck!
:cheers: