Huge Progress! Rebuilding the Toasted Suspension on the Abomination Corvette!

It feels so good to start bolting shiny parts on instead of trying to disassemble crusty old junk! This time we're trying to save a buck and be smart by actually rebuilding the front and rear suspension on the Abomination Corvette, but did we bite off more than we can chew?
If you are following along for your own project C3 Corvette, here are some of the parts I sourced for the suspension rebuild. (Please note we may receive financial compensation for any purchases made through these links, so thank you for your support!)
Bushing Install/Removal Tool -- amzn.to/3NcAZjK
Upper Control Arm Bushings -- amzn.to/3RzirwF
Lower Control Arm Bushings -- amzn.to/3NiMEgV
Upper Ball Joints -- amzn.to/3GAO3M1
Lower Ball Joints -- amzn.to/3uWxBD1
Front Shocks -- amzn.to/3Ry5PG7
Rear Shocks -- amzn.to/3NgtTKN
Sway Bar End Links -- amzn.to/3NczORm
Graphite Sway Bar Bushings -- amzn.to/3Td1rNK
Trailing Arm Bushings -- amzn.to/47IzqST
POR15 -- amzn.to/3Ndu61x
Coil Spring Compressor Tool -- amzn.to/4840prC
Front Brake Rotors -- amzn.to/3Tas5ab
Rear Brake Rotors -- amzn.to/47Nfq19

[@hangonsnoop]

Love the Corvette build series! Edit: I also appreciate that you are honest and humble.

[@TheHorsepowerMonster]

Thanks much! And thanks for watching!

[@hailstorm1986]

I'm super happy to see the Corvette project again because I was starting to worry!!! I can't wait to see it done!!!😇

[@TheHorsepowerMonster]

Thanks for your patience!

[@hailstorm1986]

Absolutely.😇

[@TopNotch50]

Great project and I love to see documentation of issues that need to be addressed for diy-ers.

[@TheHorsepowerMonster]

Thanks! And thanks for watching!

[@MaddMattsGarage]

Ohhhhhhhhhh hell yes, love the progress watched from the start. Doing awesome work.

[@TheHorsepowerMonster]

Hey thanks! And thanks for watching!

[@0one1two3five8]

Indeed I will hang around! Been waiting for this update!! Thank you sir! and Happy McFriday!!!

[@robertbass974]

I did a 74 restoration/ resto mod with a create ls3 and six speed. With help, it took 2 years to finish completely. I love this thing. My c7 z06 sits alot more than the c3!

[@gregmckinney6977]

Drum brake cylinder hone works great for cleaning/smoothing the bushing shells before installing poly bushings. Glad to see you back working on it.

[@TheHorsepowerMonster]

Ah, you are absolutely right! I totally forgot you could do that. Thanks for watching, and thanks for the comment.

[@ThePaulv12]

I'm almost as excited to see this as a new episode of Project Binky - it's been about the same time LOL. I'm a mechanic by trade turned truck driver. Re the front tapered wheel bearings, you need to preload them. The way they are they don't have any preload. Preload is also called negative clearance. Preload simulates in a no load situation what the bearings experience under load. What you're trying to do is to get the full face of the roller to be in contact with its race when cornering or under actual load. If you don't preload then the outer and inner part of the rollers ride up on the race causing premature wear, get hot and worse, create slop in the hubs causing excessive steering wheel freeplay in cornering. It's no good. The rollers are ground to a slight barrel shape also. The whole design of tapered roller wheel bearings is premised on freeplay. So tighten the nut to about 90-100degrees past zero freeplay, back off completely then carefully find zero freeplay again, then preload about another 45-60 degrees. You see trailers with overheated wheel bearings on the side of the road all the time. This is because, particularly on tandem trailers, the twisting torque when reversing up driveways and all those sharp turns in tight places when loaded up really gives the bearings a hard time. Since trailers often don't get used much people neglect wheel bearing maintenance. If you can push on the top of the tire and hear a clunk then there's no preload. As soon as you load it up they're going to get hot, then the rollers stop turning, then the grease catches on fire, then the friction welding starts LOL. This is a good example of what happens when there's no preload on tapered wheel bearings - they get hot and the hubs weld to the axle. I don't work in the trade anymore so when I have to do this sort of suspension work at home I've developed some hacks. Re stubborn suspension bushes, I've found a good way to do this at home. In the shop a press is sometimes not much help so doing it like this is often a better bet anyhow. Here's how it goes, get a reciprocating saw with a thin (height wise) metal cutting blade. If needed cut any collar off, right through the crush tube with the reciprocating saw, as well as the rubber and outer - the whole lot so to expose the outer, the rubber and the crush tube. Next get a cheap titanium coated drill bit and drill into the rubber of the bush between the outer sleeve and crush tube to weaken the rubber so you can hit the crush tube out with a hammer (for some reason, and I have utterly no idea, the titanium coated drill doesn't seize on the rubber like normal drill bits can. They smoke less too). Next, use the reciprocating saw to CAREFULLY cut into the sleeve - doing a small bit at a time. If you're cutting into the control arm and the sleeve at the same time then it's time to get a hammer and punch to tap in the sleeve OR just use the tip of the blade 1 second or 2 at a time on the high spot OR use a hand hacksaw. It took me awhile to do the first one but by the 3rd bush the most stubborn bushes were coming out in under 10 mins each - the easy ones in just a few minutes. Granted, you might not be able to use this technique on all bushes because of the arrangement of the pivot point, but on many suspension bushes this works great. The first time is the hardest, after that it is easy. Patience is required the first time.

[@joshuahollobaugh7382]

One thing i would reccomend as i saw you didnt do it on your frame restoration video is coat the inside of the frame. they make special tools to do it and you can do it yourself in a few hours. would highly reccomend as it adds a lot more protection against rust. did it on my 1977 corvette frame and it looks brand new inside and out.

[@jerseymike4755]

What tool would that be to paint the inside of the frame?

[@kiesha104]

Rear end is at powder coater as we speak... Calipers are sand blasted on desk. Complete shoulder replacement is 2 weeks old... Should finish this 77 vette 2 years from now...lol Loving SC weather opposed to NY... Catch ya on the next one

[@Tenn1972]

Great build!

[@TheHorsepowerMonster]

Hey thanks! And thanks for watching!

[@CorvettesandCassicCars-mw6me]

I could not do this type of restoration but I enjoyed watching your progress. Very interesting and helps me understand how my car is put together

[@williamhoward7121]

I have an old Mercedes 450sl convertible that I'm restoring. I had to rebuild the front subframe which carries the entire weight of the car as well as the engine. It had a very strange coil spring setup where you could not remove the spring compression tool once it was mounted on the subframe. I compressed the spring while it was off the car and then used a heavy gauge fence wire which I wrapped around the compressor spring on both sides. I used at least 10 loops on each side to ensure that they would not snap. I could then simply install the compressed springs and tighten everything up and then used my ankle grinder to cut through the wire. Anyone using this method needs to make sure they use plenty of wire and be very careful when cutting it making sure it's in the right position.

[@user-ou7di7ob2l]

Great project and it's encouraging to see you overcoming the problems we all encounter with diy repairs at home.

[@bradsmith5812]

I noticed when you installed the upper bolt for the rear shock, you put the bolt in from the inside of the frame wit the nut outside the frame. I just installed new shocks on my 82. If you leave the bolt in that direction, you won't be able to remove it with the body on the frame.

[@TheHorsepowerMonster]

Thanks! I'll double-check that. Good eye!

[@tomp538]

Dowcorning DC111 silicone paste works great for sway bar bushings. Only apply to the inside of the bushing.

[@shanman41]

Great video. I am in the middle of rebuilding my suspension as well. Those lower control arm bushings are no joke. I ended up bending mine using the same tool and now need to get some used OEM replacements. :(

[@joshuahollobaugh7382]

u still looking for some because I have a fully restored set of upper and lower A-arms for a C3 with bushings and ball joints. they have also been coated in por15

[@shanman41]

@@joshuahollobaugh7382 I ended up get a good used pair from a Vette shop. Ended up making the jigs and using my shop press on them.

[@jamesdemoss2895]

something I've done for springs in tricky places is to pre compress them, then tie them in the compressed position with several wraps of 550 paracord.

[@maya00795]

Awesome buddy...... Helpful video.......... Greetings from india🇮🇳🤠🤠🤩🤩🤘🏻🙌

[@bigmountain7561]

Yes back in the old days I had a Marlboro in my mouth a full mug of Chock Full Of Nuts lite cream and a pinch of sugar and a Cheesesteak waiting on my box and pack wheel bearings take a shop rag and a little kerosene wipe my hands and then eat my lunch. Now that’s cooking with grease!!!!

[@idonwantella2824]

The secret to packing bearings without a mess, don't be afraid of getting your hands dirty. You are wearing gloves and you are still trying to avoid getting grease on your hands. A clump of grease will fall or get slung off your hand. Grease that is smeared on your hand(gloves) does not go anywhere. A tip for cleaning your hands of hard to remove oil, grease and grime that mechanics struggle with, cleaning your hands with motor oil removes what the soap will not. Oil and then soap will make it look like you just had a manicure.... Oil is also very good at cleaning grime off of parts and allows you to use less abrasive means....... With the coil spring compressing tool, the tool itself is flawed. If you put the threaded piece on first, then the unthreaded piece, washer and a nut, you fix the problem. Or you use a ratchet to go in from the top.

[@Ep1cPvP]

My solution was to buy a set of coilovers and extended travel control arms, so I wouldn't have to deal with compressing the spring 😂

[@TheHorsepowerMonster]

True!

[@lancenutter1067]

Buying a 1975 C3 today. Hopefully. Will be looking for those problem areas tho, before handing over the money. Thanks for the interesting videos.

[@TheHorsepowerMonster]

Thanks, and good luck!

[@dinkydotzero]

A friendly hint POR15 isnt UV resistant and if you don't top coat it it turns grayish in a very short time. out in the real world sun, I found out the hard way, its best to top coat it with a chassis paint

[@sogood4u489]

My friend's dad told me he had a 68' vett with a 427, the rear will load up and put down the power especially with the m40 rock crusher but driving these cars is like sitting on the diff.

[@SuperZoopanda]

Please get some more vidoes out quickly, in the process of redoing my c3 frame

[@bcbloc02]

Almost a roller!

[@1990smitch]

I'm in the concord area and been in the muscle car industry for decades and if you need an extra set of hands feel free to reach out.

[@TheHorsepowerMonster]

Thanks!

[@SuperDave21]

Will you ever be completing the Camaro project with the SHP block 427 monster? I'm dying to see how it runs and drives. The wife has a bone stock 81 Z-28 that needs this set up!

[@keithdaniels1994]

Would go with coil overs in the rear. Nice build.

[@TheHorsepowerMonster]

That would absolutely be the smart way to go.

[@shanerorko8076]

I'm just at the start. Dude as a mechanic of 16 years and the first 7 of those spent at a suspension shop I can tell you on a job like this you just go new all round. Don't bother with old wheel bearings they're cheap as they're tapered roller.

[@flinch622]

Save on those drill bits by lowering rpm's? Hard to really tell, since video is sped up. I don't like anything high speed with metal - many a shop destroys good bits chucking up in a 3,000 rpm pneumatic [they are banned from my tool chest]. It is smart to check bearing surface of spindles on anything old - you just don't know, and might as well, while front end is apart. Nice touch showing problems of stamped arms: something has GOT to fill the void when pressing in.

[@russelltoddinc]

The fuel tank bar is upside down, that’s why you can’t get the straps tight

[@TheHorsepowerMonster]

Thanks, I'm going to go back and try that again!