Author Topic: New shoes. (Read 28589 times)

bfit · « **Reply #20 on:** December 01, 2015, 07:34:07 PM »

Mate if you go to 18" rims, your original spring will sit inside the rim ,
Well it did on my car.
Bfit

Jethro · « **Reply #21 on:** December 01, 2015, 07:36:29 PM »

Quote from: Bfit on December 01, 2015, 07:34:07 PM

Mate if you go to 18" rims, your original spring will sit inside the rim ,
Well it did on my car.
Bfit

What Bobby said ..... and it did on my car too :)

metalhead · « **Reply #22 on:** December 01, 2015, 09:04:00 PM »

Yep, it would definitely fit inside an 18"... I just like to make life hard for myself I think! I do slightly prefer the look of the 17"s to 18"s, a bit more classic and less modern, the 17" wheels look almost like they could have been a standard size on the car to me. Got started on modifying the spring this evening, buying a shorter replacement would certainly have been the easier option, drilling spring steel isn't fun. Almost finished though. The handbrake cable bracket probably would have sat inside an 18" too, definitely would have sat inside a 19" wheel.

Kind of ironic that the rear has several issues and the front fit without any problems...

bfit · « **Reply #23 on:** December 02, 2015, 06:02:43 PM »

Here is a photo of adjustable stop, original stop is drilled and taped 3/8 UNF.
There is a lock nut on the inside, to maintain the setting. if I do this again I would move it up 3mm higher.

Bfit

metalhead · « **Reply #24 on:** December 02, 2015, 09:43:49 PM »

Ah excellent, that's a smart and easy mod, I'll definitely do that if I decide to limit steering lock. Thanks for the picture! Makes it easy to visualise.

metalhead · « **Reply #25 on:** December 09, 2015, 10:36:57 AM »

So after the spring was modified, the sway bar scrubbed slightly... Not to worry, rebent it a little and there's heaps of clearance now, could run 285s easy. Still can't believe that the rear took so much work and the front fit so easily. Having said that, an 18" wheel and/or a small spacer would have avoided most or all the work needed.

I've picked up some longer spring bolts for the rear too, as the new poly spring bolt bushes are over twice as thick as the dead 35 year old rubber... New bolts not installed yet in the photos though.

Just need to get the steering column back together now and align it.

Try to ignore the mess, garage is a disaster at the moment!

Sway bar clearance (rebent bar):

Spring clearance (shortened main leaf):

Trailing arm clearance (relocated handbrake cable):

Wheel on the rear:

rosco · « **Reply #26 on:** December 09, 2015, 12:18:38 PM »

Great work, very impressed with the sway bar re-alignment.
Just a little question are those spring holders on your spring, they are there only for transport and need to come of for the spring to work correctly, looks to be be two on each side.
Currently redoing my whole rear at the moment but I am running 15 x9 on the rear and have no issues with clearance.
Quality work Metal got to give you that.

Rosco

metalhead · « **Reply #27 on:** December 09, 2015, 12:28:56 PM »

Quote from: rosco on December 09, 2015, 12:18:38 PM

Great work, very impressed with the sway bar re-alignment.
Just a little question are those spring holders on your spring, they are there only for transport and need to come of for the spring to work correctly, looks to be be two on each side.
Currently redoing my whole rear at the moment but I am running 15 x9 on the rear and have no issues with clearance.
Quality work Metal got to give you that.

Rosco

Thanks mate. The spring clamps are standard, probably wasn't necessary to put them back on but I could so I did. Most leaf springs have them, but they're probably not necessary on the Vette given the leaves are restrained from rotating by the mountings, and that the spring doesn't perform any suspension alignment duties.

metalhead · « **Reply #28 on:** December 09, 2015, 12:43:44 PM »

Ok, so just did a bit of googling after reading your message, looks like most people remove these clamps on replacement springs. My spring appears to be factory, but maybe not I suppose? Any thoughts on whether spring clamps were used on the factory gymkhana rear spring, and whether or not it's beneficial to remove them?

metalhead · « **Reply #29 on:** December 09, 2015, 01:45:12 PM »

What backspace and tyre size are you running on the 15x9s rosco?

rosco · « **Reply #30 on:** December 09, 2015, 03:24:31 PM »

Sent you a pm

Rosco

rosco · « **Reply #31 on:** December 09, 2015, 03:53:06 PM »

A totally correct F 41 rear spring

Also the rear spacing on my rear 15,s are 4 1/2

Rosco

rosco · « **Reply #32 on:** December 09, 2015, 04:37:17 PM »

While you are under there a little trick is to solid mount your front diff mount.
Original is a rubber two piece and aftermarket is nurophrene.
Mine is a piece of aluminum stock made up but it's not hard to do if you copy what you have in there already.

metalhead · « **Reply #33 on:** December 09, 2015, 07:18:25 PM »

Quote from: rosco on December 09, 2015, 03:53:06 PM

A totally correct F 41 rear spring

Also the rear spacing on my rear 15,s are 4 1/2

Rosco

What year is that from? Looks identical to mine, including rolled ends etc, apart from the spring clamps... Wondering if possibly the spring clamps were fitted to later models like my '79 where the standard spring was 2.5" wide but the gymkhana spring remained 2.25" wide? It's certainly possible that they're not original, but they looked to be?

metalhead · « **Reply #34 on:** December 09, 2015, 07:22:05 PM »

Quote from: rosco on December 09, 2015, 04:37:17 PM

While you are under there a little trick is to solid mount your front diff mount.
Original is a rubber two piece and aftermarket is nurophrene.
Mine is a piece of aluminum stock made up but it's not hard to do if you copy what you have in there already.

Looks good! I had a poly one included in the full car Energy Suspension kit I bought, so I've fitted that for now. I considered modifying the crossmember to mount the diff higher while it was all out too, but decided to wait and see how I liked it (and where the axles sat when I decided on a ride height) before I get carried away with those changes.

Jethro · « **Reply #35 on:** December 09, 2015, 07:35:03 PM »

Tell me your not using your Vette as a work bench

rosco · « **Reply #36 on:** December 09, 2015, 09:33:38 PM »

No Jethro not using it as a work bench just put it carefully there to get a good phot that's all.
Actually that part has a better finish than the vet.
I have lots of shiny scratches on the old girl, will get it done once I finish the under the car. This is not a mudguard like you see a lot of out there.

Rosco

rosco · « **Reply #37 on:** December 09, 2015, 09:49:14 PM »

Learnt a lot from these guys when I was in the states.
You may know them Jethro you got your diff from them.
Duntrov in Dallas

Jethro · « **Reply #38 on:** December 09, 2015, 09:51:03 PM »

Ahhh Duntov

metalhead · « **Reply #39 on:** December 09, 2015, 09:54:13 PM »

Very cool! Definitely somewhere I'd like to visit one day.

Paint on my car is pretty terrible, I'm taking the same approach. When everything works and drives how I want it to, then I'll paint it. I've made the mistake of doing the opposite before, and by the time the car is sorted the bodywork and paint is no longer as nice... Besides, doing it this way means more driving and enjoying it as I go, rather than diving into a 4 year ground up rebuild during which I can't drive the car.