Cost of replacing all bushes on a 75 Corvette

[Speedvette]

Would anyone have any idea how much it would cost to replace all the bushes on a 75 Corvette?

[sirfixalot]

How long is a piece of string ?, do you want to do some of the work yourself, drive in drive out , polyurethane  or rubber, have they ever been done before or have they been there since 1975, 40 years of rust to lock every thing solid.

[metalhead]

Doing it yourself, a few hundred bucks and a lot of work. No idea what it would cost in labour. I used this kit, if you want poly bushes: http://m.summitracing.com/parts/ens-3-18123g Contained every bush except the front sway bar to chassis bushes (the front swaybar link bushes were included).

[Scott]

If you are doing all the bushes, you should do all the ball joints and tie-rods while you have everything apart. And replace the shocks.  And replace the springs. And... the list goes on 

VBandP.com have everything you'll need.

[metalhead]

If you are doing all the bushes, you should do all the ball joints and tie-rods while you have everything apart. And replace the shocks.  And replace the springs. And... the list goes on 

VBandP.com have everything you'll need.

Agreed, certainly at the least replace the balljoints, tie rods, idler arm and shocks unless they've been done recently.

[Vettech]

cant remember now, but you will need a press, guides, plates, tubes etc or some threaded rod can be used to pull them into place. Have not looked at these for a long while, if you use the Nylophane (plastic) make sure you use all the grease pack supplied with then else they squeak like hell. I seem to remember the "upper controll arm" is tricky, when pressing you must be carefull not to crush the wishbone, you need a tube slotted its full length, that fits over the shaft, this ensures you dont deform the UCArm. Anyway dont let me put you off, you can do it at home and or take pieces to a Workshop and they will do the tricky bits for you for money over. My 78 has the gymkana suspension or at least the biggest mother of a front sway bar anybody has ever seen, needless to say I had to get US OEM rubbers from the states.

[bfit]

if you are mechanical minded and handy with tools , have some tooling a press some 2"  pipe to make some of the tools you will requite
Have a go at it.

if not get someone to do it who knows the C3  (as there are pit falls for the uninitiated ) , if there are any problem you can take it back.
you will need a wheel alignment at the some time.
Bfit

[rosco]

Mechanic will charge between $2500 and $3000 to do it about 25 hrs work, front is a piece of cake same as a Hq but the rear is another matter.
This does not include other items that may need to be done as well ( ball joints,tie rod joints) if they need doining add $1000.
That price would include all parts anything over that look to someone else to do the job.
Hope that was what you were after.
Ross

[69CVET]

Rosco is right , to do front and back with all parts ( drive in drive out ) it will set you back around $5k have done it on a 72 & 76 and prices very similar
Depending on quality you buy ..... Its like opening a can of worms if suspension has not been touched in a long time.  Good Luck ! 

[bfit]

 a front/ rear  kit  that has everything bushes ball joints tie rod ends etc will cost around  $700 US
 moog will be about $1000 US
 I did mine, one weekend,( its no different to a HR / HQ Holden.)  and had the wheel alignment done after  driving it for a while to let things settle
 fitting A bump steer kit is a reasonable idea VBP do one, another $110 US.
if a shop will do it for 3 to 4 K  with wheel alignment that's not bad.

Make sure they know C3 vettes as I have seen it take fare to long when the mechanic is learning on your car.
at  the current rates that adds up
Bfit



 

[73RAT]

Certainly not a fun job!  I replaced all bushes, joints and rubbers during the rebuild of my '73 and even with the body off the chassis there was lots of swearing and deep breaths....  If you are doing it take your time and as mentioned in the previous posts use the right spacers, etc. to prevent damage. 
I didn't use a press but careful use of heat and penetrating oil helped.  It was a few years ago and I used an Energy Suspensions kit but used the original OEM type bushes in the control & rear trailing arms as I found these much easier to fit and there are mixed reports on the urethane bushes for street use. 
I replaced the body mount rubbers as well, but found that the holes in the metal sill channels had corroded and flogged out a bit so also had to weld plates in and re-drill to suit.  I have also done Holdens before, but if I did it again I would take the arms into a shop with the new bushes and get someone that knows what they are doing to change them out, then bolt the arms in yourself.  Ball joints are pretty easy as long as you have a good quality splitter and the right size drill if they are the OEM riveted style still.

[bfit]

A little detour off subject .
Hydraulic press.
 It's not to hard to build you own press  either bench mounted or floor mounted.
If your working on a project car a Press is worth  the effort .
Bfit

[Vettech]

Yes they are worth the dollars, mine is 12ton, comes apart and is basically a hydraulic bottle jack and steel work, got it on special from Total Tools.

[Speedvette]

Thanks all.

Fortunately I decided not to buy the car that needed this work. Thank god I didn't because waiting certainly paid off for me. I,ve managed to pick up a 72 coupe which is all original and has just had all bushes, ball joints, tie rod ends and other work done. Picked the car up yesterday and drove it home about 100kms and it drives like a dream.

I have a noisy PCV which I need to replace but just not sure where to get one. It has 2 outlets and any advice where to find one would helps heaps. Also need to find a mechanic in the Western Suburbs of Melbourne to fix what sounds like an exhaust leak, not sure if coming from the headers or downstream somewhere.

Cheers

[Scott]

Yes they are worth the dollars, mine is 12ton, comes apart and is basically a hydraulic bottle jack and steel work, got it on special from Total Tools.

Mine is a cheap 20 ton one.  Still wasn't enough to press out one of the rear spindles.  The local diff place made short work of it with their monster press though.

[73RAT]

Well done mate, enjoy the new ride!  PCV - I bought one out of the states with a whole heap of other parts, but it should be pretty easy to find locally off the shelf as they are pretty common across the era.  Rare Spares (look at HK  to HQ as there are many similar parts), Chevparts (NSW), etc. not sure about VIC shops but it should be a cheap part.  For my '73 454 it is a single spigot with a connected T-piece, very common.

[Speedvette]

Good idea about rare spares, they didnt even cross my mind.

The car has had the exhaust replaced also about a year ago and to my knowledge has had the tapping noise ever since. I guess I could take it to an exhaust place to check all the connections, if that doesnt fix the problem may have to have the header gaskets replaced at a mechanic.

[Vettech]

Lets hope the taping noise is not a tapping noise ie tappets.

[bfit]

Lets hope the taping noise is not a tapping noise ie tappets.

OR a lifter

[Speedvette]

Took it to a performance exhaust place today and turns out to be an exhaust leak from the left header.