1964 upper & lower ball joints

[Jack J.]

If I purchase the currently availabel GM service replacement ball joints and rivet them in, will I receive any point deductions when I have my car judged in the future. Thanks in advance.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1964 upper & lower ball joints

Jack-----

As far as I know, no ball joints are currently available for 63-82 Corvettes through the GM parts system. However, ball joints are available through the Delco parts system and have a GM "long number". Most Delco parts can be ordered from GM parts dealers, even though they come through the Delco parts system.

The ball joints currently available are, basically, aftermarket ball joints that are supplied in a Delco box and with a GM part number. They are NOT the same configuration as original ball joints. So, I expect they will receive whatever deduction that aftermarket ball joints get.

[Joe L.]

Addendum

Also, if you do want to use the Delco ball joints, they are as follows:

upper-----Delco #45D0010, also known as GM #88911381

lower-----Delco #45D2016, also known as GM #88911514

Both of the above Delco parts are orderable through the GM parts system. However, you'd likely do better pricewise from a Delco dealer.

As I mentioned, though, these ball joints DO NOT have the same configuration as original 63-82 Corvette ball joints. However, they are 100% functional for those applications.

[Gary B.]

63/64 vs. 65-82 ball joints

Jack,

There is one other thing worth mentioning about 63-64 ball joints. I believe these are slightly different from 65-82 ball joints. Specifically, the difference relates to a captured vs. non-captured seal. I'm sure Joe Lucia can explain the differences better than I can. The reason I mention this is that one vendor now sells repro ball joint that are claimed to be "correct" and they are indeed close to correct (90-95% or so), but I think the vendor modeled the repros after the original GM 65-82 ball joints, not the 63/64 ball joints.

Gary

[Jack J.]

Re: 63/64 vs. 65-82 ball joints

Thanks Gary!