Lower A Arms on a 71

[Harmon C.]

Were the fasteners used bolts or rivets. I have seen a special bolt with a tapered head used in some years.

[Alan S.]

Re: Lower A Arms on a 71

Hi Lyle,
Are you asking about the ball-joint fasteners?
If so, rivets were used.
Regards,
Alan

[Gary R.]

Re: Lower A Arms on a 71

As Alan pointed out the ball joints were riveted but the replacement ball joints are usually bolted in. One of the lower bolts is longer and acts like a stop. If you want correct they should look like the ones shown in Alan's picture.

[Alan S.]

Re: Lower A Arms on a 71

Hi,
On my 71 all 4 rivets (2 each side) are the same. A longer rivet isn't used.
There is a 'tab' welded to the arm that acts as the 'stop'.
Regards,
Alan

[Joe L.]

Re: Lower A Arms on a 71

Hi,
On my 71 all 4 rivets (2 each side) are the same. A longer rivet isn't used.
There is a 'tab' welded to the arm that act's as the 'stop'.
Regards,
Alan

Alan, et al-------



Yes, I don't know why the special bolt with integral "stop" was included with Corvette SERVICE lower ball joints. I suspect the "hardware package" included with the ball joints was somewhat generic and some applications actually needed the stop. For Corvettes the stop feature of thebolt was superfluous but caused no problem.

By the way, the basic upper and lower a-arms for Corvettes were the same from 1964 to 1982 (1963 was basically the same but did not include a reinforcing plate on the lower a-arms). However, there was one difference for 1978-82 related to the lower a-arms and that difference involved the stop bracket you pointed out. For 1978-82 the stop bracket was slightly reconfigured to accommodate the 255-60-15 tires optionally available during those years. During these years all Corvettes got the lower a-arms with the revised bracket whether they were equipped with the 255-60-15 tires, or not. Also, in 1980 the 78-82 lower a-arms with revised bracket became SERVICE for all 1963-77 Corvettes.

The difference in the 63-77 and 78-82 stop brackets is quite subtle but there is a difference. Shame on any 63-77 Corvette owner audacious enough to show up for judging with 78-82 lower a-arms!

[Harmon C.]

Re: Lower A Arms on a 71

Thanks all for the help rivets it will be.

[Anthony D.]

Re: Lower A Arms on a 71

Hi Alan. What ball joint did you use when rebuilding the lower arms? Also how did you set the rivet. Thanks.

Hi,
On my 71 all 4 rivets (2 each side) are the same. A longer rivet isn't used.
There is a 'tab' welded to the arm that acts as the 'stop'.
Regards,
Alan

[Alan S.]

Re: Lower A Arms on a 71

Hi Anthony,
I'm fortunate to still be using the original upper and lower ball-joints in my 71 at 46,000 miles, so I haven't yet had to deal with finding a set of proper ball joints and installing them.
There are some re-buiilders like Bairs that advertise they have the ability to set the rivets properly. I don't have any first hand experience as to how accurate the results are.
Regards,
Alan

[Anthony D.]

Re: Lower A Arms on a 71

Thanks Alan. I have 85k on my 72 and am considering redoing the arms this winter. I'd like to get an original look with reliability and I hear the repros aren't very good.

[Bill L.]

Re: Lower A Arms on a 71

Hi Anthony,

Be prepared to pay dearly for a set of NOS ball joints. They are becoming quite scarce. Last bare set I found he wanted $700 of the pair.

I ended up finding a set of full sized chevy impala NOS lower control arms with the correct ball joints. The ball joints were very carefully removed. This was by no means an easy task. 4 hours or more for two ball joints.

Some vendors, and one in particular will claim they have correct ball joints. They are not correct but are a decent facsimile. They are made in China.

A local corvette shop was able to rivet the new ball joints in the control arms.


Bill

[Anthony D.]

Re: Lower A Arms on a 71

Hi Anthony,

Be prepared to pay dearly for a set of NOS ball joints. They are becoming quite scarce. Last bare set I found he wanted $700 of the pair.

I ended up finding a set of full sized chevy impala NOS lower control arms with the correct ball joints. The ball joints were very carefully removed. This was by no means an easy task. 4 hours or more for two ball joints.

Some vendors, and one in particular will claim they have correct ball joints. They are not correct but are a decent facsimile. They are made in China.

A local corvette shop was able to rivet the new ball joints in the control arms.


Bill

Thanks Bill. As much as I hate to say it, there's a limit to what I'd spend to keep it all "original". Ive never had my car judged I just like the idea of as close to stock as possible. Maybe best approach for me is go the way of least deduct. Cheers!