1965 Rear Suspension Disassembly Questions

[Frank D.]

Re: 1965 Rear Suspension Disassembly Questions

Frank,

Please show a picture of your '63 from the side. I'd like to see the rear ride height.

Thanks,

James

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_MbluyGsqUg&feature=youtu.be

The front suspension was rebuilt (all stock) about two years ago, the rear was finished up (all stock) this summer. I haven't driven the car yet since the rear end work due to some health issues that will be resolved this week. So, next week I'm taking the car up for a 4 wheel alignment. This is as it sits now with 1/2 tank of gas and spare tire on board. I suspect things might settle some in the rear after its driven a bit. I've made no attempt to adjust the rear height with the leaf spring end bolts. I tightened them only until the castle nut cleared the hole for the cotter pin and no more.

[Frank D.]

Re: 1965 Rear Suspension Disassembly Questions

I assume this is used in all four (4) locations?

James

Yes 4 identical leaf spring cushions and 4 identical strut rod bushings

[James W.]

Re: 1965 Rear Suspension Disassembly Questions

Tonight while searching in my Corvette spare parts bins I found a complete set of rear suspension rubber cushions and spring cups. Please have a look at the pictures I have attached and give me your opinion on whether these items are correct for my '65's rear suspension. Sorry about the picture orientation, they never load corretcly.

Thanks to everyone who is offering suggestions on how to perform this work, I really appreciate it.

Regards,

James West

[Gary B.]

Re: 1965 Rear Suspension Disassembly Questions

James,

The cups you show are the later style that were used from about Jan of 1967 onward. They are not correct for a ‘65 and the judges will take a deduct if they notice them.

I do still have the swage tool to loan out for the cost of postage.

Gary

[Frank D.]

Re: 1965 Rear Suspension Disassembly Questions

Those spring cushions look OEM to me, I wanted to add that if you're following the typical installation procedure for the spring that its possible to lever the rear of the car off of jack stands (or wooden blocks or whatever). You may want to weight the back of the car down if your efforts cause it to start moving - a safety issue for sure. I ratchet strapped my trailing arms around my lift ramp to prevent this when I did the job. Please be careful.

[Gary B.]

Re: 1965 Rear Suspension Disassembly Questions

Gary Beaupre had - hopefully still does - a tool made to press in the end cups. He used to loan it free of charge except for a small mailing fee. I "borrowed" it from him - worked great - it rolled back the lip of the cup very uniformly, worth the small investment - if Gary still has the tool. Suggestion - if you do this I recommend using FEDEX or UPS - do not use USPS now, they are experiencing very serious delays in distribution centers nation wide. Small packages are getting "lost".

Ed,

I still do loan out the swage tool for the cost of postage. As a matter of fact, I just sent it to James this week, from California to Nebraska. As a shout out to the USPS, I have used them for sending the swage tool around the US using their Priority Mail flat rate small box, which currently costs $8.30. I’ve done this about 50 times over the past 10 years and they have never lost it. I just compared the cost of sending the tool via 3-day UPS ($14.62) and 3-day FedEx ($26.95). So you can see the USPS is a bargain. I mailed the tool to James on Tuesday Jan 12 and James just emailed me to say he got it today Jan 14. So, 2+ days. I think we all know that the USPS has high volume at certain times of year, like Christmas, or election time every several years, when it might take longer that 2-3 days for Priority Mail. But based on my experience and the cost, I would not use another shipper. For a 2.6 lb package that will fit in their small flat rate box, the USPS price can’t be beat by a long shot.

Gary

[James W.]

Re: 1965 Rear Suspension Disassembly Questions

Well I got everything out last night. The differential crossmember bushings were a struggle. Thanks to all for your input.

James