1977-82 Corvette Owners

[Joe L.]

In case some of you haven't read the thread titled "Steering Arm Plug", I'm very interested to know what the configuration is of your steering arms.

In 1977, power steering became standard on Corvettes. So, the outer hole on the steering arms became superfluous. At some point, I believe the outer hole was eliminated entirely. In any event, what I'd be interested in learning are as follows:

1) Do your steering arms have the outer hole position (in other words, do they have TWO holes on each arm)? You only need to check one arm as both should be the same in this respect. This is VERY easy to check without even jacking up the car. The steering arms are the part which bolts to the front steering knuckle and to which the tie rod ends attach. The inner hole is where your tie rod ends attach. So, what you're looking for is to see if there is another hole outboard of the hole where your tie rod end attaches.

2) If the arms have 2 holes, one of the holes should be plugged with an aluminum rivet. Does the rivet appear to have been painted with the assembly or is it natural?

[David R.]

Re: 1977-82 Corvette Owners

Joe,
Does this picture show what you want to see?
On a '78.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1977-82 Corvette Owners

Joe,
Does this picture show what you want to see?
On a '78.

Dave-----


EXACTLY! Thanks. Looks like by '78 the extra holes "went away". I thought the change occurred for '78. However, I'd still be interested in hearing from other 77-82 owners.

[Tom H.]

Re: 1977-82 Corvette Owners

Hi Joe:

My 78, VIN # 18927 has the one hole design just like the picture David Robb posted.

My brother has a first week build 77. I'll check it for you when I see it.


Tom

[Thomas F.]

Re: 1977-82 Corvette Owners

Hi Joe,
77 here, Vin#31899. Mine has only one hole. Same as the picture Dave Robb posted. Thanks for all the info you provide.

[Joe L.]

Re: 1977-82 Corvette Owners

All-----


Excellent information from all. Looks like this is shaping up pretty much as I expected. I was pretty sure that 78-82 would have the arms with only one hole. It looks like 1977 is the year that there's still some question about. The cars reported on so far look like they're pretty much later build cars. I'll be VERY interested in what Tom finds on the early 77 he mentions. Also, Jack Humphrey has provided me with a contact for an original owner, VERY early 1977. So, that may be another data-point. I think that earlier 77's are where we MAY see variances.

The part numbers for the knuckle and hub assembles changed on 10-26-76. So, that means that the actual change on the production line likely occurred sometime around December, 1976. So, cars built during the the first 4 or 5 months of 1977 production should be most interesting.

[Tom H.]

Re: 1977-82 Corvette Owners

Joe:

Looks like 77 VIN # 991 has 2 holes with one plugged.