U-Joints

[Junior T.]

I have read several magazines and am getting conflicting answers. Did the 1960 vettes come with u-joints with grease fittings?
Also, what is the chances of finding original ac/delco shocks for this car. Is this something that needs to be done to keep car exact?

[Jack H.]

Re: U-Joints

The issue of grease fittings is nicely defined in your copy of the Judging Guide. The reason many high performance cars came without them is they were thought to weaken the u-joint by removing metal...better to periodically replace than to risk breaking a joint under high torque maneuvers and letting the drive shaft fall to the pavement!

BTW, I had a friend who loaded a race tweaked 454 into a Chevy Nova for the drag strip. He used u-joints with zerk fittings and about mid-season, his son behind the wheel, one of the u-joints let go causing the car to pogo stick and flip end to end on the track! Old Zora wasn't too crazy, eh?

Chances of finding correct/original Delco shocks? About the same percentage as finding a needle in a haystack with one difference. When you find the needle it doesn't cost you anything and the shocks will you'll pay through the nose for if the seller knows what he's got!

On many high wear items (battery, tires, shocks), most simply acquire the closest to original parts they can and swallow the few deduction points that go with them....

[Bill M.]

Re: U-Joints

The 1959 Corvette had grease fittings in the u-joints from the factory.