Wanted - C3 Fibreglass rear spring +8 inch lowering bolts

[Dazaa]

I'll buy it off you!

Will let you know if I do pull it off, but bear in mind people have suggested it's completely wrong for a c3, far too thick.

 

[johng]

On the rear sway bar topic, my base model 1978 L46 did come with a rear sway bar from new (part of a suspension upgrade pack), but it's only 7/16" thick.

 

[Roscobbc]

From the responses i've received over on the USA forum, the sway bar fitted to my car is far too thick and a few people have suggested removing it all together which i'm probably going to do.

Daza's 71 Restomod build thread - CorvetteForum - Chevrolet Corvette Forum Discussion If anyone is interested!

Which is exactly what I did and used a 28" diameter 40 section tyre.

 

[Dazaa]

Well I just disconnected the sway bar and can confirm that it’s not the cause of the back being so high, it wasn’t under tension and made no difference at all.

 

[Daytona Vette]

Well I just disconnected the sway bar and can confirm that it’s not the cause of the back being so high, it wasn’t under tension and made no difference at all.

Have you settled the Spring by rolling the Vette back and forth or so, - if still no good, go for a correct steel spring, sort the fronts and then check it without connecting any rear ARB links

 

[Dazaa]

Have you settled the Spring by rolling the Vette back and forth or so, - if still no good, go for a correct steel spring, sort the fronts and then check it without connecting any rear ARB links

No unfortunately my transmission is currently leaking it's fluid everywhere so waiting for a helicoil kit to arrive before I can fire it up again but I don't think the sway bar will make any difference. Will update with what difference the spring makes and take it from there.

 

[Forrest Gump]

The spring on my car is almost straight. Nothing like the curve on Dazaa's. With 8" bolts the ride height is 27 1/2 inches to the wheel arch. 225/70 tyres. Bottom of the bolts is level with wheel rim so would just about be okay with a flat tyre.
You never see two C3's with the same ride height.... Over the years they've all had different springs and tyres/wheels fitted, or sagged differently. Not sure if anyone actually knows what the correct height is supposed to be anymore!!

As Barry says it's vital to roll the car back and forward at least 6ft every time you put it back on the ground otherwise the car will sit-up a lot.

 

[Roscobbc]

Biggest clue for all - is - driveshafts in quiescent position should ideally, be parallel with the ground.......

 

[Dazaa]

Just to conclude this, the aftermarket spring was the reason the car sat so high, @Oneball very kindly sent me his factory 69 spring and it lowered the rear back to how it should be with the half shafts parallel to the ground.

 

[Roscobbc]

Seems to me that the 'aging' issues of steel springs (i.e sagging etc) are nothing as compared with potential issues with aging 'glass' springs. OK, so perhaps they don't sag - but some of the aftermarket ones are known to de-laminate and snap..........

 

[Oneball]

The C7s still has the rear transverse leaf didn’t they?

 

[kentvette]

Seems to me that the 'aging' issues of steel springs (i.e sagging etc) are nothing as compared with potential issues with aging 'glass' springs. OK, so perhaps they don't sag - but some of the aftermarket ones are known to de-laminate and snap..........

I fitted a TRW "plastic" spring to my car in 1998 (I believe) and it's been fine ever since and still looks like new 50k extensive touring miles later. Everything I read before fitting it implied to me that the failures were almost entirely due to incorrect fitting or inappropriate exhaust routing. But, I suspect a few "cheapy" items may not be as good as others. The improvemnet in ride was wonderful and they also make work on the rear suspension somewhat "safer" as they do not have the same amount of flex.

 

[Dazaa]

Does anyone have a pair of 8 inch bolts I could buy or borrow? Just need to see if they will do the trick...

 

[Corvetteville]

Does anyone have a pair of 8 inch bolts I could buy or borrow? Just need to see if they will do the trick...

Corvette Kingdom have them.
8inch suspension bolts for lowering ride height.
.

 

[rmarkeson]

I resolved the bounce with my mono spring on my 78 L-82 with QA-1 double adjustable shocks. I have them set to 12 rebound and 8 compression. Amazing the change in the handling and traction...oh and they are so nice looking!!