There's a saying on Long Island that if you own a home, you're either rich or handy. Same should be said for owning any "classic car". Especially older Corvette's like this '77 my wife and I bought ten years ago.
This car has been nothing but trouble from the get-go; it even broke down on the way home from the dealership where I bought it. But what irked me most about it was the moaning, groaning, banging and general instability of the totally worn out rear-end on it. It got so bad that I had taken it off the road and our "Little Red Corvette" just sat in the garage like so many old cars purchased in the throes of passion. Which was really sad.
My wife all but insisted I sell it at that point if we weren't going to use it, but I knew finding a sucker to take it off our hands for even $5,000 would be a long shot. Maybe not even $4,000. $3,000? Going once...going twice. That would be a shame too given that with a credit card and or muscle and knowledge, someone would wind up with a nice riding, handling and at least from ten feet away, a really good looking third-generation Corvette on the relative cheap. After plowing through buckets of research, I decided that fine fellow might as well be me.
I dove into the rear suspension rebuild shortly after The Pandemic Lockdown began and wrapped it up in December of 2020. Not a complicated job, per se, just grueling, heavy work. And traipsing all over Ohio, Michigan and Pennsylvania for parts exclusive to 1968-1982 Corvettes was an adventure as well. However, the up-to-factory fresh-snuff rear suspension accentuated how worn out the front suspension was. Lucky me.
I started "Phase II" of the great Corvette suspension rebuild this past January 29th and save for getting near frost bit, I started the project as the longest and harshest cold snap since The Polar Vortex walloped northeast Ohio, it was a piece of cake compared to the rear suspension. I "officially" wrapped it up March 5. Not bad.
The most stressful part of the project was the somewhat crippling fear of the unknown and, frankly, fear and uncertainty itself. It wasn't so much a question of whether or not I could do it as whether or not I was going to get seriously injured. Many a DIY video and online forum had me terrified that I was going to lose a finger, hand or worse removing and installing these ominous looking coil springs. Then I'd read about how other people, men and women, who scoffed at how dangerous the springs can be. I found the truth to be somewhere in the middle. I came to respect the springs, not fear them.
The toughest part was using the Autozone rented spring compressor. It's a big, clumsy and somewhat heavy clunker that is counter intuitive to operate. And when I got it to work, it took every mental gymnastics moves I could muster not to blink when the springs were compressed what with the notion of it exploding open in my hands crushing a digit or two or damaging the car. Or another car. Or worse, hitting me in the face or throat.
Last hurdle with the front end was aligning it. That's still a work in progress. Toe, camber and caster are all terms I'm still coming to grips with. My first test drive with everything freshly installed could have been a scene out of a Laurel and Hardy movie. Seemed like the driver's side wanted to go one way, the passenger side the other. Slowly but surely, I've adjusted most of those gremlins out.
My advice is that if you're thinking of doing a project like this that you do your research and take your time. There's no sense in rushing seeing the project itself, like home improvement projects, will dictate how long it will actually take to complete it. That said, triple if not quadruple the amount of time you think it will take you to do even what appears to be the simplest of tasks. Best is you'll also save thousands. I shudder to think what it would have run us to have the front and rear suspensions professionally rebuilt but I'd say somewhere between $7,500 and $10,000. Perhaps more but probably no less. The feeling of satisfaction you get, while fleeting, is a nice added bonus.
I also wouldn't attempt to do something like working on suspensions on any car if you don't think you have fairly good mechanical intuition. Even folks that do, like me, might think twice. Then again, like Crazy Henry (Ford) said, "Whether You Think You Can or Think You Can't, You're Right".
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