And Now for the Front End

Well, that last blog was a real case of techno info overload……but anyone who knows Bob Walker knows that he never does anything by halves! His quick "pull down and re-build" was perhaps wishful thinking…… Let’s just put it this way……… just as well he has a tolerant wife (that’s me!) and a passion for long hours in the garage!

With the motor now out and away for reconditioning, it was time to move on to the front end. Someone, in this chev’s previous life, had recently replaced the upper inner bushes. Problem was, the lower bushes were so worn that they were virtually non- existent. I struggle with the logic here, why fix just the uppers when the suspension is pulled down and not attend to the other problems??? So, we set to with jacks, jack stands, tools etc and started pulling the front end down. A good friend of mine, Peter Hughes, said when I told him that I have bought a Corvette “I bet all the brake calipers are leaking, they all do. Bring ‘em down to me and I’ll sleeve ‘em”. I didn’t really believe Pete, but the first thing I saw when the wheels came off was brake fluid all over the pads and rotors. Bugger, “Hughsie” was right, but I bet he’s not right about the rears. More on that later.

At about this stage of the project, I started preparing a list items that needed to be purchased for my restoration.

Enter Ecklers, a Corvette replacement part specialist company in the good ‘ol US of A. Their on line catalogue, with instructions accompanying some items, was great. I made my list in order of priority and the first of a number of orders were placed. This was really easy, just a matter of picking what I wanted, ticking the right boxes, handing over my credit card details of course and the goods turned up in about a week’s time. Not too painful now as the Aussie dollar and US dollar are just about the same.

Ecklers also offer a discount for Corvette Car Club Members so that helped to offset some of the freight costs.

Oh yes, that’s right….. I joined the NSW Corvettes Car Club – NSW Corvettes Unlimited soon after getting the car as I knew I was going to need some contacts and help from guys who had been through what I was doing.

Hmmm, who’s got a cute rear end then???