Hot Rods I finally got an injected 1961 Corvette !

I think they are heat treated, meaning through or case hardened, which is just about .03 deep. The area of contact is usually polished. Give one the file test. On the back side edge run a smooth file over it. If it zings it's hard, if it leaves a mark it's not. I am sure it will zing.

 

Doug that would make sense. I would think they should be heat treated with the metal to metal contact that they are subjected to. Grease can only do so much so I am sure they were designed to take quite a bit of abuse before they fail-or I would hope so.

 

I’ll give them a “zing” check next time I have a day off from working. Would the bead blast affect the case hardening?


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Not unless you blasted them long enough to get them HOT!

 

And just like that my compressor locked up! . Hopefully it didn’t hurt the motor too. I really hope this doesn’t slow us down too much on the 61.
Granted it was over 50 yrs old! Lol.


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I asked My buddy down the street (an old time hotrodder & machinist) if he could throw these in his lathe and polish them up a bit. He brought them back and said did you know these are case hardened? Lol.


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I’m not doing a nut and bolt restoration but what color is the steering connecting rod suppose to be?


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Doh! Same thing happened to me about 2 months ago although mine is only about 25 years old. But, mine threw a rod out the side... I am currently using my grandfathers little 20 gallon compressor to get me by until I can fix my big one.

 

Just read this from the beginning. What an awesome score. Congratulations.


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In the day the front end came to the assembly line as a sub assembly. Everything was basically semi gloss black. An asphalt base crap. Not very durable. Paint it whatever turns your crank.

 

Looks like the number one rod seized on the crank. Plus It had worn rings. I found another on eBay. I might get it to mess around with.


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Oooh shinny! Lol


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Ive been working a lot because of covid so I haven’t had a chance to do much the past 2 weeks! But tonight we finally got to get back to the 61. The boys and I were able to get the third arm out fairly easily.


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So the bearing snap ring came out no problem but how does the bearing itself come out? I tried a little heat hoping I could melt any “gunk” that might be holding it in but it is still stuck in there. Open to ideas from those who know!


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I don’t remember how I got mine apart on my 60 but i do remember drilling and tapping for a grease zerk

 

You need to get it squeaky clean so you can see any parting lines. My guess is you’ll have to make a little cup shaped tool and use a nut on the stud to pull the bearing out. Better yet, get the rebuild parts first so you have them and can see what’s what.
Is it sloppy and worn out?


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Scott, I am assuming you do not have a copy of the Corvette Servicing Guide for the solid axle cars (C!s). It is a must and is available I believe through most Corvette suppliers. It has a 62 Vette on the cover with a sailboat off to the right. I am copying a page from the guide telling you how to do it.

Scotty mentioned a good point and that it to insert a zerk fitting which you can do when you remove the bearing (so you do not put pieces of cut threads into the top of the bearing). Below you can see the scan I made which should help. The last one I did was the worst. I had bought a project and the steering was locked. When I removed the third arm it was rusted so the steering and nothing would move. I soaked it in my rust remover and it did nothing. I then tried the method below but it would not budge and I thought I would bust the housing. I then decided to drill a hole in the top ( directly opposite the shaft and nut on the bottom) and it was small but I was going to use if for a zerk fitting. I then used a thin drift that would fit through the hole and used heat and with tapping on the arm with the hammer and tapping on the drift I finally got it to free up. There is a zerk that is closer to 1/4" diameter which I ended up using.

 

Another idea..non-leather wrapped...they do make it MUCH easier to get in...Bob

 

The small grease fittings are 1/4-28 thread.

 

Scotty T - great idea! I was actually wondering why it didn’t have a zero fitting after we pulled it apart!

Bob, I’ll certainly give it a try! I’ll run it through the parts washer and see what I can see!


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Thanks Jim! That is exactly what I was looking for! Originally I bought this one from corvette central:



It gives me an idea of how things work but it is often times not very detailed. So I bought another from corvette central that turns out was the same as what I had only unbound! Ahhhhh lol




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Bob that certainly looks good! View attachment 4925278

Hey Moriarity,
Any chance that cragar wheel comes with the whole Pearl white interior? I never get tired of seeing it!

For you guys running a smaller wheel I assume steering effort is not too much a problem? Keeping in mind that up until a year ago I have pretty much only driven a non pwr steering car all my life. BUT they always had a large stock steering wheel.

Thanks
Scott


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Good to know. Since my black 57 is old and tired as was everything else I drive it should be no change. Lol


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For the life of me I cannot understand all of the talk on how these cars steer. Even with the smaller steering wheel they steer fine. A few years ago, I drove a friend's 61 with power steering and I hated it. It ruined the experience IMO. Scott you have a great 61 Corvette and if you grease the steering (rebuild if really bad) and set it up properly it will drive like a 61 Vette..I read these guys go on and on how hard they are to steer-they are not hard to steer. A parking spot may cause a little work but like Mark says, once you get rolling they are really quite enjoyable. My steering wheel is pretty rock solid without any whipsawing whatsoever.

I drove a couple of these cars in the 60s and the 61 my good friend drag raced really got me hooked. When I slip behind the wheel I want to drive the car as it was built (kind of with a bit of a drag race flavor if the truth be told) and take me back in time to driving my buddies 61. If I wanted an LS with a new chassis with an old look I would buy one of those questionable resto mods, but don't count on that (even though I get occasionable requests from the passenger seat on that topic but it goes in my right ear and goes clear through the left and out the side window)..

There are few roads that I know that have a few curves and even my cars with slicks and all handle them well. You will enjoy the ride once you get yours on the road-count on it.

 

I bet it is a combination of driving a worn out one and not knowing or remembering how a non power steering car steers. At least that is my best guess.




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