Just got a 79 and I love it; ok sure I had to put it in the shop first week it had rear-end noise. I had a mechanic that I use on all my cars look it over but he was the first to tell me vette’s are a whole ‘nuther animal.
So after poking around (as only real garage monkey can) we figured out that the driver side half axel had a warped flange that had shelled the u-joint so replace that and both u-joins on that side. Then took it for a spin. So here are my questions as a first time owner:
1. 350 small block with 350 turbo trans (3 speed?)@ 60MPH the RPMs are around 2800 does this seem high? What would the rear gear ratio be 3:70? Also the car has what feels like a body -tourke or small shimmy (*** end to the right) when punching the accelerator (at any speed) when letting off the opposite happens. There is no noise with this but I don’t think it should be doing it. (FYI tires are 255/60/15 rear,225/70/15 front)
2. What would be the best over-all source for repair semantics and parts general info for the 1979 hobbyist? (other that here of course)
Thank you for your time.
Dutch

 

First I would examine the tires very closely for separation and tread bulges. I had a 245 60 15 on the front passenger side that was beginning to separate and it caused the wobble you mention. Of course the next thing to look for would be either a bent rim or out of balance wheel. With the bent wheel, look for roundness or evidence of impacting a curb or bump that would have bent the rim in somewhat. Sometimes it's not very apparent and hard to see, but most of the time a keen eye can spot it.
Next in the drive train would be the axle past the outside u joint. The driveshaft/axle might have lost any balence tab spot-welded on and be causing out of balance. The only other component would be the wheel bearings or the rubber suspension bushings.
What I'm saying is that there are only a handful of rotating components that can set up a vibration, and the ones most likely to get damaged would be first suspects. All u joints should be examined in the drive train as well, even coming from the trans. look for missing or knocked off balance tabs (usually small oval shaped tabs) that are deep spot welded to the driveshafts.