OK - the last thing on the list is to rebuild the front end - bushings, ball joints, etc. Then I will have as close to a brand new vette as you can come, without a time machine .)

OK - so I have it ready to to remove the springs. I have it jacked 'way up on stands with the rear tires on the ground. I remove the nut from the bottom ball joint and start letting it down...

Can I *SAFELY* remove the springs? Or will I have to use a coil spring compressor?

Any help appreciated

 

The way I have done it after its jacked up is to loosen both nuts on the ball joints on the spindle, don't remove the nuts, give the nuts 5 or 6 turns and stop. Use a ball joint fork or use a 10 to 12in Heavy punch and punch the spindle where the ball joint shaft goes thru on the spindle upper connection. smack the punch fairly hard it should pop loose after a good smack or two. after it pops loose stop. The top is loose, now place a jack (bottle jack works best) under the bottom ball joint stud with the loose nut on it, and jack the control arm and spindle upward 2 or 3in is plenty. don't let the car fall off the cars jack stands. Do the same to this ball joint that you did on top of the spindle, 2 or 3 wacks should pop it loose. Reposition the bottle jack inward and jack the control arm upward till you can remove the ball joint nut with your fingers, and slide the floor jack in, with nut removed place a floor jack under the ball joint without the nut on it. remove the bottle jack and let the control arm come down (shock needs to be removed first) 5 or 6in then the sping should just about fall out. Easy Right? not as bad as it sounds, wear safety glasses when punching..

 

"... not as bad as it sounds..." roflmao!

Thanks for this, Thomas77

The !@#$%^&*(!! radiator is going to have to come out, AGAIN. Suicide is not my thing, but if it was...

THE RADIATOR DOES NOT COME OUT - PERIOD. The steel frame that holds it will. I learned that, the hard way... Then I tried to buy another rad. Three rads, checked the core with a piece of wire - LIES. I still have one of them - the guy refused to refund it.

Ended up finding Kenny's radiator service, in Indianapolis. GREAT mexiacn guy! (forgot his name, but it;'s not Kenny) He re-cored the original rad. Works great!

Anyhow, the Russians are studying the C-3 vetts, to this day - famous, there, as the one machine with the greatest number of booby traps... (like the trailing arms...) They're considering making them again, and sending them to Ukrane...

Hey. C'mere. I'm gonna let you in on a 'lil secret. I'll whisper it into your ear.

90% of THESE GUYS - the guys that bought a vette, intending to 'fix it up themselves - these guys are the same guys you can find, about 3 am, in the seedy part of town where you're not supposed to go and, if you do, you sure don't tell anybody - places where they tie you up and whip you, 'till you bleed, then charge you lots of money...

The other 10% are just plain DUMB - like me.

 

Radiator can stay this time. Sorry to hear about your past experiences, we have all had them life is always a learning experience, C-3's are not the easiest car to work on. A couple more things about the a arms, disconnect the sway bar link, and when you use a floor jack to lower the bottom a arm steer the jack toward to other side of the car, when it comes down it swings toward the center of the car a bit. The calipers can be removed and hooked to the car frame to be out of the way. A spring compressor is not needed but it would make it a little easier,up to you, if you have one. I have gotten by without one, the battle wasn't too bad. I used polyurethane bushings, they install easily and last a long time, I used grease on the bushing to steel pivot points, some people have said they get squeaks after time, but haven't heard any yet.Up to you. I have been using an aluminum radiator (2 core but 4 core equivalent) I had installed in a 86 Firebird my son once had. Came from Summit, fits good some adapting, aluminum is the way to go no heating problems on the hottest days. 402 with clutch fan and 180 degree thermostat with a/c. Leave the radiator alone for now and good luck with the A arms..

 

Radiator can stay this time.

Maybe. looked at it today - seems I might skip the radiator r&r but, if I can, it's only because I have an aftermarket fan shroud.

Parts ordered...

 

If you don't use a spring compressor, be very careful if there is any compression left on the spring when the A-arm is as low as it will go. These springs run about 400 to 500 lb per inch and if there is a half inch of compression left on the spring that's over 200 lb of force and you don't want to be in its way when it flies out.