Hello everyone,

Im new to the boards and i have a few questions. I have 1981 c3 that is pretty much all stock except that the ac pump and smog pump is missing.

First queston: Im having a serious steering issue. The car is very unpredictable when driving and steering. It jerks all over the road when i turn left or right while moving. I put it in park with the wheels straight, hit the gas and the wheel turns to the right on its own. I had to cut the power steering belt just to drive the car. I have never encountered this issue with any other car. Anyone know what it is?

Second question: When im driving and i punch it the car squats hard, almost seeming like im gonna lose control, even though the rear isnt losing traction. And when i let off the gas the rear raises up and feels like it moves to the left. I replaced the shocks and it still does it. Could the leaf spring be the culprit?

Third question: Does anyone know where to get replacement t-tops at a reasonable price? A tree limb fell on the drivers t-top during hurrican ike and cracked it.

Any help is greatly appreciated.

 

Question 1: The control valve(that big chunk of stuff in the middle of the steering ram) is junk. You can buy rebuilt units or rebuild kits. I solved the problem with a Steeroids rack and pinion setup,runs somewhere around $1300.
Question 2: There are a lot of pieces in the rear suspension that could do stuff like that,but it looks to me like there are several issues all joining together. You probably need to get it up on a lift and check everything! The control arms,the spring and all the mounts between the differential and the frame. From what you describe you should be able to see some worn,torn bushings and loose parts.
Quwstion 3: There's an outfit in GA called "Corvette Mack" that handles a lot of C3 stuff. Also Uptmor's Corvette parts and dozens of others. Good Luck!
Ron

 

Question 1: glad i am not the only one thing control valve...i personally have not had the issues but i have read a lot about issues similar to yours and they seem to be the control valve.
Question 2: i agree with Partsman on this that there could be many thing. you will really need to take a look at everything

 

awesome! i was hoping it was gonna be expensive! lol...i looked around at the rear suspension a little this weekend while i was replacing the shocks and did see some nasty bushings....is there a complete set of bushings that i could buy that would cover everything in the rear? or is it a piece by piece thing?

 

Welcome to the forum.

Check Zip or Vette Brakes for a couple of places to get bushings.

As to the control valve, it may just need to be centered.

 

Sounds like your control valve is shot.
When you replace it you might want to replace all the power steering hoses as well.
Before you replace the valve you might want to check the power steering fluid level.

I replaced all of the power steering components at the same time.
Purchased all rebuilt ones fromn Corvette Central.
Cars running fine ever since.

Schoon

 

Thanks for the welcome...as for the control valve, is there a way to be certain that it needs to be replaced? i dont see any leaks anywhere and the pump is full...its just so unpredictable while driving...

 

hey i found a new control valve on corvette central for $200!!!

 

Why not first make sure it just doesn't need to be centered? The symptoms you describe could be either that or a bad valve.

Unless that $200 is just burning a hole in ur pocket.

 

how do i check to see if its centered? trust me id love to be able to fix it for as little cash as possible.