Last night I got Glinda’s rearend up on jackstands and began working on her rear suspension. I immediately saw some serious rubber failure on the strut rod bushings. They’ll have to be replaced before the car hits the track. After wire brushing all the threads I could get to of the suspension bolts, I attempted to loosen the right side's strut rod outer nut using my impact wrench. After about four minutes of cycling torque on the nut and then on the bolt head and still no movement, it was time to bring out the torque wrench. This was the successful tool when I needed to get the big nuts off the front suspension’s lower control arms. This time, however, the wrench was too strong for the job and the bolt broke just beneath the nut. Oh well, I was going to replace the bolt anyway. On to the other side. I contemplated getting the torch out, but didn’t really want to deal with the fumes of burning rubber. With my optimism curbed and my torque wrench engaged, it didn’t take long to get some movement of the nut. Sadly, it was the bolt twisting, and a bit more pushing on wrench handle and the second bolt was twisted off.
Some quick research this morning on the CorvairCenter forum comforted me in that I’m certainly not the first to experience this frustration. There was a lot of conversation regarding replacement of the nearly $100 a piece strut rods with adjustable ones used on Corvettes. I’m trying to score some GUP ones for cheap from local guys, but I’m will to go the ‘vette design route if that doesn’t pan out.
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