C2 Lower Ball Joints

[Donald T.]

Hi Guys. I need the brain trust to bail me out again! I bought a pair of alleged NOS 63-37 lower ball joints on ebay. I just received them today and they don't look correct to me. The threads extend all the way to the end of the tip. The instruction sheet is dated 1959 and the rubber boots have 58 and 59 after the part number (assume it's the date), so I don't see how they could be for 63-67. Yes, I should have asked more questions before bidding, and I do know better. Can you guys "in the know" check out completed listing #4575903438 at tell me what I have here?

Thanks!




Lower Ball Joints

[Michael H.]

Re: C2 Lower Ball Joints

Don,

The seller mentions that they are in the original GM boxs but shows no pic's of it. What's the part number on the box? If the part number is anywhere in the range of, or higher than, 38xxxxx, the boxes did not contain the original parts. If the part number is in the 37xxxxx range, they could be 1959-60 issue and totally incorrect for 63-67. It's obvious that the part is not correct for 63-67. Probably a part number in the range of 3760xxx-3770xxx.

[Donald T.]

Re: C2 Lower Ball Joints

Michael, what's left of the box does not have the part number. The instructions on the other hand do have some part numbers. It says revised 1-15-59, which was my first clue that this couldn't be correct for my 65. In the lower right hand corner it has unit numbers 3749309, 3758406, 3760240. At the top it has part #3751684. Does this help identify the part? Couldn't find anything on these part #'s in the archives.

Thanks!

[Michael H.]

Re: C2 Lower Ball Joints

If indeed those are part numbers, they would indicate that these items are even older than I originally thought. The 3749309 would be somewhere in the mid/late 57 era. (probably the 1st release for the new 58 pass car) 3758406 and 3760240 are about right, numerically, for mid/late 1959. Guessing, I would say the 3760240 is the number of the part that you have.

I don't have any part number change info for the 50's and very early 60's so, hopefully, someone that does (Joe L?) can tell us when these numbers changed to something closer to what would have been correct for SOP of the 63 model year.

If these are the actual parts that came out of the boxes, it's then obvious that the correct for 63-67 style ball joint with the extension on the stud came into production later than 1959. In either case, they are NOT 63-67 so I would attempt to get a refund from the seller. Hope this helps,

Michael

[Donald T.]

Thanks Michael! Paging Dr. Joe Lucia!

Thanks for the info. Hopefully Joe can chime in here. I'm sure he has examples of each of those part numbers (none for sale)

If I can identify the application, then I'll probably just put them back up on ebay.

Thanks!

[Michael H.]

None For Sale

All of my books start around late 1962 so I can't look up the numbers but I think Joe has books going back even further.

The only thing that I have for the 50's cars ball joints are the cotter pins. (none for sale)

[Joe L.]

Re: Thanks Michael! Paging Dr. Joe Lucia!

Don------

No, I don't have examples of these parts. That's because these were never used on Corvettes.

1958-64 Chevrolet passenger cars used, FUNCTIONALLY, the same ball joints as 63-82 Corvettes and the parts are FUNCTIONALLY interchangeable. The ball joints pictured are those used for 1958-61 passenger cars and are. likely, either GM #3749309 or GM #3758406 and, more likely, the latter number. These are 100% FUNCTIONAL for 1963-82 Corvettes, but they're not correct.

As a matter of fact, the ball joints used for 1963-64 Corvettes (and, 1963-64 passenger cars) were similar to these ball joints and unlike the ball joints generally considered to be "NOS Corvette" ball joints. The boots on these are similar to those used for 63-64 Corvette. However, the 63-64 ball joints had the unthreaded extension (pilot) on the studs.

The ball joints used for 1965-82 Corvettes were of a different configuration.

[Donald T.]

Thanks Joe! *NM*