86 delema

[Chuck R.]

Well my buddy's finally hit the wall on his 86 that he climbed a tree with.

Measuring the wheels center to center, his damaged wheel seems to be pushed back almost three inches!

He's convinced that the new/used upper control arm he purchased may be wrong and there are no numbers on the arms to use as a reference, just production numbers that the dealer can't use.

Other oddities that I've noticed is that the rack unit's traveling in front of the lower pully at an angle where it is barely missing the pully angling back to the damaged wheel.

I'm soliciting the help of fellow 86 owners or those who are intimate with an 86 to tell me if the rack unit is supposed to angle this way or not.

I'm telling him frame shop time but he's not giving up on the control arm possibly being wrong, throwing the wheel back.

For the sake of reference, the broken control arm has 3075217 stamped on the top edge at the front bushing, plus there is 20851 on the flat surface half way between the bushings. The replacement is 3120404 with 23953 on the flat surface.

What convices me that the part is correct is that the left upper control arm has the numbers stamped on the top/front at the bushing as well.

Any feedback is appreciated to put this to bed.

Thanks,

Chuck

[William C.]

Go to the frame shop! *NM*

[Joe L.]

Re: 86 delema

Chuck----

There were, from a functional perspective, only 2 sets of upper control arms used over the entire C3 period. The first, used for 1984-87 were GM #14067597, left side, and GM #14067598, right side. Both were discontinued over 5 years ago.

The second set, used for 88-96, were of various part numbers with the last set of numbers being GM #10258063, left side, and GM #10258062, right side. Of these, the left side arm is discontinued and the right side arm is still available. All of the various part numbers used over the 88-96 period are interchangeable, but only within that year model range.

I don't know how the coding system used on these arms works. However, I can tell you that the known-original arms on my 1992 have the following codes

left side----3098404
right side---3098705

The fact that the replacement arm he has obtained has the 3120404 number on it with the last 4 digits being the same as my arm makes me wonder if he doesn't have an 88-96 arm.

Unfortunately, I do not know how the 84-87 and 88-96 arms differ.

[Chuck R.]

Re: Make sense to me Bill

Thanks Bill, I'll share your pearl of wizdom with him.

That was the first thing out of my mouth when he said he knocked a small tree over!

He's gonna be on the couch for more than a few days over this little fiasco.

Booze, fast cars and trees it's a deadly combination and he walked away without a scatch, go figure.

Thanks again Bill,

Chuck

[Chuck R.]

Re: Interesting Joe

Great info Joe.

I wonder if he really DID get the wrong arm?

Thanks for the help.

Chuck

[Dick W.]

Re: 86 delema

Lotsa luck. The first (and last) C-4 (1985) wreck that we fixed measured almost 5 inches short on the RH side. Hit a tree, with the end of the spindle, while doing loops at about 80-90 mph. Replaced the control arms with no change. Frame was short by that much on the rh side.

Get a frame chart, set up the datum line and start measuring. I bet he will find that the frame is bent. Real PITA to repair.

[Chuck R.]

Re: Oh Boy

He just might take up hard drugs over this little jaunt to the local bars.

The local law enfoecement establishment really popped his a _ _ hard over this too. Guess it's his pennace for being a bad boy huh?

He's lucky it was 2:00 A.M. when this went down and that no one was on the streets.

Thanks Dick, I'll pass it along and watch his face turn purple.

Chuck