Which one of the stabilizer bar brackets are extra on 63 lower control arms? Is it the bottom one or the one on the front? Thanks stan#19259
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Re: 63 Lower control arm
I can't make much sense out of your question. The front control arm was reinforced with a welded plate on the backside in the vicintiy of the stabilizer bar bracket, but I don't think the bracket itself was changed, and the production change occured relatively late in the model year - maybe somewhere around sequence number 15,000.
I also don't think it's a structural issue on Corvettes. The control arm was also used on full sized cars, and a fully optioned 409 Impala would place a signficanly higher stabilizer bar load on the control arm due to its much greater weight, so my suspicion is that the design change request came from the full size car engineers.
Duke -
Re: 63 Lower control arm
Thanks Duke, for this and other responses.As long as the A-arm is the same as a Impala I have one to look at and strip. stan#19259Comment
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Re: 63 Lower control arm
I seem to remember reading somewhere that the lower control arm basic stamping was the same as the Impala, but they were reversed for the Corvette usage - Impala right used on Corvette left and vice versa. Anyone else recall this?Comment
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Re: 63 Lower control arm
I'm not sure if I heard of that, but then where are those reinforcments located?
If swapped side to side the stabilizer brackets would have to be swapped front to rear.
Now that I think of it, is that reinforcment on the inside of the front or rear member of the control arm. Can you check your '67? My SWC does not have the reinforcements.
DukeComment
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Re: 63 Lower control arm
John-----
The UPPER control arms for 63-82 Corvettes were the same as 58-64 passenger car and were used on the same sides for both.
The LOWER control arms for 63+ Corvettes were NOT the same as those used for 58-64 passenger car even via reversal of sides; there were 2 completely different sets of part numbers. I do believe that the basic stamping was the same, though, and differences involved the welded-on brackets and/or other features of the finished parts.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: 63 Lower control arm
The judges tell me I have an extra welded on piece on lower control arm of my SWC and that it is a 66 up part.Where is the extra piece? ThanksComment
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Re: 63 Lower control arm
Stan----
The reinforcing plate is located on the (as installed in the car) INNER, FORWARD vertical surface of the lower control arm. It extends from the point that the sway bar bracket is welded on for a length of about 6 inches toward the center of the car. It's presence or absence is easily discerned at a glance.
However, this change in the configuration of the lower control arm is not a "66 and later thing". The reinforcement was added to the arm just before the end of the 1963 model year and used thereafter right through the end of 1982.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Addendum
By the way, if I had the lower control arms with the welded plate that's not correct for most 63's, would I leave it that way or try to find a set of correct arms for the car? You can be SURE that I'd leave it just the way it is. You don't suppose that Chevrolet added those plates to the arms because the arms were just as good without them, do you?
I STRONGLY suspect that the reinforcements were added because of a problem that was noted from field experience. That's a "POWERFUL GOOD" reason to want the reinforcements on the arms on your car and, in this case, originality be damned.In Appreciation of John HinckleyComment
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Re: 63 Lower control arm
The '63 JG mentions the reinforcement on late '63 models.
DukeComment
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Re: 63 Lower control arm
Hello All, I have 62 Impala lower frt control arms on my 69 427/390 T top. They were put there by me after swapping the Stabilizer brackets from one side to the other and frt to back. I Think! It was 1980 when I did it. it did not work real well though as the angle of the seat for the Swaybar link bushing is off and it puts this bushing in a bind. However it has made it that way now for 27 years. Maybe 20,000 miles. I recently bought a set of 4 arms at a swap meet and it turns out the lowers were from an impala as the brackets are on the wrong side of the arm. The arms also lack the reinforcement underneath , a second reinforcement on the stabilizer link bracket and the stop on the opposite side that contacts the Steering arm to limit steering travel. That missing feature has caused my tires to rub the frame on my 69 and if you turn the steering very far one way it takes a lot of effort to go back. I think because something in the P.S. system has gone to far. If anyone wants pictures of these two arms I can post them or e mail them to anybody who is interested.
Hope this info helps.
BillComment
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