58 front suspension bolts

[Brandon T.]

I'm rebuilding my 58 front suspension, does the lower "A" arm shaft bolts that mount to the front suspension suppose to be natural/cast or black?

[Tim E.]

Re: 58 front suspension bolts

Brandon - The bolts themselves are a black oxide finish. The entire front crossmember assembly is then painted semi gloss black (minus the zerk fittings). So...the final finish of those bolts is semi gloss black paint over black oxide.

[Brandon T.]

Re: 58 front suspension bolts

Thanks Tim for the information. I have another question for you. I ordered my front suspension from Corvette Central. It came with 4 rubber caps the size of the lower A arm bushings. Do these rubber caps just slide over the outside over the large bushings/nuts? Are there anywhere I can find pictures or good instructions of where all the shaft seals go.

[Tim E.]

Re: 58 front suspension bolts

Those rubber caps are dust seals. Install one on each end of the control arm shaft before assembling the bushings & A-arms. Once the bushings are threaded in place, they will snug up against the rubber seals.

If your car will be judged, try to locate some original A-arm bushings that have the GM stamp and a ridge around the perimeter. Corvette Central (and the others!) rebuild kit bushings have a flat face without a GM stamp. It's not much of a deduction, but it is a judged detail. Now's the time to install some correct bushings if you can find them. I'm not aware of any accurate reproductions. Tim

[Brandon T.]

Re: 58 front suspension bolts

Thanks again Tim, I'm using my old bushings that has a ridge / notches around them but I don't see the GM stamp on them. Did the rubber dust caps come on the cars or is this a add on from the reproduction kits?

[Eric E.]

Re: 58 front suspension bolts

Brandon, I have the same kit that you do and was a little confused by the caps that screw onto the bushings. They were not an OEM part and I called the vendor and the person there couldn't tell me any more than they thought it might be a cap to protect the threads during shipping. Wish they had told me it was a dish cover and I would have tried to make it work.

I installed mine like the originals with just the rubber bushings. Don't think I will take them apart to add the caps.

Eric

[Brandon T.]

Re: 58 front suspension bolts

Thanks Eric, I don't think I will install the rubber dust cap on mine. I actually tried to install them but it made it very difficult to get the A arm on with the dust cap installed. It would have been nice if the vendor had gave some instructions.

[Eric E.]

Re: 58 front suspension bolts

Brandon, It is a tight fit to start with. If this is the first time you rebuilt yours, take your time. I followed some guidelines by Tom Parsons and it sure made it easier. Eric

[John H.]

Re: 58 front suspension bolts

Brandon - The bolts themselves are a black oxide finish. The entire front crossmember assembly is then painted semi gloss black (minus the zerk fittings). So...the final finish of those bolts is semi gloss black paint over black oxide.

Tim -

Actually, those bolts are black phosphated; Corvettes didn't use black oxide chassis fasteners. Black oxide was a frightfully costly finish (look at an ARP black bolt for a sample), and any fastener engineer signing-off on black oxide would have been issued a white lab coat with sleeves that tied in the back.

[Tim E.]

Re: 58 front suspension bolts

Thanks for the clarification John, I appreciate and needed that! Tim

[Tim E.]

Re: 58 front suspension bolts

Thanks for the clarification John, I appreciate and needed that! Tim