Hello I am a first time vette owner Found a pretty nice 73 in Ohio about a month ago. I am not an auto mech. but really enjoy working on this vette. I replaced my valve guide seals last weekend and it went pretty well. Car quit smoking. The car supposedly has 36,000 orig. miles. Dont know if it is true for sure but it is in pretty nice shape for a 30 year old car. I really dont care if it is true or not its a vette in nice shape. Any way I have a dumb ? When you jack up a vette is it a good idea to open the doors and hood (only slighly) So that the body has room to flex if it wants to, to avoid paint damage? And where is the best place to jack it from. and in what order would I do this to put it on jack stands?Sorry for the dumb ? for you veterans but I had to ask. Thanks for the info!

|QUOTE|Silver73 said: Hello I am a first time vette owner Found a pretty nice 73 in Ohio about a month ago. I am not an auto mech. but really enjoy working on this vette. I replaced my valve guide seals last weekend and it went pretty well. Car quit smoking. The car supposedly has 36,000 orig. miles. Dont know if it is true for sure but it is in pretty nice shape for a 30 year old car. I really dont care if it is true or not its a vette in nice shape. Any way I have a dumb ? When you jack up a vette is it a good idea to open the doors and hood (only slighly) So that the body has room to flex if it wants to, to avoid paint damage? And where is the best place to jack it from. and in what order would I do this to put it on jack stands?Sorry for the dumb ? for you veterans but I had to ask. Thanks for the info! |/QUOTE|

I read an article once about jacking up the vette. As I remember, it said to open the doors to the first notch, open the hood slightly, and loosen the t-tops. In the owners manual, it states to put the jack under the edge of the car, about 3" back from the front wheel. there is a notch on the sides for the jack to be positioned in. For the rear, place the jack about 5" in front of the rear tire, on the side. Like I said, it is in the book. It also shows a picture in the storage area for the jack.

Good luck.
blk79

Welcome to the Forum....and welcome to the world of C-3's.

See if this helps with placing the jackstands.



|UPDATED|9/25/2002 3:36:50 PM|/UPDATED|

I also open the doors a little, loosen the tops, and open the hood to allow for a little flex. I hate jacking up my vette. It was a major pain when I was fixing the brakes and I needed all four corners off the ground.

Hello, I'm new to the C3 site but I do know that the easiest way to put your vette on a four corner jack stand setup is to put your floor jack under the front frame crossmember first.(the one under the engine)
Jack the front up to the desired height, place your stands in the positions specified for jacking in your owner's manual, lower the floor jack to rest the frame on the stands. Then, place the jack under the differential and raise the rear to the desired height and do the same as you did in the front.
This eliminates the stress placed on the doors and hood and tops while jacking and cuts the time to do it in half. Putting your vette on 4 stands makes it a hellofalot easier to do all your brakes and whatever else you want to do while your under it. PS I also own a 73 that I am currently in the process of extensive cutomizing. I have about 3 more months of work to do and will post pics when I'm done.

I really appreciate all the info. Sounds like the easiest way to jack up the car and fastest too. Thanks to ALL WHO HAVE RESPONDED!

|QUOTE|woody1 said: Hello, I'm new to the C3 site but I do know that the easiest way to put your vette on a four corner jack stand setup is to put your floor jack under the front frame crossmember first.(the one under the engine)
Jack the front up to the desired height, place your stands in the positions specified for jacking in your owner's manual, lower the floor jack to rest the frame on the stands. Then, place the jack under the differential and raise the rear to the desired height and do the same as you did in the front.
This eliminates the stress placed on the doors and hood and tops while jacking and cuts the time to do it in half. Putting your vette on 4 stands makes it a hellofalot easier to do all your brakes and whatever else you want to do while your under it. PS I also own a 73 that I am currently in the process of extensive cutomizing. I have about 3 more months of work to do and will post pics when I'm done. |/QUOTE|

The article which I read, said not to put the jack under the crossmember, because it would bend it.

|QUOTE|blk79 said: The article which I read, said not to put the jack under the crossmember, because it would bend it. |/QUOTE|
I remember reading somethig about this, but it was about not placing a jack under the BODY crossmember, which is near the tranny, not the engine one. Chevy garage told me the one under the oil pan is OK to use for jacking purposes

Putting a floor jack under the differential doesn't cause any damage either??? I have lifted at the front cross member before and it seemed to be fine, but I was worried about jacking it up from the differential.

I had also heard that the differential was a
I always jacked it up in front of the rear wheels on the frame