Does anyone have some information on the labor hours to install steering parts on a 1968 Corvette. 

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I did my 68 quite a few yrs ago & I would say 3-4 hrs labor if you know what you're doing & all the bolts come loose easily, maybe a little longer if you run into problems.   I would spray everything with good penetrating oil  a few times before you give it to your mechanic. The upper & lower ball joints will take the most time & other than that it not to hard. Air guns really save time. I used a drive on lift & it made changing the ball joints much easier than a 2 post at least for me.

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 I might have labor times for all that on my home PC, but since my last wipe/reload, I haven't re-installed my old Mitchell program.I can tell you the control arm bushings are going to be the most expensive items, time-wise. They're a major pita to get off/on. Once off, the bushings, and ball joints aren't that much trouble. The other stuff is pretty easy to do. Then, you'll need an alignment. Don't know what shops in your area charge per hour, but it wouldn't surprise me at all to see the labor estimate go over $500-$600 to do the work.
Make sure you find a shop that is familiar with the suspensions on these cars...it's real easy for some Goober to mess up a lot of stuff if they don't know what they're doing....

Here's the factory labor times for an '82 Corvette....it's the closest I can get here at the shop...
Lower ball joints(both) 2.5hr
Upper ball joints(both)  1.9
Upper control arm bushings(both sides) 2.8
Lower control arm bushings(both sides) 3.2
Sway bar end links(both) .7
Tie rod ends(inner and outer show same time) 1.2 per side

Ball joints can be replaced with the cont. arms on the car...the bushings cannot. I think 4-5 hours would be about right for a shop to do ALL of it.





|UPDATED|2/17/2015 10:52:56 AM (AZT)|/UPDATED|


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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
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"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

I just got an estimate of 13 hrs. at $1,250.00 for everything. Ball joins, upper and lower, control arms, sway bar etc. etc. etc. I bought the kit. Kinda think that this is to much money. However the mitchell estimate in hours for your 82 was 13.5 hrs. at least is what I totaled up. 

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hi    in my dealership it is $85.00 a hour  ,you pay time used   that's it,algin is extra,wrong parts your paying,it not mean but your paying mech $25.00 a hour and more   that's it  you may fing a garge that's slow and would be willing to do when the have time,but these are catching  up  on laber to dealership price.look around for someone  maybe out of work  and would do for lot left.dwa 

also save time replace control arm both up/low they come with balljoints and bushings ,I got mind at corvette conection   saves lots of time.dwa 

Yes, I have all the parts, and really don't mind paying to have it done but 13.5 hrs to have it all done, just seems like too much labor time. 

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Well, that's kinda the problem. The times I posted are for each individual repair, including removing/replacing the control arms. You would NOT add in removal time for doing the ball joints, since the arms are coming off for the bushings anyway. Unfortunately, that also appears to be the way the shop you contacted is doing it....which is wrong. I would think 8 hours would be too much for an experienced tech....13 is just plain silly, imho.

You can probably do all the work yourself, if you have basic tools, and a way to get the car up in the air. The biggest issue would be having a spring compressor, or some way to SAFELY remove/re-install the lower arms. I've used a floor jack, as well as specialty spring compressors. Either way works just as well, if you take you time.
Ball joints will be riveted onto the control arms, so there will be some grinding, or chiseling of the rivets. Replacement joints will use nuts/bolts. Once the control arms are off, it shouldn't take more than an hour for each one to remove/replace. The bushings can be tricky, but usually pop out/in in just a few minutes, depending on what you use to knock them out/in with. Air chisel works best for me.
As I said before...getting the upper arms off will be the main time concern....unless your car doesn't have a fan shroud. I have found that getting the nuts/shims off, and then knocking the control arm shaft studs out of the frame gives me much more room to work with, and make life so much easier.


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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"

note  if you remove upper control arms then save and put shim back into position   saves time          dave

also  you can look up times on computer site-all data this used by all repair shops now   dwa175

the thing about these old cars is you never know what surprises lurk under there.  If that car has never seen a spot of rain or dirty roads all will go well.  If the 50 year old motor seals have been leaking and lubed up the old bolts on some of the suspension all will go well.  If the above has not happened then be prepared, those hours could change drastically.  Just finished stripping mine to the frame some parts came apart easy then the next took hours and finally resulted in grinding them off,bolts etc just seize on with age and grime.  Doing it yourself would be the best way to go to save some money if your not worried about the time it takes



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You could do the tear down yourself and then take the control arms and all the new parts to a garage and have them do the bushings and ball joints.  Then reassemble it all your self. 

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 Cindy...you live up where everything turns to rust within minutes. We don't have that problem so much here in Texas, tho there is always something that will fight you no matter what.

Gary has a good suggestion, too...never thought about doing it that way.

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Joel Adams
C3VR Lifetime Member #56    
My Link


(click for Texas-sized view!)             NCRS

"Money can't buy happiness -- but somehow it's more comforting to cry in a CORVETTE than in a Kia"