[jarretts70]

Wasn't sure whether to post here or in bodyshop....

When I pulled the body off the frame on my 1970 GTO the bushings were wasted. I bought replacements; they are around 1" thick.

Yesterday I was checking out an original 1970 that a friend has on his hoist. I realized the bushings on that car were thinner, probably 1/2 or 5/8" thick.

Is this just a case of my replacement bushings being incorrect? Can anyone recommend a good source for "correct" bushings?

[OG68]

I bought mine from Inland Tube.

[HWYSTR455]

Yeah sounds like the generically boxed some and sent to you, sounds like you got the wrong ones. The bushings are different thicknesses depending where they go. They used to be color coded, I forget how they do it now, you may just have to figure it out. The instructions I've seen are fair at best.

Schurkey on the Chevelle forums I believe measured the thicknesses and posted where they go, you can search it, or PM him here.

InLine, or our host would be my recommendation. You have to buy the washers and bolts too. The core ones don't come in the kit as I recall. Some kits don't come with the bushing sleeves either, might have to buy those.

If the washers you get are bare metal, I suggest spraying them with paint. They rust quick.

The 68-72 have some bushings that just lay in the holes where the axle hoops are, and don't use bolts. I have seen where some switch those over to bolted ones. Some kits don't come with those bushings either.

You may get to a point where you may have to buy extra bushings.


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[tjs72lemans]

If you buy a decent kit, the washers are zinc coated. You get the bolts and sleeves also. On my 72 Lemans they were all the same thickness and not color coded. It seems they were about 5/8" thick, but not color coded. I think earlier models (pre-67) had color for different thickness and specific location.

['ol Pinion head]

Since the late 80's have been buying '68-72 body bushings to use in restorations. Have bought them both as sets, & occasionally as loose NOS GM upper & lower cushions.

There are multiple different manufactors of body bushing "kits". The best sets 30+ years ago used a mixture of repro bushings & GM bushings (molded Chevrolet around the edge). PY sold such kits that way for a while in the early 90's. Beware, for many years there have been at least two cheap bushing sets (dont hold up very well) that a wide variety of online vendors sell.

Next, there are quality body bushings one can order individually from Steel Rubber.

Inline Tube sells a higher level quality bushing set than their cheap set. Inline also sells separate color coded bushings for the rear corner positions. Inlines higher quality set begins at around $120 a set. Meant to buy just such a convertible set (2 extra bushings) during Inline Tube's Christmas sale, but was spent a good chunk with Legendary Interiors on their sale, so now I'm ordering & paying full price on an Inline Tube order. Will be thinking ahead late next Fall.

On the body bushing bolts, Inline Tube sells the '68-72 A-body bolts in the correct washered head design in two different lengths. From the GM Assembly plants, there were actually 3 differnt lengths on '68-72 A-body body bolts with the shortest being the body bolts that go through the mounts by the front seat belt retractors. From disassembling A-body & GP partscars, have managed to come up with many very nice condition body bolts & that's what I began using many years ago. Generic hardware store bolts & washers just don't cut it. Thankfully, Inline Tube finally came out with 2 lengths of the pointed correct washer head design bolts, my 7 gal bucket of body bolts is getting lower & have several more frame offs in the works.

[OG68]

IRT colored bushings. 68 GTO, Fremont built.

After painting and installing new Inline Tube bushings I found that my originals were colored differently. All the upper bushings between the body and frame were black. Only the last two bushings under the rear bumper were Chevrolet.
All the bushings under the frame were painted lavender.
I'll be changing the upper colored ones previously installed to black.



As mentioned above by oPH, the higher priced IT bushings are very good. Much better IMHO than the ones sold by our sponsor. If colors and numbers are important to you, do the research for your particular year and manufacturing plant. Bushings changed year to year; it seemed that Pontiac was adjusting the ride quality each year. Chapter two (frame and body mountings) in the factory manual gives the part numbers and locations of each bushing and mounting bolt.
If you decide to use colored bushings, paint them yourself with a paint that's intended for rubber or other flexible surfaces. No need to pay extra for painted bushings.

But if non of that matters, buy the best you can afford. Use bolts with the angled tip; makes it easier to start the bolt in a blind hole.

And don't buy a kit for a Chevrolet. Chevy didn't install as many bushings as Pontiac did.

[jarretts70]

I'm not really worried about the correct color on the bushings. I started with the gutted shell of a car so originality is already out the window.... I just want to make sure they are close to the right thickness. I don't want to have the frame hanging down below the rocker panels by an extra 1/2 inch because the body bushings I have are too thick.

It's been so long since I bought the ones I have I don't remember where they came from, but they sure look like the ones inline tube is selling as a kit; I bought a bunch of other stuff from inline including new body bolts, so I probably already have the inline bushings.

The bottom cushions I have also seem incorrect. They are less of a "donut" and more of a "cup" . Looking at the inline catalogue the ones I have seem to match the ones they sell for Chevelle wagon/El Camino. They sell individual donuts, so I'll just order some of those to go with the bushings I already have.

Thanks for the input!