Problem getting wheel alignment on 1970 cuda

[heminut]

Find a shop with an old guy 60+ if you can. Buy him a twelve pack of fifth of his favorite brand and you'll be amazed what he can do for you!

THIS^^^^^^ right here! I did alignments at a dealership back in the 70's. A lot of the guys doing alignments now are like parts counter guys, if they can't punch an exact year, make and model into a computer they are lost!

Something no one else has brought up is that these cars have an issue with the inner fenders moving inwards over the years. When I had my engine out of mine I borrowed a portapower and spread my shock towers back out about 3/4 of an inch and did some reinforcement welds on them where they were spot welded to the inner fender. I also used the Moog offset bushings in the upper control arms and my front end guy has no problem getting the more radical settings that work better on these cars with radial tires.

 

[gran coupe john]

One place did my alignment twice. Still not right. In another shop now. Maybe 3rd time will be it???

 

[Raycuda]

I finally succeeded in getting my wheel alignment done. After 4 shops and spending 12.5 hours waiting around, I found a place, "Complete Classic Auto Restoration" that did the job in 1 hour. Went on a cruise yesterday and she drove beautiful. HAPPY DAYS!

 

[cuda joe]

i'm glade you got it done and it;s a great looking car

 

[Raycuda]

i'm glade you got it done and it;s a great looking car

Thank you for your kind comments. I am the original owner.

 

[Katfish]

Original owner! Wow that's rare.
So who did the last alignment, before this.

 

[Raycuda]

Original owner! Wow that's rare.
So who did the last alignment, before this.

Two separate Mavis tire shops, and a Firestone Tire shop attempted to do it, but never did it. The last successful alignment was done 8 years ago, and I can't remember who it was. It was at one of the Mavis shops, but it wasn't Mavis back then.

 

[HPP]

What specs were the three stores unable to hit that the Mavis place was able to get?

 

[Raycuda]

What specs were the three stores unable to hit that the Mavis place was able to get?

You must have misunderstood, Mavis gave up and could not do the alignment.

 

[HPP]

Sorry, read through it too quickly. What specs did you have that Mavis and Firestone couldn't hit that Complete Classic Auto Restoration was able to achieve?

Firestone and Mavis are fairly large chain shops that are not going to typically have the knowledgeable types of techs willing to get into the nitty gritty of dealing with vintage cars that are outside the general labor guidelines of volume work.

 

[Raycuda]

Sorry, read through it too quickly. What specs did you have that Mavis and Firestone couldn't hit that Complete Classic Auto Restoration was able to achieve?

Firestone and Mavis are fairly large chain shops that are not going to typically have the knowledgeable types of techs willing to get into the nitty gritty of dealing with vintage cars that are outside the general labor guidelines of volume work.

I found that out the hard way. What I came in with was the SKOSH CHART with maximum street performance specs of -.75 - 1.0 Camber
+2.5 - 3.5 Caster
1/16 - 1/8 Toe in

In the 55 years of owning this car, this had to be the worst maintenance experience ever. It's a good thing I know someone who just retired and has been maintaining my cars ever since I moved to Florida 8 years ago. Unfortunately, he does not have access to an alignment rack anymore. Wish he had never sold his shop.

 

[Challenger RTA]

someone who just retired

Did he give you any input of what to do?

 

[Raycuda]

Did he give you any input of what to do?

No, just that the job is done, the car drives great and the entire front end has now been rebuilt.