Greatsteaks

Where do you guys get your c3's aligned? Should any tire shop be able to do all 4 wheels correctly is special knowledge needed for corvetts? If so what questions should I ask to find out if they know what they are doing. Thanks!

Paul L

Wherever you go bring these with you. The shop will not have them.

U17

There are several recent threads on here about this... "Fifth Gear" in Flower Mound is one....

mapman

You will most likely get a response from someone in the local area as to a particular shop. If there are any Corvette Restoration shops in your area, if so, then ask them. Your local Chevy dealer service manager would probably also have a suggestion. I would NOT let just any tire shop do a four wheel alignment on my car.

What the SHOP will want to know, is the condition of the your suspension. In particular, had the rear suspension been apart. If not, then $$$, as the shop will (should) know this is a time consuming job. Are your strut rods straight, or has a "Bubba" shop bent them in order to do an alignment?

Faster Rat

The main thing to understand about C2-C3 suspensions is the fact that they must be driven around slowly, then carefully stopped on a flat surface. Driving up onto an alignment rack (or backing up) can cause the rear suspension to become "loaded" so to speak and seriously screw up any further measurements. If the alignment shop does not understand this, then head on down the road.

Toe-in and toe-out can be measured with a stick to record the difference between the front and rear of the tires. Camber can be meaured with a level...especially one to place against the rim (or tire) and make adjustments. The toe of the rear tires can really be compared from side to side with a long, straight bar and compared to the front tires. It is amazing how accurate your eyesight can be just standing either behind or in front of the car and looking at all four tires.

SmokinBBC

Call the local corvette club....those guys will know.

ezobens

Make sure you ask questions-
Have they ever aligned a C3?
How often?
WHO is the technician that does them? THAT is the guy you want to do yours, not someone else from the same shop. Talk to the mechanic. Make sure he understands your expectations as well as the car.

Luckily, I found a 'mom and pop' alignment shop not too far from me.
Only 2 bays and one alignment rack but the guy was around when C3s were still new and knew how to align them.
I even sat and watched.

Do your homework and find someone that actually has done a few of them and you should be fine. As mentioned above, these suspensions aren't rocket science and you don't need a bunch of fancy tools, you just need to understand how the suspension works and how to use the tools properly.
Elm

grahambb

I rebuilt the front steering on my 73’ and obviously needed a front end alignment after. I hadn’t ever done one before but I dropped the car on the floor with the tie rods clamp bolts loose. I pushed the car front and back 2 or 3 times 4 feet or so each time after adjusting the tie rods. I used a tape measure and measured from the outer tread groove to outer tread groove on the leading edge and compared that to a measurement of outer tread groove to outer tread groove one the trailing edge of the tire to get the toe in within the range specified in a Haynes manual. Torqued the clamp bolts with the clamp in the proper orientation. Rode around pretty good after that; I think I might take it to a shop soon for them to check it. Is a rear wheel alignment that involved?

Thanks,
BG

BKarol

Go to a car show or cruise and ask the C3 owners who aligned their cars. Thats what I did. 3 guys mentioned the same place and two others mentioned other shops. I went with the majority.