C1 Third Arm Spacers

John McGraw · 10-20-2002, 01:14 PM

There are some thick washers that go between the Third arm support and the front crossmember at the front mounting location. What was the purpose of the spacers, and were they installed on all C1 Cars? I have heard it said that the purpose of the spacers was to correct for the geometry change that took place when the tapered shims were installed in Late 56, but I don't see any steering geometry change since the entire front suspension moved including the third arm, so the relationship to each other would remain unchanged.

I was very anal about bagging and cataloging all the fastners from my 60 when I disassembled it and have no record of the spacers being there. I am fairly positive that the car had never been apart, so that leaves only two alternatives. 1. I failed to catalog the spacers. 2. Spacers were not used on my car.

I would be interested from hearing from others that have a 59 or later car and wether they have the spacers installed. when I look at photos from Nolan's book under magnification, the spacers are clear on photos of 56-57 cars but they are not obvious on photos of later cars.

:seeya

[Modified by John McGraw, 3:03 PM 10/20/2002]

[Modified by John McGraw, 3:04 PM 10/20/2002]

10-20-2002, 06:46 PM

John, when I bought my '57 basket case, I was given an extra complete C-1 front crossmember, with the Third Arm, in addition to the one on the car. Neither one had spacers, although the car had the aluminum shims you mentioned. :cheers:

John McGraw · 10-20-2002, 11:10 PM

Thanks Patrick,
It would appear that when the support bracket was redesigned for 58 that it was changed so that it did not require the spacers. I am still interested in hearing from anyone who has a post-57 car that has the spacers, but I belive the mystery is solved! So far, the only responses that said they had them were 57 cars.
Regards, John McGraw
:seeya