Fred,
I think you said in a later msg that your car is a TR3A.
If so, you have about the same front end adjustment requirements I do on
my early TR4 (not so early that it has the same ball joint as your car).
These cars did not have the adjustable caster & camber you find on cars
today. 4A's & 6's could be adjusted by shimming the lower wishbone
mounting points.
The lower wishbone mounting points on your car and mine are fixed. The
only "adjustment" for caster & camber was removal of the vertical link,
heating it with a torch and bending it to the correct geometry. I have
yet to find a shop that will touch it.
While the later shimming method does allow for more easily adjusted
geometry, it is not as strong as the early type mounts we have on our
cars.
As to 4 wheel alignment, I'm guessing the rear of the car would probably
be adjusted by moving the solid axle around on the leaf spring mounts.
It's possible too, I'm sure, to "tweak" the frame to correct problems
with both the front and rear ends. But, this is an area for real
experts.
The $ amount for toe-in alone sounds high. The full caster/camber amount
sounds pretty good if they do what I think they will, considering. I'd
be curious if that includes a full 4 wheel alignment.
I would suggest you take the car to the shop and have them show you
exactly what they intend to do. See if it does involve disassembling the
front suspension and bending that link.
The condition of your car may be concours, but the condition of the
roads it travels on are not. Bumps and RR tracks and curbs knock the
aligment out a lot. Over time, the suspension settles, changing the
geometry. Also installing new parts can change the geometry a lot. I
just installed new trunnions and the dimensions in several places are
significantly different than the originals. To solve the problem you are
facing, I've been looking into engineering an adjustable system for my
car. I've pretty much ruled out fooling around with the lower mounting
points, as it was a weaker design. A lot of competition prepped cars
seem to have modified upper A-arms and I am looking into that. This
isn't "original" for a show car as yours sounds to be, but I certainly
don't have to worry about that with my car!
Good luck!
Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif.
'62 TR4 #CT17602
The fred thomas wrote:
> Listers, called a couple of local recomended repair shops here in N.
> Va.
> today to get the F.E. checked for alignment, the pass. side tire is
> not
> wearing right. Was given a few different prices but one I would like
> to
> pass along, "London Auto Services Ltd." in Fairfax, Va., told me if I
> only needed toe-in & toe-out its $93.00, if I needed caster and
> camber,
> upper & lower its $195.00 + all parts and they almost always need some
>
> parts, if its real rusted & any stripped bolts it can be a little
> higher
> than this, when I asked why so high, he said a F.E. alig. usually
> takes
> about 3 hours. When I told him this was a concours show car, he said
> it
> might be just a little less. I've been around a long time, and if a
> mechanic needs 3 hours to alig. a F.E., I prefer not to have it on my
> car. Thanks but no thanks.
--
MZ
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