Wheel Aligment

One of the next jobs on my agenda was learning how to align the front wheels with my newly purchased manual alignment tool. I knew I couldn’t make accurate settings until more car weight was on the wheels, but I wanted to practice the process and see if I could get the alignment close to correct.

Like so many new tools, the digital world has taken over, so it was like going back to school again. The tool includes a precise position indicator that you place in a magnetic holder in various ways to check caster, camber and toe-in. Unfortunately, the manufacturer did not include a printed manual and only links to videos on their website. The videos were more promotional than informative, but they got me started. Then I searched the Net for manuals I could read while I had hands on the settings. I finally got most of the info I needed from the Summit website, so I printed them out and sat down by the front wheels to set up the tool.

I had originally assembled the suspension parts mostly by guess, and I could immediately see the toe-in was off. The tool verified my eye-balling estimate, and it took only seconds to adjust it to factory specs. When I attempt the final alignment, I'll be seeking opinions about recommended changes to settings based on modern tires, shocks, etc.

Then I worked on the camber. It was surprisingly close to perfect, but I needed to check the caster before I could be certain. I found it too far off, and on the ’56 suspension the camber is dependent on the way the upper control arm bushing pin is assembled when rebuilt. To get it within specs, I had to remove the pin and rotate the bushing one thread to get to the needed negative caster, and that’s when I encountered my first problem.

When I assembled the suspension about five years ago, I quickly discovered the poor quality of the Chinese-made rebuild kit from Kanter, and I wrote about some of the issues. One discovery was the poor quality  of the grease seals, but I used them since they were all I had. Naturally, as I was removing them yesterday, one crumbled and fell off. Then when I removed the one from the other side, I found it cracked and brittle, so I'm now looking for better replacements.

I made the rounds of local auto parts stores, and no one had the right size seal, so I’ll have to search Internet sources. That means another delay, and if I can’t hold them in my hand before I buy, I might be getting the same crap I got with the rebuild kit. With all the cursing I’ve done about Chinese-made parts for this project, I’m probably already on somebody’s hit list in Beijing!

Just before I posted, I found a source that makes seals that are close to the originals, but won't know if they are better until they arrive.

While I'm waiting for parts, I'm going to work on door latches. The originals are badly worn, and I have a set of new, hot rod bear claw latches that I'm going to consider using if there is enough room in the doors without major cutting and welding.