A
Anonymous
Guest
All the more reason to buy the tools and align it yourself! It's not rocket surgery.
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Gertrude is on the road again!!
- Thread starter Kats66Pny
- Start date
classicdoug
Member
Wow, I don't know how they stay in business over there. That makes me wonder what exactly they did (or didn't do). Anybody could see that the alignment you had was way off.
And believe me, with the way the tires leaned, they didn't align it to factory specs either. No factory specs make a tire lean that much.
Doug
And believe me, with the way the tires leaned, they didn't align it to factory specs either. No factory specs make a tire lean that much.
Doug
Kat, I am so sorry to hear of you having to go through this crap.
Ponyman66
Yak, yak, yak
"cmayna" said:
:stu
If it helps, just keep thinkin' of all the fun and enjoyment at the end of it all!
Well... with proper alignment and everything is seated correctly... 14" wheels do NOT fit and do hit the caliper. So she's stuck at the shop still on a lift until the problem can be fixed. They ordered a retaining nut (I guess I was missing it lol oops) and it will be there tomorrow morning.
But on the bright side.... my husband had no choice but to go buy new wheels for her. :thu Those are getting tires on tomorrow morning and then they will be put on Gert.
I won't tell ya what size for fear of being ridiculed. LOL Ya'll are going to hate me. :hide
But on the bright side.... my husband had no choice but to go buy new wheels for her. :thu Those are getting tires on tomorrow morning and then they will be put on Gert.
I won't tell ya what size for fear of being ridiculed. LOL Ya'll are going to hate me. :hide
Wow i'm jealous, I drove my 68 maybe 100 miles since the 10 years i owned it, been around 5 years since it has moved on it's own for more than 30 feet.As for the alignment issues that sucks you would think an old timer would think-"Oh I remember these old pigs" :shrug But nowadays its probably "damn it none of my metric sockets fit!, this is such a headache because it's not new and there is grease and grime everywhere!" :homo:rant
Kat your not putting 20s on there are you?
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You'll love this. The passenger side, the nuts holding the UCA... were loose and not even tightened all the way! Funny considering on the drivers side one nut was on so tight, the mechanics (3 guys there tried) and couldn't get it off so they had to cut the UCA bolt off and replace it. They also checked over the suspension stuff and double checked everything (there were a few loose things) and fixed it.
Um no. :roll
Um no. :roll
tarafied1
Well-Known Member
Your husband really loves you!
I had my car aligned at Firestone. I talked to the guys when I bought the tires from them. They are car guys. I gave them the specs I wanted and they gave me a print-out, they spent way too long on the car but didn't complain. They let me watch them work on it and be in the garage. Of course they wanted a test drive when they were done. They even wanted to take pics of the car. Anyway, glad you found some guys who know what they are doing and I like those wheels!
I had my car aligned at Firestone. I talked to the guys when I bought the tires from them. They are car guys. I gave them the specs I wanted and they gave me a print-out, they spent way too long on the car but didn't complain. They let me watch them work on it and be in the garage. Of course they wanted a test drive when they were done. They even wanted to take pics of the car. Anyway, glad you found some guys who know what they are doing and I like those wheels!
It's too bad you don't live here in Panama City, Kat. There's a one-man shop, a real hole-in-the-wall, who does nothing but alignments and front suspensions. He loves these old cars and knows his stuff, not needing to consult books and could eye-ball what shim was needed where. He took on Pete's car and mine without batting an eye. You know what he charged? $40 for about 3/4 of an hour.
I had pre-aligned my car and Pete's with a $45 tool before taking it in to this guy. There was just a slight tweak needed on both cars, but he was impressed that we got both cars that close. There are other shops here in town that refuse to work on these old cars: too damn difficult, etc. That's the biggest piece of BS around; they are actually quite simple once you understand how a shim on each bolt affects caster and camber, but that takes intelligence.
Does that tell you anything about the mechanic? It does to me...
I had pre-aligned my car and Pete's with a $45 tool before taking it in to this guy. There was just a slight tweak needed on both cars, but he was impressed that we got both cars that close. There are other shops here in town that refuse to work on these old cars: too damn difficult, etc. That's the biggest piece of BS around; they are actually quite simple once you understand how a shim on each bolt affects caster and camber, but that takes intelligence.
Does that tell you anything about the mechanic? It does to me...
jims6t6
Well-Known Member
:thu :thu
Ok don't hate... its what they had in stock that could be bought and put on Gert ASAP. Otherwise she'd be stuck with no wheels and no way home.
15x7 in the front w/ 195/65/15
15x10's in the rear w/ 245/60/15 - will need to get flares though because they sure stick way out!
:hide
15x7 in the front w/ 195/65/15
15x10's in the rear w/ 245/60/15 - will need to get flares though because they sure stick way out!
:hide
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classicdoug
Member
"Midlife" said:
I agree Midlife. Most mechanics now are just parts replacers. If something on the computer screen doesn't tell them exactly what's wrong, they are lost. They don't know how to diagnose anything and don't even ask them to adjust a carburetor.
About 12 years ago I stopped using the alignment shop Kat went to. The old man has done alignments and suspension all his life, and that's all his business does. He wouldn't even buy a computerized alignment machine until just a few years ago. He liked doing it the old fashioned way. My guess is he got lazy and just doesn't care any more. Funny thing is, most of the old body shops in town use him regularly. I wonder how many he gets wrong, but the customer never knows better.
And I really don't buy the liability issue. The fact is, Kat told him that everything had been apart on that front end. Part of his job should have been to make sure that front suspension is safe. It's not like it's that hard to just check over a few fasteners.
Doug
Fst Blk
Well-Known Member
"Kats66Pny" said:
:hide I sure hope you can fit that. That's going to be alot of flare.
Bill
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+1000"midpack" said:
How I saw it is this. A customer comes in and says, " I need an alignment and while you're doing that can you check and make sure everything looks OK because I just replaced everything under there and did a lot of stuff to it and I want to make sure it's OK"."classicdoug" said:
My first thoughts.
1. This is a "girl" telling me this. I'm a grumpy old fart who thinks girls belong in the kitchen. (not really my thoughts, this is the mechanic thinking)
I am now thinking I might find just about anything wrong with the car.
2. She says she "did a lot of stuff". So where exactly do I start and stop checking to reach the point I feel safe to tell her everything looks OK?
3. If I'm a good mechanic, I know where I can get quality parts and that there is real crap out there. I don't know what all she bought or where she got it.
4. I liken it to a guy who pulls up in a primered car to a paint shop and asks them to paint the car telling them it's all good to go he did all the prep.