dfettero

Does anyone know of a dealer or performance shop in Northern VA that can do a proper track alignment?

C5inWV

I have used Stine's alignment in Hagerstown with success. Doug will align the car the way you want it and has no issues getting a lowered car or race car on his rack. He is also affordable.
Having said that, I will probably take my car to Buettners in Winchester next week because they are convenient to my work and will also install my new bushings.

Poor-sha

Curry's in Leesburg. If it's a C7 and you need rear caster set I'd go to TPC Racing in Glen Burnie, MD

blueekb

Mach V Motorsports in Sterling. Anything I can't do at home I get them to do. Its not known as a Vette shop but they work on anything.

I get track inspections, alignments, tire changes etc done there. Reasonable prices and good people. They even sponsor the last NASA weekend of the year at Summit.

C5inWV

Alignment Update:
I took it to Buettner's in Winchester for convenience. Can't say I'd have them do the job again. The price surprised me; replacing the front and rear control arm bushings was a 10 hour job (per their shop) at $89/ hr. The alignment was an additional $110. "Shop supplies" were another $40, and after taxes I needed $1,062 to pick up my car.
It wouldn't have been as bad if they had aligned it to the PFADT specs for "performance street", but they could only adjust the camber but not the caster or toe. They said I would need different control arms to get those numbers. I can't ever remember Doug Stine telling me that, so he will be doing the alignment the next time.

C5inWV

I supplied the best poly bushing kit I could find online, w/ some bushings being two piece for easier installation.

C5 Hardtop

10 hours to swap control arm bushings. Can't say I've been there but damn, that seems excessive as does the shop supplies charge. Did they give you an estimate prior to doing the work?

davidfarmer

all I do is Corvette alignments and scaling, but I'm in NC. Bushings are a PITA, I just did a set and it is very time consuming

C5inWV

I didn't ask for an estimate prior to work, figuring it would be ~$400. I may have tried to do it myself had I known. I wouldn't be ashamed if it took me 10 hours to do it, but the second side should be easier than the first, especially with the right tools.

C5inWV

I think they just go by the shop manual rather than time on the wrench. Your experience w/ Corvettes probably makes you considerably faster.
I would be interested in your opinion regarding the alignment limits on a 1999 Z51/FRC.
The PFADT suggestions are:
Front camber -1.1 to -1.3, caster 7.5 to 8.5, total toe -1/16 to 0.0
rear camber -.07 to -0.9 toe -1/8 to-1/16

C5 Hardtop

I think there are about 16 bushings (2 per A-Arm and 2 A-Arms per side) and if someone is billed 10hrs, then it should take about 40 minutes per bushing. If that is accurate, they didn't rip you off. If they spent more time than 150 minutes per side because of their own inexperience, the shop fee was to recoup their loss (guessing).

I hated taking my vette to the shop. I went to Speedware motorsports in Bellevue, WA to get an alignment and corner weight. Next track day I took turn 1 at SIR at my normal speed, 136 MPH. It felt like I hit a puddle of grease at the apex then the car stuck again in a blink of an eye. The back end shifted to the left and then stuck.

**** my pants. The car didn't have any problem with the other 9 corners after that. Car felt fine. Hit T1 again a little slower looking for a puddle (none found) and same problem but less severe.

I went home and while changing my brake pads and rotors out to put street brakes back on, I had my breaker bar on the caliper bolt of the right rear and went to break it loose. The whole f!cking knuckle moved. I couldn't believe it. It moved forward and backwards and it should never do that. The knuckle should move up and down, that is it.

Digging deeper, I found the A-Arm came loose from the cross-member. Needless to say Speedware got an ear full and I blamed it all on them. F them and their puzzy mechanic. They tried to say it was my fault and these things happen. Yeah, they happen with incompetent mechanics who don't use torque wrenches. I wanted to punch that mother fer in the face repeatedly.

Goes to show I can't trust anyone on my cars, which is why I did my own brakes.

If you can do a job on your car yourself, that is your best bet.