I bought a 58 bare body on frame project but the front end had been completely rebuilt. The car is now assembled and drivable. It goes down the road straight at 65-70 mph. I can release the steering wheel and get only very slight pull. Do I need to worry about getting the front end aligned or just leave it alone? One concern is that I am not sure I can find anyone that knows how to do it correctly.

 

Camber in the road can cause that. Keep watch on your front tire wear. I've had my 61 aligned by someone who knows how but he still couldn't get it as good as he would like because front end is all original parts, old and not that great to begin with.. Mine will drift off slowly but I don't worry about it , if it pulled off then I would be concerned.

 

Anyone can do the toe in which is all I think would be needed. The caster, you may need to show then how to adjust. It takes an allen wrench up at the top of the spindle. You will need to remove grease fitting to get to it.

 

PRINT THIS OUT AND TAKE TO AN ALIGNMENT SHOP AFTER YOU ASK AROUND FOR THE BEST ONE IN YOUR AREA TO DO IT.

Aligning Your Solid Axle Chevrolet Corvette - The Mystery Alignment

Most alignment shops are not aware of this adjustment. "Remove the grease fitting at the rear of the upper control arm and put a hex wrench into the void. There's an eccentric bolt inside there."

The Alignment
The first step to a proper alignment is to make sure that your tires have the proper inflation and the wheel bearings are properly adjusted. If you fail to do this, no alignment technician in the world is going to get your Corvette properly aligned.

Tire pressure needs to be even all around the car set to tire manufacturers recommendations.

This is a drawing of the eccentric bolt.

Vemp_0206_12_z Aligning_solid_axle_chevrolet_corvette Eccentric_bolt 8/9

Setting Toe
Setting the toe on these early Corvettes is simply a matter of adjusting the tire rod sleeve just like any regular car. You loosen the two clamps at either end of the tie rod and turn the sleeve to lengthen the distance between the two rod ends and you've got the toe setting down pat. In reality this part is just like the '63-82 Corvette. The only problems you might encounter is a rusted clamp. Most of these old Corvettes have either been restored, or had enough grease and oil covering them over the years, that they're easy to break loose. If you have any problems here be very careful and don't break anything.

Remember the rod and the clamps don't wear out, so severe rust is the only reason you might consider replacing them. You should have the alignment shop check the tie rod ends for wear. These are readily available since they're nothing more than early Chevrolet parts. Just make sure that you check both the inner and outer tie rod ends.

Setting Caster
The caster and camber adjustments are unique. The upper control arm has an eccentric that moves 3/32 of an inch. First, you need to loosen the clamping bolt at the upper end of the steering knuckle. Then, remove the grease fitting. If you have trouble seeing all this, simply remove the front wheels. It's harder to visualize some of this than it is to actually do.

The next step is to loosen, or completely remove, the clamping bolt at the top of the king pin. Lastly, put your Allen wrench through the hole where the grease fitting previously lived. When you turn the pin with your Allen wrench you can watch the caster and camber turn on the computer screen. You are paying for a computerized alignment, aren't you? The eccentric bolt should move easily. The same set screw that adjusts the camber, also adjusts the caster. Just turn the screw in to pull the spindle support top back toward the rear of the car. This adds positive caster. Will make it track better but be a little harder to turn. The steering wheel will straighten up after a turn better. Adjust the caster and then set the camber with the same screw. To do this, jack up the bottom "A" arm to just take the weight off of the tires. Place a carpenter level vertical (up and down) across the tire center. Adjust the screw in or out to get a slight tilt "out" at the top of the tire. This is positive camber.
Be sure that you tighten the "lock" bolt for the set screw when you are finished.

Once you've removed the grease fitting, you can insert the hex wrench, or Allen wrench if you prefer, into the void and begin to turn the wrench. It'll take a little practice, and a few movements back and forth to get everything correct but this is no big deal. Actually, it's a lot easier to turn the eccentric than it is to add all the shims that we're accustomed to. It sort of makes you wonder if the system introduced in 1963 was a real improvement.

This turning of the eccentric will have a greater effect on the caster than it will on the camber, even though they'll both change together. The eccentric allows for a slight change in caster and a full range of camber adjustment.

The idea is to turn the pivot pin until you get the proper caster setting, then move it less than a half turn to get the camber correct. Which direction will depend on the position of the eccentric.

It should come within specification after a couple of trial attempts. The real trick is to get the caster correct while also getting the correct camber. It only took us two or three turns on each side to get it correct.

Settings for radial tires

Caster………………2° + - ½°


Camber……………. ½° + - ½°

King Pin Inclination….3 ½° to 4 ½°

Toe-in (Per Wheel)…..1/16” -0
Toe out on Turns
Inner Wheel……20° + - 2°
Outer Wheel 24° + - 2°

Normal toe in spec (with bias ply tires) was 1/8" to 1/4" total toe.

With radials use 1/8" total toe, (1/16" per wheel).

You will be usually be "lucky" to obtain 2 deg. caster (get as much as you can), and keep the tires at as close as possible to zero camber.