Well, I thought I was ready to drive my 67 finally. I have done all of the under side work I want to do the car. I installed the easy toe shims in the rear so I would not have to remove the bolt to change the rear shims. I changed my mind of doing the alignment myself so I took it to get it aligned.
They got it done and off I went. It was 30 miles to get home. Just over half way I heard a light clunk. Sounded like it was from the right front. I pulled over and I did not see anything loose. I got back on the road and entered the Interstate. This time I heard several clunks and I looked in the rear view mirror and I saw pieces flying out from under the car. I slowed and the car darted to the left, not a massive lane change swerve, but very noticeable.
Again I pulled over. I looked under the hood again but all looked OK. I grabbed the right rear wheel and I could move it so that the toe changed by 1/2 inch. I laid on the ground and reached up into the shim area and the rear shims were gone from the right rear.
I limped home safely.
Now I want to install the correct original designed rear shims. I have a lift but working the trailing arm to reinstall the original type shims looks to be difficult. Is the toe set with the wheel on the car with the car on the ground? I do not have a pit to walk under the car like the alignment shop did. Should I start by taking the wheel off (to lighten the effort needed) and installing an equal amount of shims on each side, put the wheel back on and lower the car, move it back and forth and then take the toe reading? I have the car squared up so that I can measure the toe while it is on the ground.
If you have done this, let me know how you did it.
Thanks.

 

1. I would install some slotted shims to fill the void and then go back to the alignment shop and have them do it again.........for no cost. Or pick another shop.

2. If the slotted shims are correctly torqued and "tucked" into the frame pocket, they will not and cannot fall out.

3. You can also drill a small hole in the frame rails and use the long cotter pin that was used with these slotted shims. Then they are all locked in by the cotter pin. Photos are in the archives on how to do this.

4. Do not go back to the "two hole "shims unless you plan to show the car or it is a very very original car. and you want to keep it that way.

Yes, toe must be set with the wheels on the ground to be correct. Anything you do with the "two hole" shims may need to be revised/redone by the shop to get things correct. So stick with what you have now, but do it correctly.

Larry

EDIT: My own 67 car has the "two hole" shims. I wanted it that way and installed them after rebuilding the trailing arms. But using these shims today is NOT a good idea, unless there is a specific reason to do so. I still have to make a minor toe adjustment on the driver side, and am postponing it as I don't want all the hassle/drama of making the change again. I am getting too old to be laying on my back on the garage floor struggling with the rear spring, etc.. But I will do it, probably later this year. Right now, the car drives straight with no pull or uncertainty, and tire wear is excellent. But I know the job has to be done.

 

I don't know what you mean by the above. It's very important to have equal toe on both rear wheels. Modern 4-wheel alignment equipment, if properly used, can do this, and there is also the old fashioned string and plumbob method by measuring and finding the true centerline of the chassis.

Within the last year I started a thread for a '67 rear toe change... asked for a trailing arm dimension so I could determine the new shim stack for the change in toe I wanted... easy search and it will probably be of help. You'll need a four wheel drive-on lift and a pole jack to support the spring in order to remove the t/a bolt.

Duke

 

The only person I trusted to align these cars just retired, so I am doing it myself now and have done a lot of research. If you don't have a drive-on lift (that is installed and leveled correctly), I would either have the shop correct their careless error or find a better shop. As Larry said, the slotted shims will not fall out if 1) the correct shim stack used, 2) the nut/bolt are properly tightened, and 3) the shim ends are tucked down into the pocket in the frame. Your shop did not execute on all three of those elements, OR the trailing arm bushing is not installed correctly.

I'm working on a very original, rust-free California 67 right now, and it still had the original 2-hole shims. The shims can be removed and replaced with the slotted type WITHOUT disconnecting the rear spring. Again, that is something that really requires a drive-on lift. I can go into detail on how to do it, if wanted. This is the third car I have done it on and it takes me about 1 hour to do both sides.

 

Thanks Guys.

I have some left over slotted shims. I can get the toe pretty close here to do the 30 mile drive. The shop said to bring it back and they will redo it.
While the car is a numbers matching car, I might have the shop put in the originals. I can't see changing the toe very often so that might be the way to go.
I can plum bob the frame and get a close toe for the drive. It will probably take me 2 days to put the original shims back in as I don't have a drive on lift. It was a bear of a job when I tried it when I had the rear suspension out of the car so I gave up and put in the slotted type. The shop has experience and the proper tools to do the job.
Thanks for your input.

 

You need the long cotter pin as mentioned above going through a frame hole on one side, through the shim pack, and out the other side through a frame hole. The two holes may have to be drilled but on C3's the factory did them.

 

The problem these days I have found is that while the modern alignment equipment is excellent, it's hard finding people who know how to use it properly on these older cars even when provided with the specs. First place I went to with new machine did not know how to program the specs I gave them and their pre programmed data base did not have the info. Found an old time shop with a guy that worked with me and tweaked it twice after I test drove it. He's gone now, and unfortunately nobody to take his place. I used slotted SS shims and drilled for cotter pin. Zero issues.

 

Very tough to drill the holes with the body on the car because you can't get a drill straight in.
I drilled mine and only got one side to work with a cotter pin. The other side I safety wired the shim pack on each side of the trailing arm.

 

You need to make clear to the alignment shop that there needs to be a slight interference fit. So fill up the space and add 1/32". The last installed shim should be a thick one and require light tapping with a hammer to seat. Then the TA bolt should be torqued to spec with the car at normal ride height. Most lost shim cases are due to improper installation/bolt torque. If done as above shim loss is rare.

Bring your CSM and show it to the tech and read it yourself before you go to the shop, so you both know the drill.

For radial tires, set rear toe as close to 1/32" as possible, as close as equal on both sides as possible. For bias ply use a bit more toe per wheel like up to 1/16".

Duke