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I bought a 1965 Coupe. I am unable to drive it because of missing shims In right rear trailing arm. My question is can I put shims in so I can drive it to get it aligned or should it have it trailered Thanks.
Last edited by ls5bigblock; Apr 10, 2021 at 07:51 PM.
Reason: Spelling
You can and should buy the slotted C3 shims to install to get car to alignment shop and for the alignment. Buy plenty of shims.
After shop alignment, you can either replace these slotted shims with the correct C2 two-hole shims...........or buy and install the long (very long) cotter pin used to hold the slotted shims from ever coming out. Details about the cotter pin install are in the archives. Some folks swear that this cotter pin is not needed for the slotted shims if they are tucked into the frame pocket correctly. But I personally would recommend using it.
You can buy shims from any of the Corvette parts vendors and do a credible job eyeballing in a setting. There are plenty of threads on here about home adjustment of rear end alignment. If you don't want to mess with the long cotter pin, use 1963 service shims. They will lock in the frame pocket.
To save you the trouble of digging in the archives, I have posted a couple of great pictures of exactly what Larry is talking about. These are not my pictures and I take no credit for them. They were posted by one of our Forum brothers a while back and my thanks to him for doing so. Good advice on the cotter pins by Larry. C.J.
That is exactly what I did on my ‘64, used a shim in the outside as a template for where to drill the holes for the shim retention pin. I used a 4 1/2” 1/4” bolt instead of the cotter pin.
Trailing arm shims
