cottoneg

I wanted to have my 1969 alignment performed after I had my steering box rebuilt.

The first place I tried was an alignment shop in Mount Sinai, near my house. I dropped the car off and soon received a phone call from the owner to come to the shop. Seems while driving the car they hit something and it ripped the engine off both motor mounts and the transmission tail had cracked. I was even more annoyed when he told me it was my fault since the “car was too low”. We discussed it and he said he would do all the labor if I purchased the transmission tail. When he added, “But I don’t ever want to see this car in my shop again.” I pulled the car and felt better to do the work that leave it with him.

My daughter’s boyfriend recommended a shop in Farmingdale near where I work. He said they work on Lamborghini’s, Ferrari, Audi, all high end cars. The lift was 250K and flat to the ground. The guy working on my car was on of the guys on that show Leepu and Pitbull. Drop the car off and the guy mentioned the last shop mentioned above stripped the bolt in the rear. OK, find a new bolt (Thanks ) get the alignment. Now I have to add, I don’t expect shops to have read shims for a Corvette, so I supplied them. I open the hood and find my rear shim in the front. Again, getting annoyed, I picked up a tiny shim and said “You took these out. Why did you put the rears in? didn’t it occur to you to go to an automotive shop and pack up a box of these?”. He said he would correct it if I purchased the shims. I took the car home and felt all wrong. I went for a ride 2 days later with my son and went over a small bump in the road. We heard the sound like change dropped on the floor. My son asked what that was. I let off the gas and felt the rear arm toe out. I gave it gentle gas and thump, the arm toed in. The rear shims had fallen out.

I went to a place recommended in Port Jefferson. He told me the job may cost $600.
I assume that was his way of telling me he didn’t want to be bothered. I even called Phoenix Performance, but that is long way to go and Joe said I would have to leave the car.

I tried a place I had gone to before. It used to be Accurate Alignment, now it was Automotive Center, in East Setauket. The owner Mike Chepinskas came out and discussed my needs. Mike was friendly knowledgeable and spent the time needed to get the car right. The car feels great again.

A few thoughts:
1) Nobody likes to work on the older cars. Too many frozen parts is what I heard. Yet all my parts are new.

2) Not many shops can handle low cars. I have the F-41 suspension in the front and have the Z height set at 1.25 in the rear. The car is low to the ground, so some reasonable care is needed. Many do not want to be bothered.

3) Nobody has parts, which to a point I can understand. But I purchased the parts.

4) If you don’t know how to do it, tell me. Yes, a cotter pin is needed to keep the rear shims in.

Sorry for the rant. If you guys need a good guy who will do excellent work and actually cares about you and your needs, give Mike a call 631-928-0883 a call. There are a lot of people that just don’t care or understand the older Corvettes.

doorgunner

That sounds completely...........NORMAL.......TO ME! No one wanted to touch my '68 alignment.......or quoted a ridiculous price.

So I spent a couple days reading Forum threads about DIY string-alignments....it took half a day for me to truly understand 4-wheel alignment once I started.

Then it made sense....I finished the alignment and have about 1500 miles on the car (between modifications/LOL)......it rolls straight and true (had my brother-n-law follow me to view the tracking) /no pulling/etc.

Lupigiato

What a nightmare!

blue427

Ain't Long Island great?! Do you ever go to Captree on Sunday mornings?

grancuda

Bad deal, makes me glad to have the resources we have here in Tulsa. There is an older guy who has been doing alignments the old way(no commuter) for 40+ years & is the only shop I have used where my car came out going straight & having a straight wheel. Pretty cool to go to him because you never know what cool stuff you will see there.

If I had that much issue, I would seriously think about that slick little $399 in home garage alignment set-up.

kdf1986

I think I may need to check into that $399 alignment tool. I have a 72,73,75 and 86. So thats about $100 per car, which is what an alignment shop should charge anyway.

I also have a problem getting my C3s aligned. The shop I go to says that only 1 guy knows how to do this, and I have to schedule my car to fit his schedule.

kdf

Sunstroked

I bought the tools and aligned mine myself. It's not brain surgery. And I'll never have to deal with incompetency.

grancuda

QuickTrick is who I have seen around & reviewed.

https://www.quicktrickalignment.com/...lide/complete/

There is this new one out that's cheaper by them too
http://www.quicktrickalignment.com/s...m/#scroll=1785

OMF

I have videoed a step by step approach to doing your own alignment using nothing more than a level, some string, tapemeasure, jackstands, and a spindle level tool ($130).
I just need some time to do the editing and get it on youtube.....
Simple to do and it drives straight as an arrow now.

cottoneg

Actually I figured if I save one other LI Corvette owner my nightmare, it was worth the time to post.

No, never been to Captree.

Rescue Rogers

Any recommendations in north central Massachusetts?

ronarndt

Anyone use this tool? I'm replacing all of the 68 Vette front suspension- TR ends, ball joints, idler arm, bushings and will need to check alignment when done. Am scouting around for some shop who actually has experience with old cars and most have some twenty year old who hasn't a clue. If the quick trick tool works (watched the video- seems logical) I'll have one more tool (always good) and will not get my blood pressure up dealing with some "technician" who does not know what he is doing. When did they start calling mechanics technicians?????? RA

Sacred Steel

This is why I do my own alignment. There was a post here a week or so ago where someone was criticizing us for wanting to do our own work including alignments. He said something about "why reinvent the wheel? More power to you". "Spend the time and find a good shop". Well, here you go.

Sacred Steel

I have that one along with a couple other ones. Works pretty good. You don't need a level surface because the alignment tool corrects for uneven surface.

M A Fry

Can be bought on fleabay at the moment for $219 plus shipping. I have nothing to do with this auction, just letting people know.

Mark

cottoneg

The nice thing I worked out with Mike is I can come back and say...."Can I try less toe"
and just pay for the rack time.

I agree doing it yourself is something I wanted to do. Especially if you need to find what setting you need. But once you dial in the car, it is wonderful.

AdamMeh

What did you end up using? If the cost isn't too high, I'd much rather do this myself as well.

Thanks!
Adam

7T1vette

All you need to do is to find a Corvette car club near you. Then, ask any member where members of the club take their cars for alignments. There is usually one or two places that get recommended.

Just taking a vintage Corvette (or ANY vintage car, for that matter) to an alignment place you find in the phone book...or one you pass on the street...is a crapshoot. It's much better to ASK someone who would know the answer to your question.

540 vette

The Vette Doctors (Amityville, NY)
(631-841-0779)

Do a search for Long Island Corvette repairs. i live in Commack. I can't recommend anyone because I don't let other people work on my car, don't trust them.


http://www.longislandvettesclub.com/htm/localidx.htm

jnb5101

Do you mean to tell me that they severely damaged your car and you're not pressing for an insurance claim?