I picked up a project that was started and then sat for a couple of years. The frame has been updated with all VBP suspension components and is well painted and shows no signs of damage or impact. The body has lived a very rough life by signs of repair to various panels but appears to have been repaired well. I replaced all the body mounts keeping the same amount of shims on each side at each mount.
I have the car on a level surface on equal height jack stands so it's 17" off the ground all the way around. My concern is the passenger side radiator support is 1.5" higher than the driver side. When you measure from the ground to the center of the front wheel spindles this dimension is also about 1" to 1.5" off. From dimensions taken, it appears that from the motor mounts forward the passanger side is high. With the adjustable ride height of the VBP springs, I can adjust this out, but what else can be done or where else should I look to see if it's truely the frame or something else. I am just at a complete loss at this point and not sure what to look at next...

 

If you know of a good collision shop, see if they will put your car on their frame plate. They can do the best job of checking for frame tweaks. They might check it for 50 or 100 bucks.

 

Thanks for the info, I do know of a frame shop and will stop by and see what they suggest. I just hate to have to pull the body off again and or have them crack the fiberglass twisting the frame...

 

You say there is signs of previous repairs to body panels. Were any to the right front?

 

Right front, Left rear...
As mentioned, I have VBP adjustable fiberglass front and rear springs on the car and can't seen to adjust the overall level height with the springs...

 

Yes you can probably get the body to be level with the ground, and a determined alignment shop might minimise the "crab walk" of a bad frame, but you'll be light years ahead to correct it now rather than later. 1.5 inches of misalignment in any plane is a LOT. You've noticed a possible pitfall, don't dive into the abyss by half-arsing the repair.

 

For a quick check, before you decide to take it to the shop, set the frame up on four jack stands. On a level surface and under the square center box of the frame at the four corners. Let the front and rear hang loose. When you have the center box section level, measure to the floor from the rear body mounts and the front frame rails. Check several points on the frame that you can duplicate on each side. A large discrepancy from side to side will tell you if it is twisted.

Also by projecting these points to the floor, and finding the center line, you can tell if it is straight.

 

Great thanks for the advice, all great ideas and I shall continue to check.
So many C-3's sit "Funny" I don't want mine to fall into that catagory or I know it will be a short life in my garage, as it will just bother me too much...

 

There is NO concrete floor that is PERFECTLY flat and level! Get it on a good frame rack at a body shop.

 

Maybe not but its damn good enough to tell if its out as far as he says it is.

 

I had a very similar problem on my '64 coupe. After I stripped the frame completely down and was prepping it after being dipped, I noticed that it didn't sit level with the concrete garage floor. After a few quick measurements, it was obvious that the drivers side spring tower forward was about 1 1/4" higher than the passenger side, and pushed back towards the firewall. I was wondering what that spacer was for under the coil spring and why the sway bar was bent......

After some searching, I ended up taking it to Tony's Corvette Shop in Gaithersburg, Md. He has a custom built frame jig and checked it to confirm that the frame was bent. Car was probably put in a ditch at some point and pushed up on the suspension enough to bend the frame. After a lot of force (he actually broke his first hydraulic jack) he was able to bend it back to within factory tolerances. He also checked the rest of the frame and verified that everything was now perfect.

I know you don't want to pull the frame off again, but that's probably the only way to really fix it correctly. If you don't, you'll be chasing alignment issues forever. Like I mentioned, mine was bent about the same as yours and it took a tremendous amount of force (6-ton jack) to bend it back. Many of the typical auto repair shops that I contacted would only work on the frame if it was mounted to the whole car, wheels and all. After I told them the year and that it was a Corvette, no one would touch it. Tony was the only one local that had the jig to just work on the bare frame. I highly recommend him - very professional and did a great job for me. Best of all I got to keep my numbers matching frame and I now know it's perfect. Good luck.

 

Thanks Jon, I appreciate the advice and the reccomendation!!