I took my 72 cs yesterday for a line up. The guy at the shop was really nice and told me he lined it up the best he can. My steering wheel is now straight while driving. He told me my 442 sport wheel was on upside down. Is that possible?

 

Maybe he was referring to the horn button, I've seen cars with the Rocket pointing down..

 

Do you have a picture of it?

 

Here is a picture of my wheel.

 

Looks correct to me. Was he grinning when he said that??

 

Me thinks he was pulling your leg. I like my rocket pointing into space for lift off.

 

I have another question regarding alignments. Should shims be installed on both sides for better results, or it really doesn't matter?

 

In regards to left to right sides of the car? They are independant of each other. With regards to the forward stud vs rear on each side, you use a combination of shims to get your caster and camber on each stud.

 

I was referring to the left and right side by the upper a frame. I notice shims on one side but not the other.

 

They are independant of each other. This question needs to be asked to your alignment guy. Ask him what settings he set your aligment to?

You want to know the following:

Caster
Camber
Total toe

There are other settings that printouts will give but the above are the ones your really interested in.

 

Thanks for the info oldcutlass.

 

I don't understand the statement of "The guy at the shop was really nice and told me he lined it up the best he can" An alignment is a mechanical setting and is either right or wrong. Worn parts or even frame damage can of course make it difficult until they are repaired or replaced but is in no way tough to find or fix. Basically a lot of techs these days have no clue how or why caster, camber and toe is set . Heaven forbid you ask for an adjustment deviating from stock. Some of the looks I have gotten are priceless with all having no clue as to why and all wanting to charge more. Frustrating.

 

Thats why one needs to seek out someone who can do these old cars. Most of these franchised shops have no clue or the shims on hand to do a proper alignment. I use a small independant shop here in town. You can seek out an alignment shop that specializes in trucks.

 

If you are getting frustrated trying to get an accurate alignment for your classic and have a sense for geometry and don't mind doing the work yourself, it is possible. Just purchase the required tools, follow the instructions, and never pay for a sorry alignment job again. The tools are not prohibitively expensive. I have done it for the last 40+ years and have always been pleased with the results. Caster, camber, and toe are easily performed.

 

I generally ask to watch him work, and ask polite but specific questions to make sure the mechanic in question is doing the job right. I've had guys align it all sorts of ways because they looked the specs up themselves, or didn't know what year the car was.

 

There are a set of general rules of thumb with these older cars, the camber and toe settings will generally will apply, and then we try to get as much caster as possible without interfering with the other settings. Thats basically it, very simple.

 

Back to the comment of the wheel being on "upside down", the reality is that it IS possible to install that wheel upside down. The hub of that wheel only goes on one way. The steering shaft is keyed all the way from the box to the steering wheel hub. For example, the two fasteners on the rag joint are different sizes. The splined end of the steering shaft has a scribe mark that indicates the "up" position. The plastic tube that houses the horn contact also has a single correct orientation. If the steering parts are way out of alignment, these parts can end up upside down. You CAN install the wheel and horn button with the parts upside down, but it will ultimately result in different turning radii for left and right turns because the box won't be centered with the wheel in the "correct" position.

 

Actually...looking at the pic...I think the wheel IS upside down. Easy enough to tell, pop the button off the wheel + see if the index mark on the shaft is up or down. The wider distance between the spokes should be up. You can install the wheel in any position, even sideways if you want!