C2 Front End Alignment Question

[Bruce Boatner]

Pardon my ignorance, but do I need to take my 1964 to a "special" shop for a front-end alignment or would just about any shop (e.g. Firestone) be able to do a satisfactory job?

[John H.]

Re: C2 Front End Alignment Question

Bruce -

There's nothing unusual about the C2 front end from an alignment perspective - it's the same as any other GM car with a shimmed upper control arm shaft. Assuming you have radial tires, have them set toe-in at zero-to-1/16" TOTAL toe-in; their book specs (assuming they have them) are for the old bias-ply tires. You want zero camber and 2.5 degrees positive caster (power steering) or 1.5 degrees positive caster with manual steering.

[Floyd #21606]

Re: John C2 Front End Alignment Question

John, Ref. your statement "You want zero camber and 2.5 degrees positive caster (power steering) or 1.5 degrees positive caster with manual steering". Which caster setting would you use if you had manual steering but it is set up for the quick steering? Would you the power steering setting???

Regards,
Floyd
65 Fuelie

[John H.]

Re: John C2 Front End Alignment Question

Floyd -

Just depends how hard you want to reef on the wheel at low speed (i.e., parking lot-type maneuvers); +2.5 degrees caster works in either case (manual or power steering or manual with the "fast" setting), but effort is higher with manual steering. Functionally, it makes no difference; more positive caster provides better on-center tracking and improved returnability (with the trade-off of higher low-speed effort with manual steering).

[Roger Legge]

Re: C2 Front End Alignment Question

In a general sense, is zero camber a good thing? Wouldn't at least a slight amount of negative camber help the handling? The outside wheel/tire is going to get stood up going into a corner. I've always used a fair amount of negative camber in the front of older Camaros and Firebirds and it has always seemed to work well.

Roger

[John H.]

Re: C2 Front End Alignment Question

Roger -

Generally speaking, some additional negative camber is good for limit handling; how much you want to add just has to be balanced against the uneven tread wear it will cause eventually. Unless the car is really driven hard, the specs I mentioned work very nicely for a "normally" driven car.