Announcement
Collapse
No announcement yet.
60 Bird needs alignment.
Collapse
X
-
-
Where do you get the two types of shims possibly required? I stopped into the shop I get alignment done to see about getting my '58 done today. The person was agreeable to doing it but has no shims.
john1958 Hardtop
#8452 TBird Registry
http://tbird.info/registry/DataSheet...r~equals~8452)
photo: http://www.squarebirds.org/users/joh...d_June2009.jpg
history:
http://www.squarebirds.org/users/johng/OCC.htmComment
-
John, these shims are available at the parts vendors. But more importantly, they should be on-hand at any reputable alignment shop. Back in the day, ALL brands of cars used them. I mean, hundreds of millions of cars.
You may want to look for a shop that is more in tune with classic cars. They were all made with lots of adjustment room in every direction. - DaveMember, Sons of the American Revolution
CLICK HERE to see my custom hydraulic roller 390 FE build.
"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?"
--Lee Iacocca
From: Royal Oak, MichiganComment
-
Dave, I printed up your exploded diagram to take with me. It shows two very specific part #s for the U shaped and washer shaped shims. Is a shop likely to have those specific shims? or are there generic ones that get the job done?
John1958 Hardtop
#8452 TBird Registry
http://tbird.info/registry/DataSheet...r~equals~8452)
photo: http://www.squarebirds.org/users/joh...d_June2009.jpg
history:
http://www.squarebirds.org/users/johng/OCC.htmComment
-
Ok, let's examine these Ford parts...
First off, 1/16" = .062". I call this the same thing because in the world of front end alignment shims, five thousandths is nothing. In fact, since 1954 the only LOWER ARM shims Ford specified is the 1/16". Notice they made a change in part numbers. That's because Ford went from a square piece of offal steel to a round one. Then, in '61, shims didn't get finer, they got more course at 1/8". You can make your own shims! The steel plain old mild.
Your lower arm front bushing rests against this shim. Some folks (on this forum) insist their car never had one to begin with. That's why I pulled out the illustration. Ford used these shims for two reasons; we are talking about tweaking sheet metal, and every car body IS different.
Here's the kicker... RARELY do these shims ever get disturbed, added, subtracted, etc. The little horseshoe shims on the Upper Arm pivot bolts are the ones that everyone changes. Most alignment shops had generic shim for this. Ford doesn't want a stack of more than 1/2" (but I've seen much thicker).
In the process of adding a shim on one car and subtracting on another, alignment shops always had a good supply because these shims never wear out. They just take up space, and the nuts locks them in place. - Dave
I took examples from two Ford Catalogs, below. Notice that all the Ford cars used the same Lower Arm square shim, then they all used the round shim; both the same thickness, but the quantity is "AR" or As Req'd.Attached FilesMember, Sons of the American Revolution
CLICK HERE to see my custom hydraulic roller 390 FE build.
"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?"
--Lee Iacocca
From: Royal Oak, MichiganComment
-
There are shims in front of the lower arms (#3054). They can be transferred to the rear of the lower arms. Then, shims can be removed from the back of the top arms (or added to the front of the top arms).
You can see by this Ford Parts Catalog (which only goes to 1959) that both T-birds and Ford Cars use a pack of 1/16" shims in the lower arms.
- DaveComment
-
New ball joints should come in a kit including:
1" bolts, (washers and nuts)
the ball joint
a metal shield
a rubber boot
mounting nut
cotter pin
All the older joints came with a zirk fitting. New ones don't.
Some joints don't have the metal shield but our old joints should. I have re-used mine in the past. The most important part is that rubber boot that usually gets destroyed from using a pickle fork.Member, Sons of the American Revolution
CLICK HERE to see my custom hydraulic roller 390 FE build.
"We've got to pause and ask ourselves: How much clean air do we need?"
--Lee Iacocca
From: Royal Oak, MichiganComment
Comment