Friday, September 16, 2016

Maiden Voyage......

Well....She's back on the road!

Cleaned the windows, and took her around the block a few times.

Brake pedal is rock solid, and the steering wheel is straighter than before I started.

NO pulling to either side, and she tracks straight down the road, hands off the wheel.

So, since things seemed OK, I kept driving her, and went out on the streets around here. Ride is very nice, definitely a bit stiffer than before, but no more floating or wallowing in turns.

Tires barely rub at full lock and going over a bump.

Called the alignment shop and he said "Bring her down". Drove down there, and he was expecting me to drop the car off. Since I didn't make arrangements for a ride home, he said he'd call as soon as the alignment rack was open, and I could wait while they did it.

And he knew quite a bit about the car.

SO...I took the long way home, and enjoyed driving her a bit.

Post alignment follow up to come.....




UPDATE

The alignment shop couldn't get me in today. As the guy said "Fridays are NUTS!".

So, I'm scheduled for a 4-wheel alignment on Monday, at 0800.

There's not much that's adjustable on these cars. The front only has toe-in and caster, and the rear only has toe-in. Since the front adjustments interact somewhat, you go back-and-forth as you're doing them. The manager at the shop is well-versed in "Old Jap Cars" as we both called her, and says their alignment guy has been doing alignments for over 20 years.

This place isn't cheap, but they do superb work, from complete "frame off" restorations, to general body and paint, and collision repair.

10 comments:

  1. Looking good! A JOB WELL DONE.

    ReplyDelete
  2. I'm holding off until I get back from the alignment shop. There's always the possibility that I screwed something up and they can't align it.....

    ReplyDelete
  3. Nicely done, and yep old grumpy guys DO know what they are doing!

    ReplyDelete
  4. Yeah, they're all "Old Skool" guys at that shop.

    They had a 1964 T-Bird in there that looked better than the day it rolled out of Dearborn.

    Beautiful cream white color with the deep blue interior.

    The paint was mirror-smooth, and looked ten feet deep.

    And that's NOT easy to do with a solid color!

    ReplyDelete
  5. Damn that turned out nice!
    My hat is off to ya.

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. I still have to mount the rear spoiler/sunshade on her before she's finished.

      I agree, they're slick looking cars. You hardly ever see one on the road any more.

      Delete
  6. Replies
    1. Thanks, buddy!

      Working on the interior today. Getting my new front speakers mounted in the dash panels, and then I'll solder up the wiring harness that connects the new radio to the factory plugs and wiring harness.

      Delete

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Gloomy, Gritty, Grey Day

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