Making A '66 Mustang Go Straight Down The Road
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- Опубликовано: 4 авг 2023
- In this video I straighten out a customers '66 Ford Mustang. He is the original owner of it and has recently removed a lowering kit that was in it and needs it realigned after rebuilding the front suspension. This is a little bit of a challenge for me because I am not use to aligning this style upper control arm with body shims. Either way we got it goin straight and the customer is super happy.
-Enjoy!
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I'm so old, I learned to do wheel alignments with bubble gauges and a pointer stick. Back in the day, when you actually had to understand the numbers to do a proper alignment. This takes me way back.
How difficult is it to align a 1958 Plymouth Suburban? Car is in my profile picture.
I never understood that caster camber stuff, transmissions rebuild with my eyes closed, go figure.
Me too!
@@dans_Learning_Curve Those have eccentrics, but still a miserable job to make the adjustments. I had to align my landlords 57 desoto, same suspension. Also had problems getting modern equipment to attach to the rear wheels, the quarter panel covers half the wheel.
Yep. When geometry helped big time.
Eric... one of 12 people on Earth that actually cares about his product. Nice job! Ship it.
I must be one of said 12 people! LOL! I just finished fixing a 1970 Mach 1, with the 428 Super Cobra Jet in it. The car hadn't run in over a decade. Had to pull the dash to replace the main wiring harness, as the old one let the angry pixies loose at some point in time! It had some old school NAPA performance dual points distributor that even NAPA couldn't find parts for, so I had to spend hours online just looking at pictures to find the parts needed to rebuild it. The carb was pretty easy, as it was basically a Holley 4150 style. Had to rebuild the steering column as well. Next was brakes. Everything from the master to the wheels was replaced, lines included. Luckily when we bought the car, it came with a plethora of new parts. She's quite the beast now, and goes like a bat outta Hell!
Have a great day! o7
Who are the other 11? 😆
I learned more about vehicle alignment in this 32 minute video than my entire 56 years on this planet. Thanks, Mr. O.
Add another 54 years to that statement
He never gives himself enough credit. I've been wrenching 40 years now and still learn something new with his videos. New cars scare me. To many brains in the way. Bring back air, fuel and spark please.
@@sir_frag1868 You're forgetting compression and timeing.
@shadetreemech290 true true, but to get there, you still needed the important 3. Can't time it if it doesn't start. The ears tell the story though. We've all done. Ear tune timing my stepfather always taught me. Not so easy 40 yrs later.
its all useless for a moden car so you learned a bunch of useless info.
Eric says he's not an "old car guy" or an alignment expert and then goes about proving what an expert he is. Such humility! If more mechanics had the knowledge and desire to do the job correctly like Eric, there would be a lot more trust in repair shops. Kudos, Mr. O. Keep doing the good, honest, knowledgeable work with good explanations and we'll keep watching your excellent videos!! Well done.
I was taught by my dad who worked in cars in the 40's, 50's up to 2002. Tape measure, plumb bob and levels. Last alignment i did on a dodge 3500 dually in my garage. Took it in to the most reputable aligmentment ahop with computerized maxhine tk check, nothing out of adjustment. They asked, who did the alignment? I said i did the way the old school did it. They said it was perfect. Geometry class paid off. Eric, you rock!
My profile picture is my late father's car which I learned to wrench on.
I still would like to find out how my grandfather did alignments. I can still hear him laughing about cars running down the road like a hound dog. I watched him do it thousands of times. Roll up on a Curtis ramp, put the Lobster Claw on it, and beat the hell out of some stuff. He made a career out of it. No chance now since he died in the 90s.
It might have been a trade secret, though. He did side work for Holman-Moody.
Put lowering springs, adjustable panhard bar & rear suspension on my 2008 GT500 and aligned it on the garage floor with fishing line and a $10 angle finder. I then took it to a shop to check it, and they said they "barely tweaked" one side for toe. 12 years later it still is straight and true. Most things can be accomplished with a little sweat and ingenuity!
Love the old workshop manual open on the modern alignment rack with the translation next to it.
Awesome car.
Brings back memories. Worked at a Goodyear service center back in the seventies. Did a lot of alignments. Upper control arm bolts were splined in the control arm.
I worked for a GoodYear in the 90s. GMs weren't splined, Old Chryslers had cam bolts that were frozen, and later 1s had sliding upper arms that had to be done with the weight off of them, then u had to compensate everything for live camber/caster shots. It took hrs to do! On the Mopars with torsion bars, you had to check ride height 1st, checking for bent bars and k frames. Fun times!
I did a complete alignment at home on my c2 corvette >> didn't have any turn tables under the front wheels so i used garbage bags -- oil in between the two garbage bags -- worked great - easy to turn - used a long string hooked on safety stands to make sure the rear end was square and toe was right . turned out great .
Great idea using the bags for a turntable!!
Smart idea!
Pizza pans work great as well.
I used two plastic cutting boards with lithium grease in between to pivot on
growing up we had a black '66 mustang with the straight 6. I watched my dad rebuild the entire car. Great memories, I know I'll enjoy this one.
We had the original 65. Straight 6 with a 3 speed manual shift. Boy was I pissed when it got rear ended so bad it had to be totaled.
@@tomd5010 Can imagine so. My sister had a 64 &1/2. Straight 6 and a 3 speed standard stick shift. Damn good running car & no power accessories or A/C> The Plain Jane as we used to call them.
When I lived in USA for a few years I grabbed a genuine 64-1/2 ragtop with some SERIOUS cancer issues (floor pans and rockers had reached the point where it was starting to sag in the middle). I LOVED working on that old pig!
Learned to wrench on the car in my profile picture.
I had a 66' vintage burgundy hard top coupe, black pony interior, GT package. 289 2 bbl with the C4 automatic. I liked the 4-60 air conditioning it had, 4 windows down at 60 mph.. Wished I had kept it now it was sweet. Having all that room in the engine compartment to work in was a bonus unlike todays cars.
I bet half the shops wouldn't even know how to do this job.
As a backyard mechanic I wouldn’t even know how to set the idle screw on the carb lol
The quality of Mechanic that Eric is is shown by him finding and referencing an original vehicle manual. No guessing, no BS story about cannot do the job without a bunch of new parts needed.
This Stang has California Special Taillights. Nice car.
Hey Eric, if you’re tired of the noisy air compressor in the background when I did when I had my shot, I put a muffler on the air intake side of the compressor and it did a miracle you got quiet give it a try. Enjoy your program, especially when you have your family involved. Carry-on with the good work.
Perhaps nearly all would not know
Can we just take a moment to appreciate how nice & shiny that engine bay is?
I used to rebuild these front suspensions a lot in the eighties, 65 and 66 had to be shimmed and the bolts are splined and will not turn. In 67 and later, they adjusted camber with an eccentric cam on the lower arm, and caster was adjusted with a threaded strut rod. Those upper bushings are metal and threaded into the control arm and onto the upper shaft, they were very noisy when worn, or in rainy weather! I agree with the sentiment that some things are better left in the past!
Fun Weird Fact. The original Musang was based on the Ford Falcon, verified by the fact that the antique shop manual that Eric was referencing for the alignment specs is for the 1966 Comet, Falcon, Fairlane AND Mustang. Fun to see Eric working on a car that was made when men were men, cars were strictly electro/mechanical and computers needed paper punch cards to operate - with no one ever imagining that someday somehow they'd fit into a car and be used to run its engine (and everything else)! 😃
I owned a 1963 Ford Falcon Sprint with a 260 V8, 4 speed and a Hurst shifter. I wished I'd never sold that car.
@@additudeobx I owned a 1970 Mustang convertible, 302, 2 barrel, auto-trans, single exhaust. Was a monster on the highway being lighter (without the steel roof-weight). I made the mistake of trading it in for a new five-on-the floor short box E150 351 Windsor, Van. Had the Van for 14 years. On the tenth year I began experiencing starting problems after running in hot weather, when briefly sahutting off the engine (1/2 hour or less). Stopping for Gas was always a Prayer - are you going to start..75% no. Took me three months to find the problem..Not: Electronic Module, Coil or Coil hi and low tension wires, nor ignition switch or ign wiring..?
I'm still doing them that way in my shop 40 yrs later 😅 Hunter guy says I'm Fred Flintstone. Won't bet me 500 bucks my ways are dead in the middle of the green zone on his fancy machine😂 . My steering wheels are always centered also, pride myself on that fact. Only way to know that is to do what Eric always does, a thorough road test to make sure it's right. That's what sets Eric apart from the other ying yangs😅
Oh, was not starter, though I burned the first starter out.. engine turned over..not starting circuit or solenoid, either.
@@scottnusser6232 I was sent in as service manager to redeem some shops that were failing due to bad reputation. It was not unusual to find them charging extra for removing and recentering the steering wheel. That made my blood boil.
Man, does this bring back memories, back when a shade tree mechanic could actually work on a car without $10,000 of equipment.
My alignment rack and computer was about $75,000.... Just saying 😂
@@SouthMainAuto As I said, Eric... "if I can do it, you can do it. That is, if you have 30 years of experience, and $500,000 worth of tools."
These kind of alignments haunt my dreams and I've only done 3! Those 2 bolt upper c arms got me waking up in a cold sweat. "Did I adjust that right?, the computer said I got it, but that doesn't stop me replaying the alignment in my head at 3 a.m. Hats off to you sir!
Send it to Jimmy, Making it Work. He works on all the classics and loves it🤣. Actually, he is the old guy in a shop in FL and they give him all the classic heaps to wrench on.
Felllow did a nice job restoring that mustang.
Man I don't miss aligning older cars, especially after they've been wrecked and "fixed" about a half dozen times.
Sometimes the only way you were going to get that steering wheel straight was to pull it and recenter it.
My alignment days started in 1973 with a bubble gauge and toe in beam system. Oh the memories! Some of the alignments were head bangers, we didn't have the electronics that can compensate for thrust angle or total toe. Hadn't thought much about till this video. Thanks Eric!
Was that "bubble gauge" a Kwik-eze magnetic gauge? I still have mine.
If my memory serves me correctly, I want to say it was a Hunter. The system had four stand alone stands that were leveled to the floor. The one with the turntables, the turn tables were not anchored to the stand. Found that out when I picked up the stand and the turn table fell off and landed on my foot, breaking my foot.
I'm an old '73 Bear Alignment tech and this visual brings back many memories of skinned knuckles and well placed curse words!
Good to see someone watching Eric’s videos that has experience with ‘older’ techniques. I got my earlier experience working the drag racing pits at Carlsbad in the mid 60’s. I’m astonished at how for engineering has changed mostly for the good and occasionally to my frustration. All the best!
This episode was great. Brings back old memories as a teenager working with a very experienced boss who taught me how to put in those shims and align a car. Needless to say my own car was perfectly in align that year. Having been adjusted every few weeks as I tried new things I had learned.
My dad taught me how to do an alignment on a ford truck (twin-I beam & TTB) with rope , tape and a couple wrenches... he also taught me as much as it matters on most vehicles on those close is the best you'll get and you can't tell the difference beyond it holding a straight line down the road...
I own a 1968 Mustang Coup that I rebuilt myself. One thing you have to remember is in the 60's all tires were bias ply, Radial tires didn't come out until the late 70's so wheel alignment will be different. On classic Mustangs the preferred alignment spec with radial tires and power steering is 0 to -.5 deg camber, 2.5- 3.5 deg caster and 1/8-1/4 toe-in. I also works in automotive for years including doing wheel alignments with the older style computer machines that ran lines between the heads
My 66 Bonneville arrived with vintage glass belts. Like driving on ice.
I remember my dad owning a set of French-made Michelins on his car in the mid-60's and they were radials. I used to set 1/4 degree positive camber on each side and 1/2 degree caster spread. If the car didn't have power steering you would try to adjust that caster close to 0 degrees; makes it easier to maneuver in parking lots. In the early '80's, I worked with a Hunter C-111 computer machine and later a D-111. When cars went to front-wheel drive you had to align the back as well as the front to a "thrust" angle. There still is nothing like a good 'ol magnetic gauge.
I agree. I use 4 degrees caster, 7 with power steering. 0 to 0.5 degrees positive caster for the road, negative camber for racing. It's best to lower the upper 'A' arm to Shelby specs to increase the camber change when cornering. My car is a 68 Mustang also. I added electric power steering. The car tracks like it's on rails. Goes straight at the drag strip.
Look at all that arm room in the engine bay. Reminded me of my 1977 Camaro with the room it had, I was able to sit on the fender while changing the spark plugs and adjusting the carb. Those were the days!!!!
Ooh the memories. I worked as a line mechanic in a Ford dealer when the first Mustangs came out in 1964..
Did not like doing alignments then either!
The late 60's and early 70's Ford line of Mustangs, Falcons, and Torinos were a real pain to deal with on control arms. They were notorious for the Ford front end squeak.
I did my 51 GMC years ago after the rebuild, using a tape measure and adjusting the tapered shim, this brings back memories, great job 👍🏻.
One of my favorite feelings as a tech is taking some car that drives sloppy as heck, giving it a proper alignment (or two cuz perfect toe is hard), and then feeling the massive improvements afterwards. Dealing with pulls caused by tires can be annoying though.
I'm an old midwestern wrencher from the 70s. Trade school taught us to add 1/4 more camber on the left and 1/2 more caster on the right. This was done to compensate for the crown in the road (required to prevent pooling of water on the roads). As for old Mustangs, Falcons, etc., they had notorious problems with the shock (strut) towers flexing inward over time (frame flex). This would cause issues with excessive negative camber and also affect caster. They used to sell an aftermarket brace to tie the two towers together to help prevent the flex. Might be an option for this 'Stang. These vehicles also had issues with control arm bushings. Bushing wear will also cause negative camber and affect caster. It goes without saying that any changes in camber and caster also affect toe. Another helpful hint; in addition to rolling the car forward and backwards to help settle things out after making adjustments, I used to pull down on the bumper a couple times to help make sure all was good. Great video as always. Thank you for sharing.
Nice to see a car made out of metal instead of plastic like modern cars.
Mrs. O did a great job helping you line it up on the lift. Much better than some techs I’ve worked with 😂
I like that scene in Animal House when they’re pulling Flounder’s brother’s car inside the garage, and they show it going too far and crashing into the front of the garage, and Bluto, who was supposed to be guiding the driver in, then puts up his hand and signals to the driver and says, “ok you’re good”
Well, she was paying attention. Which is the first step.
Wow, a car I can not only work on, but actually know a LOT about. Worked on the line, for ford, in the 70s.
Usually the old manual cars had negative caster. We didn't go to positive till power steering came out. Negative will steer easier. Positive will return to center faster and easier.
Ivan’s old school way of setting alignment and SMA garage Bay classroom instruction video are classics. 100!
Hello there Mr O, I'm in Australia and was on the tools as a teenage apprentice motor mechanic back in the 1970s and 1980s, I wheel aligned thousands of our model Ford Falcons back in those days. Our Ford Falcons had a front suspension system similar to the front suspension system of the Mustang you are presently aligning, however, the slight difference between that Mustang and our Ford Falcons was that ours had a thick eccentric cam adjustment washer fitted as part of the front face of the lower inner control arm retaining bolt. A corresponding retaining plate was also welded to the front and rear faces of the lower inner crossmember on the vehicle. When the front end of the lower inner control arm bolt and eccentric cam washer was pushed through from the front of the vehicle, the bolt and eccentric cam washer assembly would pass through the front welded crossmember plate, the lower inner crossmember, the lower inner control arm, the rear face of the lower inner crossmember and the welded plate on the rear face of the lower crossmember. Once the bolt was fully pushed all the way through that, the mechanic would then fit a thick eccentric cam washer to the rear most portion of the lower control arm bolt along with a corresponding spring washer and nut. This, along with the welded plates on the front and rear lower crossmember allowed the Camber to be adjusted and tightened up at that point without the need for any shims (If I saw your Shop Manual pages correctly, it had a diagram there showing the lower inner control arm bolt with eccentric cam washer, and the welded adjustment plates on the lower inner crossmember which I previously referred to). This allowed independent Camber adjustment which I found made Camber adjustments very quick and easy. The diagram also showed what I call an adjustable strut bar which could be adjusted forwards or backwards to increase or reduce Caster. Toe-in was adjusted the same way you did it after the other two adjustments were done. It appears this Mustang it didn't have that type of adjustment capability which would have made the job so much easier and a lot less time consuming for you. Being Right Hand Drive here, our wheel alignment specs were, Camber 0 to -1/2 degree, Caster 0 up to +1/2 degree on the right hand side (Driver's Side) but had to be adjusted to a lesser setting than the passenger side which was set to up to +1 degree on the (Passenger's Side). This would ever so slightly push the vehicle up the road camber (not normally noticeable by the driver) to counteract any vehicle wander due to the way our roads were constructed back in the day. If the driver/owner wanted more high speed stability and steering feel we'd dial in more positive Caster in the manner described before which made the steering heavier. Toe-in was about 1/8th. I hope you are able to make sense out of all of this. I enjoy watching you work and keep up the high standards. All the best Dan.
Evening Eric! Nice to see you take a break from the modern stuff.
It’s pretty Amazing that you’re always Willing and Able to do What the Customer is Asking for. That’s Why you have so many Viewers that Appreciate your Efforts.
Whats with all the capital letters, was there a sale on them?
Nice job Eric. Alignments on the old cars is kind of an art. When I first learned I had an alignment pit and a bubble gauge. We graduated to a Bear Computetized Alignment Machine and a Hunter rack in the mid eighty's. Alignments were always satisfying for me, especially the ones that came in totally jacked up to begin with. Again, great job. Always enjoy the posts.
I got a kick out of this video, my brother who was a mechanic for firestone here in Canada in the early 70. He was a front end and brake specialist which included front end alignments. One of his favorite sayings was that he was working on a customized box of duz. He was a mechanic for over forty years and had lots of stories such as yourself, I enjoy your videos tremendously, please continue for as long as you and mrs O are able to.
Man, does that bring back memories. I bought a new 66 Mustang and I was a brake and front end mechanic for Firestone. I hated the 65 and 66 Mustangs for alignments. Took so much time and very frustrating using the old alignment machines. In 67 Ford came out with the cams and man was that a joy. Loved it. But I just hated to align my car. Also the old ford pick ups with the straight axles. Using a hydraulic jack to bend the axle one way or the other for camber, another fun one. Of course there were other ones also that were crappy, but the Mustang, in my opinion was the worst. Great video, patience and I am sure off camera there were a few choice words. lol
Remember the upper bushings were metal and squeaked like crazy. Guys would torch a hole in the inner fender to get a zerk fitting installed. Miserable cars to align.
As a classic mustang owner, i will say you went above and beyond. I had mine realigned twice after working on the feont end. Took it to the best alignment shop in 100 miles (guys brought their exotics in there from The City). All they would promise was to get it in the green for the camber and caster. Good job Mr O.
You never cease to amaze me.
Truly.
My dad was helicopter mechanic in Korea.
We NEVER took a car to mechanic.
I learned all the cuss words him changing ball joints on 64 Comet . I was about 10.
So I learned a bunch over the years but alignment scared me.
You see why on this ' stang.
Keep up the good work.
I learned to do alignments on a machine that had mirrors hanging off the wheels. I had never even heard of 4 wheel alignments at that time. I hated aligning the Fords with sliding control arms. If your tool ever slipped you were picking yourself up from the floor of the front end pit.
I still have that tool to pull on the arms. Another obsolete tool taking up valuable space.
@@scrappy7571same here. Lots of arcane tools in my now retired tool box
Back in the day I did tons of alignments on a manual machine. If the car wasn't pulling left or right and was wearing evenly on the tires, you would sometimes check the caster and camber but tend to leave it alone because you could make it worse by setting it closer to "perfect" according to the factory specs. Also, getting the sterring wheel straight could be a bit of a black art. Especially if the customer just replaced the inner and outer tie rod ends himself/herself. Ford did go to eccentric cams on the control arms at one point but the exact year escapes me now. That car probably tracks way better than it ever did new!
My 71 Torino had cams on the lower arms and strut rod adjustment for caster. My Dad's Maverick was the same.
Props to all the old school guys who did this without all the fancy alignment equipment
Mr O, i was born in 1966 and the car looks way better than i do lol :-D
What a lovely car and no dam computers.
OMG, LOVE the sound of that engine!!!
New cars may be better designed for faster and easier alignments, but being in the rust belt, I'll take this design any day of the week. Working at a dealer, I regularly see seized up adjusters after only 3 years, exactly as you said.
Man, i do not miss those days of alignments. I remember charging 49.95 to do all that crap. Hats off to you Sir. Most folks now aday wouldnt even touch that car and if they did they would set the toe send it out the door with a crooked steering wheel.
For my second Christmas my father got me a 64 1/2 Mustang pedal car. He was a Ford mechanic and my first real car was a '72 Pinto wagon that came in with a seized engine. Bough it for $100 and rebuilt the engine in 2 nights after dinner. He always used to say if you understand how it works, you can make it work. He's been gone a year and I really miss him.
Thanks for the nostalgia. My second car was a '66 fire engine red Mustang 289, three speed in 1967 --- and I wish I still had it!!! Disappointed this one had auto trans, but it did look and sound good. My girlfriend at the time had a black '65 High Performance Mustang with an engine that had a sultry sound like I've never heard from any other car!
You showed us enough Eric. The mechanics of unscrewing and unscrewing a bolt is something we should all be able to do. SHowing us the wheel alignment process and the shim locations along with your commentary for aligning this vehicle and similar vehicles that require shims was invaluable.
If I had a dollar for every Mustang and Falcon upper ball joints I replaced I could retire! Wait, I am retired!! Although I didn't do the alignments I spent many years doing brakes, suspension repairs and tune up on all that 1960s iron. My nephew has a nice shop and turns down classic car work. He called my brother once to ask how to set points! "What's a dwell meter?" We used to pull every distributor on a tune up job and set them up in a "Sun" machine. The GMs were great with the little window to set the dwell angle. Great fun!
when you dropped the first shims a couple times, I was waiting for, "got it, first time!" 🤣
My first alignment ever was on a camaro, with no instructions on how to use the machine, or what I was actually trying to accomplish. 2 hrs later I had gotten it. Seeing you do this style still gets me lil heart beating a little faster.. lol
Hats off to you!!! You’re not afraid of any repair. You keep us informed and inspired every day. Thank you and your team including Mrs. O 👍
If this is the closest that I will get to a Time Machine with a 1966 Mustang, I will cherish this moment with Mr. O.
Nobody cares but took my drivers test in my brothers '66 convertible...in 1970.
About 5 years later bought a '67 HO Firebird. Owned that for 12 years.
That thing would beat you up driving it (400 4sp 411) but man oh man was it fun to drive.
Very cool. I recall when I was about 12, in 1956, my dad went to Elmira New York and the old guy did the alignment. His shop was filled with cool tools. Plus lots of News Paper reviews outlining him, the inventor of the alignment machine he was using. I recall he had a welders cap hanging on a hook he would wear while working. I wish I could recall more but, nope, this now old guy, can't. lol
This was very informative as I have a 1965 Comet with basically (or close to) the same suspension and eventually it will need an alignment.
Had a '65 Caliente 2 Dr ht. Wish I had it now.
Thanks for showing an older vehicle. Us folks with '60's cars can use all the examples we can get.
I love it ''toggle switches and house wiring.''
Hi Eric,
I'm not much of an old car guy either. However, I must confess, I do enjoy the sound of a good set of pipes. That car sounds amazing.
Have a good weekend.
As an amateur mechanic, this was incredibly helpful, Eric. Thanks brother.
Had my 30' Diesel Pusher aligned just before I took it on a 5K trip in May/June, and one of the things they apologized for was that my thrust angle was 4 inches off and they could only get it back to about 3/4 of an inch (the joys of a DP). For the first time since buying the RV 6 years ago I was able to go down the road and actually take my hands off the steering wheel - I knew that there would be an improvement, but not the level that I got! The shop took pride in their work, and my rig showed that they knew what they were doing!!
Oh....what a beautiful air filter....not hidden by loads of plastic....
That's one nice sounding car Eric....
Nice job to keep a nice ride literally on the road!
I think that this job showed the value in knowing the basics about alignment. Between modern 'gee wiz' racks and cars that try and compensate for a bad alignment it's easy to get distracted on what it is your really trying to accomplish. Thanks Eric!
I remember the old Chrysler products with cams that where usually froze up and had to be beaten loose or replaced because the D hole and bolt was rounded out. GM's with shims where easier and the ford sliding control arm was fairly easy if you had the newer tool for it. No mater what it was always a pain in the winter time when the packed ice and snow had to be removed first then the remainder drips in your eyes, mouth and down the back that is already chilled. NOW I remember why I learned to hate my passion in life and change my professions!
During the 50,s or 60's Dad worked at a Buick garage that put in a pit and new Bear alignment equipment. I learned so much then that I can usually explain the alignment summary better than the service writer.
You know you are right up into a fricking job when your hat falls off.
Wow talk about bringing back the memories. I’ve been a mechanic over here in the uk for about 45 years and I’m semi retired now. I can remember learning about castor, camber and alignment etc as an apprentice. My first experience was with the type of gauges that had a small level bubble and a mirror on one end with the degrees on the other end and you looked though a view finder to see where your adjustment was taking you. I absolutely agree with the “if you you’re going the way you think it should go the other way” Great content Mr O keep up the great work 👍🏻👍🏻
There's always something special about a Ford with a glossy Black paint job.... they sure are pretty.... makes you think ol' Henry was on to something 🙂
Brought back memories of the alignment procedures in my former vehicles.
Looks like he originally did the Shelby drop up front. Very nice car!
I'm restoring a '66 Mustang coupe. It's currently a bare shell in my garage. I really need to get back to work on that thing!
I was wondering why there were two sets of holes for the control arm.
@@johndelta00 Top bolt holes should actually lower the car, lower holes should lift it.
It’s got the Shelby taillights too.
great video thanks Eric. The steering wheel is off center on my '57 Tbird by around 30 degrees and now I feel brave enough to see if I can adjust the toe to straighten it out. You looked pretty good cruising in that '66, maybe the customer will let you borrow it to get burgers and shakes with Mrs O :)
If I remember, your steering column is evenly skinned and you can pop the wheel of and set it straight.
It's not that bad to do just remember to adjust in small increments equally on both sides and road test between adjustments. The comment above also is a possibility as the steering wheel shaft has small splines or "Teeth" that secure it and fine adjustments can be made but this is risky to do because of the steering wheel is not put back on properly you could have the steering wheel come of while driving. Please be careful either way.
Make sure you actually center the steering gear first. Count the turns lock to lock and go back half way. The wheel may be off too.
I remember back when I started in the late 80’s, I worked on a Hunter string alignment machine. There was a string that connected to each of the 4 heads. It was sensitive enough where techs would would play games by hanging a wheel weight on the one the strings and throw off the reading on the screen screwing with the tech performing the alignment. 😂
C111. We had a pair of D111s, used just the string across the front. Had to be real careful and not have a head fall off, teeny bearings in the toe box would blow out. Newbies would have that happen a lot!
It’s good to know how camber and caster affects the steering of a vehicle. I have heard of bump steer but didn’t know what that meant. Thanks for all the info.
I had the 1969 4 speed 289 in fire engine red in High School and for a short while afterwards. Paper route, lawn cutting, and working money purchased it. Awesome car until I was driving down a street in the San Fernando valley in California and some part time college student ran a red light and took out the entire right front end. Lost it right before I started College at the University of Southern California.
😥
Bummer. I had a 68 Cougar that was lost the same way.
Who needs a car at 'SC anyway.
Eric just brought back a few nightmare front end jobs, on some old ford and GMC trucks. Thanks for the flash backs on an old 1963 Ford F-100, and that old 1975 Chevy C-10, and the 1969 GMC diesel. At least Eric did not have to set the caster, camber, and toe with a plumb bob, tape measure and chalk. Last time I took the old 1965 Ford F-100, in to have the front end aligned I remember the guy using an odd bottle jack setup on the twin eye beam to get everything set right.
Nostalgic video for me. Had a '66 289 Ivy Green Metallic Mustang in college. T-Boned someone who ran a stop sign my Senior year (1975) Parted it out.
Did a few dozen of these back in the day, including my own 64 Falcon, it was easier to get the reading , and put the car on a regular rack , install the shims and then set toe,, usually worked well for me.
The old car alignments were a major pain in the ass.
That had to be fun (and yet a bit scary) working on something like that
Good old fashioned mechanicing, not a power tool in sight and old school motor technology. Goof job Eric!
I like to see t working on the old classics from time to time. Some mechanics don't ever really get to work on them, but there some pros and cons about working on them !!!
Damn...what a trip down memory lane. Not being a mechanic, tho fully aware of the processes.. it's great to see a classic Mustang on the road. Loved the journey and your perseverance on getting that alignment to work. Great Vid. Thanks Eric..!!
How many of us remember doing this stuff with your dad? Does this make me old?.....lol
If I remember correctly the upper control arm bolts are pressed into the control arms, to keep the bolts from turning. Back in the 80's when places were only charging 39- 49 bucks for a f/e alignment we decided to give it up, and had our alignment rack removed. There was no money in it. It was taking up a bay for only being used about 1-2 times a week. Best decision we ever made. No more headaches. Amazingly, people would still come to us for the steering and suspension components replacement.
I took my van to have an alignment, the guy had it on the lift then came back and informed me I needed a few parts. No charge and service with a smile
Agreed, a little negative camber is good, especially with modern radial tires. Good job!
Fun watching this. I've never done a wheel alignment but watched when getting one. Thanks Eric!
Mr O, I am so disappointed that you didn't take the lovely Mrs O for a spin in the Mustang. That car is from my high school days and it brings back fond memories for me, wink, wink. Glad you could get it to drive straight.
Back in the day, doing a RWD car or 2wd truck meant setting camber, caster and toe, which took HOURS to do, for a poultry price. 4 wheel alignments which were possible it meant looking for bent parts, missing leaf spring pad pins or frame damage. Shops began to take notice, so the std alignment was set at a toe and go. When FWD cars came out with strut suspension, camber and toe was all you got. Caster meant the body shop for frame or unibody straightening. On this Mustang, he was lucky it had a small block engine! IMO doing these alignments 20 odd yrs ago, shims were a blessing, cuz sliding upper control arms like Chrysler used from about 73 to 03 on rwd cars and 2wd trucks, were a nightmare. I kinda wished Eric told us how long in real time this car took to get it aligned, minus the test drives.
Great job, Eric! Not everyday you see alignment with shims (except on differentials). Very informative and entertaining to watch!
Great video as usual. It's really good to see someone do conscientious work. Wish they were more like you out there. Keep up the good work
I learned alignment back in 1971. Most of the cars had shims. We used hub gauges so we moved from side to side usually twice to get it right. I disliked the small Ford products with the spring pressure on the upper control arms. The cars with springs on the lower control arms were easy. The upper inner shafts were accessible from under the hood. The toe was similar, drive down the road and readjust to make the steering wheel straight. This brought back some memories. I had several Mustangs. I set camber at a 1/2 negative on my cars. We didn't do that on customer cars. Probably set them at 1/8 positive. I moved on to aircraft after a few years. Now I'm retired and working on my old cars again. Great video! Thanks.
I use to work on a Hunter Alignment Rack , back in 1984 , those style front ends were still common and those old cars were still on the road .
The thing we had trouble with that you did too , was running out of bolt length to get the "DESIRED SPEC" from the manufacturer !
GM's CAMARO / Firebird chassis , 1/2 frame , would CURL INBOARD overtime , so the aftermarket " MOOG " would make
" POSITIVE - OFFSET -UPPER CONTROL -ARM - SHAFT - KITS " !!!
That aloud you to flip the the shaft either way you needed it , to give you a lot more " CAMBER / CASTER " Adjustment right on the rack !! I never put a set in a Ford product , but there is " NO REASON " that would of not worked for your MUSTANG JOB !
I will have to look into that & see if " MOOG " makes them for FORDS ??????
GIVE THAT A THOUGHT NEXT TIME YOU GOT ONE WAY OUT OF SPEC !!!! THE MACK GUY
Nice work man…that Mustang sounds and looks great! 🇺🇸
Thank you! A very nice demonstration of the differences between older car alignment and modern vehicles. It is demonstrative that you well understand the alignment vectors and how they interact. While very simple, the use of shims could be very tedious. Nicely done!
Thanks for showing us the old school way of adjusting the front end alignment with modern tools.
Ah the good old days when we didn't need a tachometer because the engine made so much noise you knew where the rpms were. I like the modern quiet cars. I had no idea a Mustang was built by the guys who made Conestoga wagons with the adjust-by-wedge system. Were all the old cars like that? Massive respect to the Conestoga wagon for the technological marvel it was.
Totally sweet ride!!