Antique car alignment in Rochester, NY?

Does anyone know of a good place near Rochester, NY that will do an alignment on a antique car? My 41 is pulling a bit and the last owner told me it was due for a alignment but he couldn't find anyone in Syracuse to do it. I have called a few of the big name places and they all said no (probably because the car isn't in their computer). It has new tires on it and I don't want to ruin them.

Got any race shops in your area?

I use a gizmo that screws on to the spindle nut, its not all that expensive and works pretty well.

With the racing season winding down you might get lucky as the guys will have a little time.

Does anyone know of a good place near Rochester, NY that will do an alignment on a antique car? My 41 is pulling a bit and the last owner told me it was due for a alignment but he couldn't find anyone in Syracuse to do it. I have called a few of the big name places and they all said no (probably because the car isn't in their computer). It has new tires on it and I don't want to ruin them.

Go to one of the smaller/older shops. They should have the specs to do the job.

I looked up the specs for my car and brought them with me to a local shop. They had no problems once they had the #'s.

I drove about 100 miles on my new set of tires before getting it aligned. There was a wear pattern already starting to form.

Bill

You are probably better off buying a plum bob and making a toe-in gauge. It is an easy front end to set up and you should be able to dial it in yourself.

Read the forum for a while and you will see that most of the horror stories start with "My mechanic" or "my garage".

I'm pretty sure you will find lots of excuses and $99.95 invoices. And not be happy in the end.

Bernie

You are probably better off buying a plum bob and making a toe-in gauge. It is an easy front end to set up and you should be able to dial it in yourself.

Read the forum for a while and you will see that most of the horror stories start with "My mechanic" or "my garage".

I'm pretty sure you will find lots of excuses and $99.95 invoices. And not be happy in the end.

Bernie

Making a toe gauge is easy to do, however a alignment is much more than that. First you must establish the center of the car. The easiest way to do this is with a string line running the entire length of the car down the center. This will also let you do a rear axle alignment check so that you will know your car is not crabbing down the road. The toe check should be performed on both front and rear especially on cars that have independent rear suspension, but all car in general.

The toe adjustment is the last of the three major adjustments to be done because camber and caster adjustments effect toe. Make sure before any adjustments are made that all steering components and king pin, ball joints, wheel bearings and bushings are within specification. Also the proper ride height must be measured before you adjust anything.

You don't need a alignment rack to do the job, however you do need a good camber/castor gauge, a absolute dead nuts level floor, or a level four post rack. You can substitute a alignment racks spring plates by cutting up a bunch of heavy duty trash bags in 12" squares (baggies) and using about five or six squares under each tire you can perform the 20 degree (40) swings for the camber measurement. After making adjustments the car can be jounced ( settling the suspension ) on the bags as well.

If the car needs only adjustment and no worn parts are found, the whole procedure depending on the type of car should take no more than a hour for a four wheel alignment.