DIY 63 rear camber adjustment

[Frank D.]

Re: DIY 63 rear camber adjustment

40 minutes work with a propane hand torch to smoke the old rubber bushings out and a bit of jigsaw wizardry to get the metal outer bushing liner out and "job done", then I lightly sanded the strut rod bushing channels with a Dremel drum - new NOS bushings should arrive today/tomorrow and then the real fun begins. Can somebody explain (or post a pic) of the heat shields discussed in the 63/64 JG; never seen or heard of them before and they certainly aren't on my car.

[Frank D.]

Re: DIY 63 rear camber adjustment

Disregard question above, I found info on the heat shields for the bracket, don't think I will try to reproduce those at this point..

http://repairs.willcoxcorvette.com/1963-corvette-strut-rod-bracket-with-shields/

Yet still another 63-only (and some 64) feature that's new to me..

[Mike T.]

Re: DIY 63 rear camber adjustment

I'm a bit surprised you found an 'outer metal sleeve' in the old bushings. My old 65 bushings only had the steel sleeve in the center, no outer sleeve like the replacement GM bushings. Having that outer metal sleeve cuts down on the 'give' or compressibility of the now smaller middle rubber section but I guess GM had their reasons.

[Bob R.]

Re: DIY 63 rear camber adjustment

Frank I am attaching photos of the steel shields on my 63. When I bought the car 20 years ago there was only one shield present and while working on the rear suspension it broke off. For years I had it installed with black silicone caulking holding it in place and last winter while I had the car apart I replaced the missing one and had them tack welded. The are just a small piece of sheet metal maybe 20 gauge.Strut rods 2.jpg

[Frank D.]

Re: DIY 63 rear camber adjustment

Thanks Bob - LICS actually sells those heat shields; but I'll prob put them on at a later date....I think they are easy enough to fabricate when I feel like doing it. As to the sleeves -- the NOS bushings arrived a few minutes ago and I'll take a shot at pressing them in tomorrow morning...
They look good - not rusted and rubber is firm but resilient; I was a bit worried about 50+ year old soft parts but I think I'm OK.

[Richard L.]

Re: DIY 63 rear camber adjustment

Frank,
I like your digital angle gauge. I need to buy one, can you give me the particulars of your so I can order one like it?
Thanks
Ric

[Frank D.]

Re: DIY 63 rear camber adjustment

Frank,
I like your digital angle gauge. I need to buy one, can you give me the particulars of your so I can order one like it?
Thanks
Ric

Here it is:

https://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B083J8XBNN/ref=ppx_yo_dt_b_asin_title_o00_s00?ie=UTF8&psc=1

What I belatedly found out (and its not in the instructions) is that if you hit the ON/OFF switch for about one second the readout will reorient itself. So you don't have to add/subtract the vertical reading from 90* as in the initial pictures above!

Pic below is example only NOT my actual camber reading!

[Frank D.]

Re: DIY 63 rear camber adjustment

NOS bushings are in the original strut rods (not a fun morning) -- like trying to put socks on a chicken.

It seemed silly not to fab up some shields while I was this far into things...

Just waiting on new camber adjustment hardware to go in the bracket; the threads on my originals were badly munged...

[Frank D.]

Re: DIY 63 rear camber adjustment

Finished the camber adjustment using some Bubba slide plates and rods (actually a Lars recommendation) and everything in rear is back together - not something I want to ever do again..

My documents show the upper strut rod camber bolts should be torqued to 60 ft-lbs - there is NO way to get a torque wrench up on either side of the strut rod bracket. Is there a trick or you just tighten until you think its close ?

[Leif A.]

Re: DIY 63 rear camber adjustment

Frankie,
Use the old "wrist" torque wrench...I know you know what I mean.

[Larry M.]

Re: DIY 63 rear camber adjustment

I don't believe a 50's - 60's - 70's alignment mechanic ever owned or used a torque wrench. I witnessed a LOT of front and rear alignments in my days, and never saw one used.



Larry

PS: For my own 67 car, I used a double box end wrench on these bolts (box end each end)...........because the double box had a longer length than a combination wrench.

[Frank D.]

Re: DIY 63 rear camber adjustment

I cranked on the bolts pretty good...I'll recheck the camber after a 100 miles or so - and yeah, I've been in a lot of shops over the years were you'd never see a torque wrench used...

[John L.]

Re: DIY 63 rear camber adjustment

Frank/Sirs
Are you now ready for a DIY toe in check?,.....made this from basically a sturdy 2 piece curtain rod, long compression spring and a small level.....BUT dam,.I couldn't use it for the rear