Having problems finding a shop that can align older vehicles, from late 40's to 70's, Lee & Sons in Fullerton doesn't have a experienced tech anymore. Can anyone please suggest a shop? Thanks in Advance, Scott
It's a bit out of your way, but there is a shop here in Temecula that is owned by one of the members of the car club I belong to. He can fix you up. https://precisionalignment.weebly.com/
They have techs, they don't have mechanics. To me the newer stuff is way harder to align than the oler and especially early 70's stuff. I'd say the big problem is a lot of the tech schools aren't teaching about working on anything over 10 or 15 years old. They teach about what usually shows up in the dealerships and not the older rigs that more often than not get taken to independents.
There is a shop in Riverside. Don't have the name off hand but I'll ask at coffee on Saturday morning. Comes highly recommended from old time hot rodders. Edit: Might be Dave's Alignment but I won't know for sure until after coffee on Saturday https://alignment1935.wixsite.com/daves-alignment
ANY...shop should be able to align an older (any year car) car with their fancy computer gadgets. BUT, as said above, most shops today don't have guys interested in cars, they just have people that went to school to learn the equipment, the basics on how to use it, and to work they go. It's very simple to use computer controlled alignment on ONLY the front. Just go about it THAT way. Call and ask if the shop will "align the front only", don't tell them the year, unless they ask i guess (!) see what happens. Mike
Try Johnson’s Alignment in Torrance. They used to do a lot of the local hot rod guys cars, been a long time since I was there though. (310) 370-6301 The guy I was going to suggest is gone, apparently - Randy at the little Goodyear tire place at Inglewood Blvd and the 405 freeway. He did my Stude pickup and my roadster.
I miss the guy in Orange, by CW Moss. He was like $40. He did all my cars, new and old. Done in about 15min. Was a marvel to watch, no unnecessary moves. Heard he retired.
Hello, The best shop from our long time So Cal experience was Clark's House of Suspension. It started when he was a young kid working in Culver City, just off of the 405 freeway. His reputation was from all walks of life, including racing and dealers. Since our friend in Los Angeles knew a lot about cars in general, he had the knowledge of anyone in the L.A. Metropolitan area to do work on front ends and alignment/balancing. He sent us with the red 65 El Camino to that shop off of the 405 freeway. Our friend could have sent us to any shop in any So Cal city, even in Long Beach, but for the reason that was spread around, this shop had one of the best guys doing great work. So, from Long Beach, I drove up to the area in Culver City and had him look at my car with new shocks and wide Inglewood Red line Posatraction tires. At the time no one could balance and align cars with wide tires. He was a young adult at the time and knew his stuff. The El Camino drove like a straight arrow down any street. We drove all over So Cal and up the coastline into San Francisco many times and each time, was grateful for a good comfortable drive without having to fight the steering wheel. Jnaki It was a long way to go to just get wheels balanced and aligned each time we got new tires, but it was worth it in the results of driving. So, now, years later, we had a 327 powered 40 Ford Sedan Delivery that we bought as a project. It started and drove home when we bought it, but it was not safe for my wife to get in by herself to drive to friend's houses or for any amount of daily driving. Now what? Well, lucky us, Clark's House of Suspension had moved to Orange County near the I-5/405 interchange and closer to our house. Now, an older adult, he worked wonders on our wandering, rough riding front suspension. He had the sedan delivery for a couple of days. When I left it there and visited the next day, he had it up and had written stuff on his pad and floor for increments of adjustment. Then he told me to go to the tire shaving shop down the street for getting another starting point of true alignment and balancing. Real round tires, what a concept… ha! With the tires shaved and round, he did his final adjustments and full balancing. When we went for a drive on Lake Forest Drive, it drove like a new car. We had a new suspension and many parts of the 40 Ford Sedan Delivery front end were replaced and new ones used. It stopped on a dime, handled like a sporty car and was now, fun to drive any distance, short or long. For the next 6 years of ownership, when we needed any thing done to any of our cars or new tires, it was straight to Clark’s House of Suspension. Now, that was from the 70s into 2000. But, that long month or so of an ill handling sedan delivery was solved by Clark and it was a wonder to drive all over So Cal. It worked out during our photo shoots, long distance travel and camping adventures, too. Today, he is no longer the owner of the shop, as he is retired from the business. But, if some of his workers are still around, the shop is still there and now called the OC House of Suspension. So, if you want to check it out, give them a call and ask if there are still guys that worked at Clark’s House Of Suspension under the former owner’s supervision. YRMV
For over 40 years I've had Jerry Faubert at Jabear Engineering align all my cars. Simi Valley, Ca. (805) 578-3590. Big trucks, vans, straight axles, Mustang II, late models, etc. Not very close to Hawthorne.
I do this day and after 40 yrs the older stuff is harder to align, just about every new p***enger car has no adjustment for caster or camber with the only adjustment left is toe-in. If techs today find that hard to set then you need to find a different tech. Add to that the ability to actually take camber and caster readings AND understand what they mean without a computer telling them they are "within specs" and moving on. We've been trying to hire someone, anyone for 5 yrs now that has any idea what actual front end alignment readings really mean. Most look at us and tell us "well I just adjusted the settings until the computer went into the green zone", that won't fly at my shop and most didn't care to learn beyond that point. I have people come in with brand new tires, take the readings and look at them "damn this thing must have been eating off the inside of the tires terrible!" And many times I get a confused look and this question, "how would you know that ?" It's because I can read AND understand the readings. A good alignment shop with good techs is a dying proposition anymore much like machine shops, speed shops, welding and fab shops. Many today want a job at a desk with minimal physical or mental exertion. And mention getting dirty and greasy and they are done before you even finish the list of requirements. .
I applied at a famed shop in Concord, CA. in 1968. Owner was 'seasoned', asked if I was 'familiar' with the job. I answered, "Simple geometry." I was hired, and he tested me one morning. A Peterbilt 10 wheeler had low camber both sides, so after 'shaking it down', it was clear the axle was bent...one side was 1.5* low, the other was .5* low. I hung the down hooks and placed the 20 ton bottle jack accordingly, (ratio of proportion) and pulled on it. Took 2 pulls, same placement, but came to zero, both sides. He bought me lunch. After that, it was, "Mike. Wanta bet lunch? Got a cement mixer yonder..." I NEVER bought lunch. He did. Not a brag, just 'simple geometry'. Loved that job. Wife hated Concord. Moved to Aptos by the Sea, got rid of wife. Got a surfer girl harem.
That's too bad, Lee & Sons was a great resource. Try Performance Plus in Long Beach, I've had good results with them and they're used to dealing with old cars. 3910 Cherry Ave, Long Beach, CA 90807 (562) 988-0211
Quite true but the specs aren't in the computer. Some can't grasp the concept that you don't have to have the computer tell you the specs or what to do, you can just use it as a gauge and use the specs that you either are given or that you find in an actual paper shop manual. There has always been the deal of "It's lowered I can't adjust it" at least since the 70's. I got a lot of work because a couple of other shops in town wouldn't touch a lowered car. The only issue with a lowered car is that you may not be able to adjust far enough to correct the camber as there is only so much adjustment on an A frame front end. Few "modern" shops are set up to be able to adjust the camber on an I beam axle on the rack. They just aren't equipped to do it and the racks aren't designed to do it. A guy 115 miles has this old SnapOn Rack that you use with a pit for sale for a pretty high price in my estimation but as good as it would be for hot rods and older customs it is missing the beam that you need to be able to adjust and axle with. 2025.00 and load it up and haul it away.
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