When did you last: Pull an engine-replace a clutch-rebuild a Holley?

[Kern Dog]

I love learning new things.
I've been working on setting the alignment in my red car. There is a lot to learn. I've done bonehead work for years for the various ratty cars that I've owned but now with actual gauges, tools, string lines and lasers, I can get them all properly aligned here at home without having to take anything to a shop.

[John_Kunkel]

There's a standing argument whether the new laser alignment racks are "better" or if they just allow people with little or no knowledge of suspension to align a vehicle accurately.

My "go to" guy for many years who worked at a long-established and well-respected shop for a gazillion years told me the laser racks were a vast improvement and allowed better four-wheel alignment. Older cars with non-adjustable rear ends are notorious for having the rear out of alignment and this affects front end alignment. Even with a front adjustment that's right on spec the car might not track right because the rear end is skewed. Kinda hard to check that with basic alignment tools.

[Kern Dog]

I agree. I'm confused though as to what can be done to correct for an out of square rear axle? At first thought I'm guessing one could shim one side at the front of the leaf spring. A car could crab walk and still drive straight with no drift or pull. There was a NASCAR racer that had set up his car to crab walk a few years back. He claimed it made the car more stable at speed. It was banned in short order.
I have a DeWalt laser level that can be used to check the chassis, much like string lines and jack stands can do. Sometimes the old style methods are still effective. Think of the simplicity of a basic bubble in a builders level. That is some tech that goes back hundreds of years yet it still works and requires no batteries.

[John_Kunkel]

I agree. I'm confused though as to what can be done to correct for an out of square rear axle? At first thought I'm guessing one could shim one side at the front of the leaf spring.

Yes, typically done with a shim plate between the body and the front spring mounting bracket.

"Cross caster" in modern alignment specs is intended to compensate for the crown in the road i.e. in the U.S. you want the car to climb left toward the crown. So, it could be argued that a rear end skewed in the right direction could aid tracking.

[Kern Dog]

I'd really like to encourage you guys to get out and tinker with your car and report on it. Sometimes all it takes is a few minutes around the car to spark some motivation to do things.
Hey, I have times when I'd rather just sit and relax but to ignore our cars and let them slowly degrade is a sad thing. We all have seen those people that have a car in their side yard slowly turning into junk, all the while the owners refuse to sell it to someone that would appreciate it. Don't be that guy!

[HANDM]

Yeah, I've done all of those things, I basically "restored" the now sold Charger and was too poor then to farm anything out. I still dick around with the Challenger every now and again. Just a couple weeks ago I lowered the front end a bit in hopes of eliminating the right front tire rubbing. Of course after I did that it just went back to it's hole with no test drive.  I have it listed on marketplace and if the right offer comes along it's out of here.
Plus as Kern said, I don't have any Mopar buddies anymore and the one that is close doesn't dick with his stuff either as he an old man too   

[Kern Dog]

Well, define "old"....
If you're still above ground, you can still do something, right?

[HANDM]

Well, define "old"....
If you're still above ground, you can still do something, right?

Well, I'm technically not "old" quite yet just a mere 53 and while I still do everything including general contracting where we do all our own work, I just don't really feel like working on the Challenger much anymore. Also adding that it's hard to find the motivation to do so as I have no Mopar buddies close enough to hang out with and work on it..

[Kern Dog]

I understand the lack of motivation.
Not having a buddy around can cut down the desire. I had a friend (Let's call him Mr Z) that used to be fun to do car stuff with but he devolved into a real loser.
He was always bad with women, making poor choices and being led by his sad need to be loved.
The most recent turned out as bad as the others.
He fell in love with some married woman that knew how to manipulate him. He left his third wife and sold his car. (71 Challenger) The woman and her husband bought a chunk of property and this guy chipped in money to buy and then build 2 houses on it. He lived in a tee pee for 2 years while construction was underway.
This woman bitched about her husband to the point that Mr Z thought she'd divorce him and then he could slide right into his place.
No. It didn't work out that way. The couple's kids moved out and now the house was bigger than they wanted so they are selling.
Mr Z never had his name on any deed and had no claim to any of the property. He sold his car, "donated" all of his savings, lived in a tee pee and worked for 2 years to build 2 houses that they sold and gave him some pittance and an eviction.
He is old, broken down, broke and merely a shell of who he used to be. He now lives in a small room at his son's place.

[HANDM]

Man, that's rough! Poor guy. It is sad that some folks never find the "one". I'm super lucky to have found mine over 30 years ago right outta high school.
We can still go on vacation together and get along the whole time.
As a matter of fact we're at John Wayne in Irvine heading home to Washington.

[Kern Dog]

John Wayne airport?
Holy crap...that was the last airport we were at before deciding to skip flights and drive to Arizona for Christmas instead of flying.
2014 we were flying in from Sky Harbor with the switch plane deal in SoCal at John Wayne airport. We boarded the plane at 9:45 and they rushed like hell to get us going. Their curfew is 10:00. NO flights leave or arrive after 10:00. We didn't make it.
Now what? Rent a room? Screw that....I decided to Kowalski from there to Northern CA so we rented a car and ram-rodded to home.