alignment/ride height help - 911SC

[nzaldivar]

Hello,

I have a 1979 911SC Targa that needed an alignment. So I took it to NTB. Got the car back late and then I ended with a car that had its front end in the air. The car drove straight, but the fender measurements (i know this is not exact measurement) were 27, 26 1/2 for the front and around 25 in the rear. Huge gaps in the front.

So I took it back and asked them to fix the ride height. The tech informs me that if he does it the camber on the FL will be messed up. This is after lowering to get the right height and moving the strut tower adjustment on the FL all the way out.

So now I don't know what to do. The FL is about -2 degress and FR is about 4 degrees. So FL is way wrong.

The car has no evidence of a front accident.

Should I take to it the dealer or is there someone competent in the Houston area that would be better?

OR

If there is something a shade tree mechanic can do, please let me know.

Any help would greatly appreciated.

[Chuck Moreland]

Are you saying the FR is +4' and FL i -2' while it's at the 27 ride height?

This is very, very wrong. In fact it should be obviously wrong to the naked eye.

A street setup should be about -1.25' camber.

If the left and right are so far out of wack from each other, I suspect one you have a bent strut.

[nzaldivar]

FR is +.4, 25 and FL is -2', 24 3/4 1/4. The tech tried to get them the same and they only got further apart. I am not sure what the rear camber is at this point, but the ride height is RR 25 1/2 and RL is 25 1/4

BTW the FL adjustment screw is all the way out. The FR is about in the middle.

[surflvr911sc]

Originally posted by nzaldivar
So I took it to NTB

Who is that? It sounds to me like you are in serious need of a new alignment guy first.

[Chuck Moreland]

I think Ryan is giving some good advice here.


I don't know who your shop is, but seriously, a lot of these quicky tire / alignment shops have no idea how to adjust a 911. They want to set the toe and send you home.

I think you need to start with a known shop with reputable 911 experience.

[Elombard]

Yah NTB - national Tire and battery - this is not who you want to go with unless you just want the toe checked. The computer will show them how to do the adjustment but most likely they will not have done a 911 before, especially in the rear. Skip the dealer too those guys have not worked on spring plate rear suspensions in a decade and I bet they dont remeber how.

I owned an auto repair store that did alignments for a while and the mechanics used to B***tch about 911 rears all the time, at the time I did not know why.

You sound like it is important to have the alignment and ride height correct so you need to find a specialist that cares to do it right (will cost you a few bucks). Or you need to do it your self. IF you search there is a copy of Ray Scruggs 911 alignment book scanned in somewhere on Pelican. Print it off and look it over so you will at least know what is involved. Its not difficult to do it at home but it requires a few special tools (thin wrenches) a basic understanding of alignment and about 6 hours, i.e. patience :-))

Go for it!!

[Mike Kast]

where are you located?
NTB for a 911 alignment is about equal to having Jiffy lube change your oil.

[Steven Alarcon]

I think a good Porsche mechanic could find out your problem. One would think a good Porsche shop would also recommend a good Alignment shop in the local area. Your 1979 911SC should have Bilstein Strut housings, they are green in color. Have an mechanic check the distance from the strut housing to the wheel and tire for equal clearance. The left front would have less clearance with -2.0 degree's of negative camber. The strut spindle may have shifted on the housing. Check the base of the spindle on the strut tube for a crack in the paint. If this is the problem, you will have to replace the left front strut housing. If the distance is equal on the strut to wheel and tire, check the front hood for equal clearance on each fender. The gap should not change from the bottom to the top of the hood line. If you have Uni-body damage the gap will be not be equal on the left fender. If this exsits, you will have to find a good frame shop.
If your rear fenders measures 25 3/8 inches, your front fenders should be about a 1/4 of an inch higher at 25 5/8 inches. This is under the assumption that you have 205 55 16 front and
225 50 16 rear tires. Providing your frame unibody is straight, your fenders should be equal from side to side.

Hope this helps,
Steve Alarcon

Good luck!

[DIANA]

I have idem problem with 86.
I think that my car have the rear left torsion plate bad adjust.It was adjust with a little angle.The car fall to the right and rear.For compensate this diference right-left you can tauten front left torsion bar and the car is equal right -left but is more height in front.
I recomend that you test total height suspension.

Regards

Luis

[Mike Kast]

Luis, If the torsion bars are indexed incorrectly and you even out the car with the adjustment bolts up front and the eccentric bolts in the rear, the corner balancing will be all off. Somehow it transfers the weight unevenly.