Need Front end alignment specs for a 1970 Nova

[hvychev]

Sorry I did not post this in the tech section but if I do I will blow out the 2500 posts that I am behind in reading!

I need the front alignment specs for my Deuce rather quick if there is anybody that could help me I would be forever greatful!

[MosportGreen66]

Frank... I do not know the exact measurement for you.

I have learned from my own experiences that the specs given are more guidelines to follow then actual achievable caster measurements. The bottom line is each and every one of these cars is different, so when aligning the wheels, it is most important to move the caster from a negative or a low positive, to a higher positive caster. Different specs are also used for racing verses casual driving.

Also, check your offset shafts before completing the alignment.

-Dan

[bwag]

caster+1/2 degree... camber+1/2 degree + or - 1/4 degrees...toe in 1/8"to1/4"

[supercomp 8.90]

i usally can get 2-3 deg. pos cas and i set the camber at 1/4-1/2 pos then i set the toe at an 1/16 to an 1/8, also i would recommend having the owner sitting in the car for the final readings. also i usally in a car that will be drag-raced alot i will lift the car to leave height and check for bump-steer.

[John Brown]

You will be in deep doo-doo if you set toe on a 70 Nova with the front end up. Come to think of it, that goes for Camaro too. Seems that the wheels toe in about 1/8" for every inch the front end goes up. If you set the toe with the front end jacked up, when you get on the brakes to stop, the toe in changes to toe out Can get a little interesting at about 100 or so. There is a race car alignment guy in Ohio that can cure that, but you're gonna have to hurry if you want to get that done by the first of September.

[supercomp 8.90]

i raise the drag cars just to check for bump steer, a stock front end usally does not move too much but if you get in to a car that has been modified,after market linkage,etc. you can sometimes find very large changes in the toe.

[Lynn]

Assuming this is a street driven car. I have probably aligned several hundred old Chevy's of every kind up until 1988 or so. The official factory specs for a 69 Nova are:

"Caster 1/2 degree pos + or - 1/2 degree

Camber 1/4 degree positive + or - 1/2 degree

Toe 1/8 to 1/4"

Neither caster nor camber should vary more than 1/2 decree side to side."

I would be amazed if the 70 specs are any different, seeing they were on the same chassis.

Now, having given the specs, I can assure you that you can align the front end within those specs and be quite dissatisfied. Why? Firstly, just too much variance allowed. Secondly, the car will tend to "pull" to the side with least positive caster and with most positive camber. You can see where this is going. If there is any variation on caster, make sure the left side is slightly less. Opposite for camber. This will compensate for road crown.

There are some other things to consider.

1. Are you running the factory wheel? If you are running a wheel with a different width and or offset, the "factory" specs don't do you a lot of good. If you put headers on the car, you will need to rejet the carb at the very least. Same thing applies to tires and wheels.

2. Are you running bias ply tires? If not, again, forget the factory specs. Bias ply tires require much more camber to be able to interact with the road than radials.

3. Do you have power steering? If so you can benefit greatly from increased caster. GM used the same specs for both manual and power steering (except on Corvette) and had to use very little caster because the manual steering cars would have increased steering effort with greater caster.

4. How new are your front end pieces, i.e. ball joints, tie rods, idler arm etc.? The main reason for toe-in is to counter the tendancy of a car to "toe out" while going down the road, especially during braking. The better shape the front end is in, the closer you can run to 0 toe. Radials also don't need as much toe in. Run 1/4" toe on a set of wide radials and you will quickly feather the outside edges.

When my 69 Camaro (same factory specs as a Nova) is done, I will have one set of old bias plys for shows, but when I want to go drive the dog out of it, I will have a good set of radials. My specs will be as follows:

Caster 3 degrees positive Sometimes not possible, but usually not a problem. If you can't get to 3 degrees, put in as much as you can while still keeping the sides matched.

Camber 0 (really with the left side just on the plus side of 0 and the right side just on the minus side of 0 to compensate for road crown)

Toe-in 1/32 to 1/16 MAX

Hope this helps.

Back in the 70's I worked at a Buick dealership for a couple of years. The parts guy had a friend who regularly autocrossed his Corvette. He had taken it to several "specialty" shops for alignments, but never thought it was just right. It had wide wheels and wide radials (for the day) and when I checked it out is was spot on the factory specs. After I checked to make sure all the parst were tight, I aligned it front and rear putting in more caster and slightly negative camber in the front, even more neg camber in the rear. Set the to just a shadow in from 0in the front and right on 0 in the rear.

The guy came back the next week ecstatic. He had for the first time beaten his nemisis over the weekend, with no other mods.

Lynn

[hvychev]

Thanks a million for all the help guys! I picked the car up and it seems to be as good as it's gonna get which isn't bad.