Recommendations for C3 Wheel Alignment (South Mids)?

[Letank]

As per title, I am looking for somewhere to get a full wheel alignment done on my C3. Ideally as close to the South Midlands as possible. (Warwickshire / Northants / Oxfordshire area). Any recommendations and indication of costs would be really helpful.

Many thanks

 

[Chuffer]

Try Northampton Motorsport . The guys there know there stuff and work on all manner of performance cars . They do rebuilds , tuning , dyno , wheel alignment , the full works . I think wheel alignment on bog standard run of the mill cars is about £80 + VAT .

 

[Letank]

Thanks Chuffer. I used to live in Northampton and used them quite a bit on other cars many moons ago. However, as they aren’t a Corvette or even American car specialist, they hadn’t even crossed my mind.

I guess if you have the specifications and few spare trailing arm shims (just incase!) then anywhere like this should be able to do it?

Speaking of which, does anyone know where I might find the geo settings/tolerances for a ‘73?

Many thanks

 

[Chuffer]

Born and bred in Northampton me ! small world innit ? I realised after i replied to your post that you may need all the setting data , but give them a call . I imagine they could access the info needed with all their IT know how , but I am sure someone on the forum will come up with info you need . Good luck

 

[Letank]

Born and bred in Northampton me ! small world innit ? I realised after i replied to your post that you may need all the setting data , but give them a call . I imagine they could access the info needed with all their IT know how , but I am sure someone on the forum will come up with info you need . Good luck

It certainly is! In that case I’m surprised I’ve never seen your car at Earls Barton before.
I’m only 30 mins down the road in Southam so will give them a call and see what they say.

 

[Chuffer]

It certainly is! In that case I’m surprised I’ve never seen your car at Earls Barton before.
I’m only 30 mins down the road in Southam so will give them a call and see what they say.

You clearly ain`t been looking then Letank I have been to Earls Barton quite a few times before the damned lockdowns . This is me there in September 2019 . I live near Towcester now . Also give Paragon Service & MOT centre at Uplands Farm , Kettering . They used to be in Far Cotton , Northampton but moved a year or two ago . They are really good car guys and work on lots of classics and American cars and own some of their own . They did quite a lot of work in my C3 . Nathan and his dad and the lads are sound as a pound

 

[Letank]

I couldn’t have been on the same nights as I wouldn’t have missed that!
Seemingly the world is even smaller, we lived in Towcester before moving up to Southam
Thanks for the tip on Parragon, I shall bear them in mind.
Likewise, if you ever need a knowledgeable mechanic who knows their way around American cars and Chevy powertrains in particular, I use a guy called Vince Gibbs who has a small workshop between Brackley and Banbury and I would highly recommend him too.

 

[Chuffer]

I couldn’t have been on the same nights as I wouldn’t have missed that!
Seemingly the world is even smaller, we lived in Towcester before moving up to Southam
Thanks for the tip on Parragon, I shall bear them in mind.
Likewise, if you ever need a knowledgeable mechanic who knows their way around American cars and Chevy powertrains in particular, I use a guy called Vince Gibbs who has a small workshop between Brackley and Banbury and I would highly recommend him too.

Very small world indeed ! I actually live in Tiffield . Do you ever go to Caffeine & The machine out near Banbury ? I have been a couple of times before the world came to a dealt stop
Thanks for the heads up on your guy , I will give you a call if needed but fingers crossed I don`t as I have had an auto trans rebuild and a new diff and drive shaft bearings fitted ( by Paragon ) over the past 4 years .

 

[Letank]

Very small world indeed ! I actually live in Tiffield . Do you ever go to Caffeine & The machine out near Banbury ? I have been a couple of times before the world came to a dealt stop
Thanks for the heads up on your guy , I will give you a call if needed but fingers crossed I don`t as I have had an auto trans rebuild and a new diff and drive shaft bearings fitted ( by Paragon ) over the past 4 years .

Yes, Caffeine & Machine is one of my favourite places! It’s only 20mins from me and you are always guaranteed to see something incredible there, so I do tend to go quite often. My wife would probably say too often!
Here are some pics of my vette there. The last 2 were taken by the owner and used on their Instagram and Facebook pages

 

[Chuffer]

Great photos and your C3 is stunning Once meets there start up again we will have to meet up there .

 

[Forrest Gump]

Regarding alignment specs, this is from VanSteel’s website.

 

[Letank]

Brilliant, thanks Forrest

 

[Chuffer]

That`s really useful info Forrest , I will save and file that for future reference

 

[Daytona Vette]

Hi Steve
The Company is in Atherstone just off the A5
There is a reason why when I was there, a Customer had travelled down from Fort William and another up from Basildon to get their cars set up - yes they are good
Customers come from all over the Country. That is all they do - Geometry set ups

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They are not £80 but from my experience they are well worth the money
If you decide to use them, let me know and I will send you a copy of an article I did for the Mag, which could help you before you go
My set up was done by Chris
PS Just prior to this my car was lazer aligned by a Corvette shop following a full body off restoration with everything new and yet I had problems, I then took it up to another Corvette specialist who alleged he had lazer aligned the Vette, but he turned out to be Mr Shark

Barry

 

[Letank]

Thanks Barry,
They certainly sound like the go to people then. I will give them a call and let you know what happens.
Do you know if they needed to add any training arm shims when they did yours, and if so did they fabricate them or did you need to wait for parts to arrive?

 

[Daytona Vette]

Thanks Barry,
They certainly sound like the go to people then. I will give them a call and let you know what happens.
Do you know if they needed to add any training arm shims when they did yours, and if so did they fabricate them or did you need to wait for parts to arrive?

You may need shims for both the front Wishbones and rear Trailing arms - they removed shims from front and put in shims at the rear - I took them with me - I lent what they did not use to a mate with a C2, but they never came back - Try and get Stainless Steel ones, I think at the time I could only get SS for the front Shims
You need to have the car ready before it goes for the Chassis tune, ie; no wear on any of the parts, bushes, joints etc (tyres can be worn, but evenly per axle) otherwise you are not going to get the full benefit and will be wasting your money.