Thread: Corvair Front End In 31 Coupe

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I've Got A Corvair Front End In My Recently Purchased 31 Ford Coupe. I Can't Get The Alignment Correct Because The Caster Is As Far Out As They Can Get It, And The Tires Are Still Leaning Out At The Bottom. Anyone Ever Heard Of Off Set Upper Ball Joints And Where Can I Get Them. I'll Take All Advise. Thanks Again Guys!!!!

Well son, first of all, caster has nothing to do with the tires leaning in or out at the bottom or top. What you're experiencing is negative camber. The fix is to re-position the upper control arms farther from the centerline of the car.

In an ideal world, you could send the bill to the guy you purchased the car from. He needs a blanket party if he wasn't up front with you about the car.

Yep, Tech is right. Something in the installation wasn't done right.

Corvair front ends were popular to install on rods at one time because of the way they are made and it was a way to get IFS on an older car. I think that fad sort of went away when better front ends came along (Mustang II most notably) and also, the Corvair had the engine in the rear, so the front end was designed to carry less weight than a hot rod front end might weigh with a V8 up there.

That might be the reason for your negative camber. If you can envision what would happen when you put a jack under it and raise it up, the tires would start to straighten up . Conversely, if you were to sit another few hundred pounds on the front, the tires would do what you are seeing, tilt in at the top. It could be that someone cut some coils to get the car lower, or that the weight is just pushing it down lower, creating the situation you have.

Slip a floor jack under it and see if the tires do what I have described. You might not like this solution because it will raise the front up, but stronger coils might get your alignment back.


Don

Having an issue with the camber on the car, I would also look closely at the bump steer and calculate the roll center on the car. Could be whomever did the front end installation messed up and got all the geometry wrong on the front end which will make for a very ill handling, almost to the point of dangerous, Hot Rod......

Originally Posted by rjd3636

I've Got A Corvair Front End In My Recently Purchased 31 Ford Coupe. I Can't Get The Alignment Correct Because The Caster Is As Far Out As They Can Get It, And The Tires Are Still Leaning Out At The Bottom. Anyone Ever Heard Of Off Set Upper Ball Joints And Where Can I Get Them. I'll Take All Advise. Thanks Again Guys!!!!

most off set ball joints don't have much adj. to them. anytime you lower a car, after you get it where you want it, you may have to work with the upper a-arm to get the camber where you want it. move the a-arm brackets or get a longer a-arm.

Excessive camber (either positive or negative is a bad thing - and it's more than excessive tire wear. When the tires lean, they develop a "camber thrust," which pushes on the car. Tires with negative camber push inwards toward the center of the car. Tires with positive camber push away from the center of the car. Think about what happens when you lean a motorcycle. As long as both tires lean equally, the forces offset each other. However, if the car hits a bump that causes one tire to lose some of its traction, that camber thrust will push the front end away from the straight and narrow. Your car can easily make a quick turn in a direction you didn't intend.

If you have negative camber, you need to move the ball joint away from the center of the car (Sorry, Richard, I think you had it backwards). That's not easy. It could take a longer A-arm, or moving the A-arm mount outward. Unfortunately, if you move it a lot, that may have other effects.

thanks for watching my back Jack, I have corrected my post

My wife's father had a very nicely done 34 Chevy sedan with the corvair front suspension and a 283 sbc. Every U turn was a 3 or 4 point turn. Never like the steering in that thing. If you got to do a lot of changes you might want to consider re-doing the entire front suspension to get better handling and a better ride.

Originally Posted by techinspector1

thanks for watching my back Jack, I have corrected my post

When I went through the Moog training many moons ago, The instructor told us to always remember " The outhouse is positively out back" guess it worked as I've never forgot that...LOL

Don, you win the gold ring! The tires look great with the load off of them. I will try some heavier springs and see what that does. He may have tried to lower it, or just screwed up putting the front end in. I got this car for a fair price but as usual, I'm discovering all sorts of dumb sh_t this guy did. I don't mind throwing some bucks into it, I just want it to be in the right direction. THANKS EVERYONE FOR YOUR HELP, I'LL PROBABLY NEED IT AGAIN SOON !!

If you intend to keep the car you should make a serious effort to get rid of that system. There's a reason they were only popular for about....................oh.................15 minutes!

Yeah, I didn't want to come right out and say that, but NOW THAT BOB HAS LET THE CAT OUT OF THE BAG................

They really weren't long lived popularity-wise, and he is right, there was a reason for that. They just were not the best setup to use. As I mentioned, they were designed for a front end that housed no engine (stock Corvair) and when you put the additional weight of an engine on top of them , they just didn't work out well.

If there is one thing that can make an otherwise great car unpleasant to drive, it would be an incorrectly set up front suspension/steering. I have had some ill handling cars over the years, and I dreaded going around the block in them.

If you got the deal you did, that allows you some financial room to make improvements. Start with the front end as Bob suggested. There are so many good ways to go today that you should have no problem installing something that will make the front end handle well and be safe to drive.

Don


Post some pictures so we can see what you are working with, then we can make some better suggestions.

camber is often adjusted with the use of Eccentric cams or slots in the upper control arm on SLA systems. castor is the angle that is the angle of the suspension and it's what allows for steering wheel return to center. ajust castor first, then camber and then toe, toe will affect the camber as will castor

Alright, you talked me into changing the front end. Bushings, ball joints and steering box are all worn out on this jewel. Now, what year, make and model front end should I look for in the bone yards that will bolt up without me pulling what hair I have left in my head out? I know new is the hot ticket, but reality says the money is not there. THANKS AGAIN BOYS...........

well there is no bolt up front end unless you get a new bolt on front end like an MII. a MII front end would work well, get a new MII x member for the model A and get a donor mustang II or Pinto and swap those parts over on the X member.