Thanks. He did call me and was very up front about what he had to do to make the car right again. He spent almost 2 years working on the car. In addition to repairing the body damage, he also installed a fresh set of cylinder heads as well as converted the car to power steering along with some other work. I also talked to Greg Jacobs who had the car repaired by Joe and he was very pleased with Joe's work.
Not that it directly relates to this car, but my first Comet was rebuilt after being bent in an accident prior to my buying it as a 20 year old. The frame must have been tweaked a bit because you could align it and it would drive alright, but it was twitchy. You always felt like it needed to be steered. A couple years into owning it, it got hit hard in the passenger front. Moved the suspension in on that side after getting smacked by a large truck. It spent 2-3 hours on a frame pulling rig and it drove great after that. I could drive 70 mph and be OK with taking my hand off the steering wheel. The car probably had a straight frame for the first time during my ownership. I would never buy a car without actually driving it and really scrutinizing how it drives. And bring a friend along to keep you balanced because in that giddy moment where you are thrilled just to be near the car, they can point out issues you will miss in the heat of the moment.
Frontend alignment immensely affects driving quality. Without a bit of toe-in and positive caster, these cars are all over the road. Unlike GM & Chrysler there are only one set of alignment specs. Original specs take into consideration vehicle NOT having P/S. Thus they steer easily, but tracking is pitiful. When I installed P/S on my Fairlanes, first thing I did was crank in as much positive caster the adjustments would allow. Gives good stability & tracking. Adding a little negative camber improves cornering. I once owned a '76 Mustang II that had been hit so hard in passenger side the top was buckled. I figured the passenger door would never open but one day in a revelation, I kicked it open from inside. Got after door & jamb with a sledge hammer. Was crushed so badly window would roll down maybe 1½". That car drove fine, tires wore straight, used it over a year as daily. Finally bought another with bad engine, became parts. Had a '88 T-Bird that drove straight but chirped the tires on tight left turn. Found driver side frame rail was pushed inward approx 1", without some serious pull work it was never going to be right. Back to auction it went.
Were you able to get enough pos. caster without adding shims to UCA’s to get satisfactory tracking? I had to add shims after installing Borg. PS conversion to get track issues resolved.
Everett, glad you mentioned that, I did add shims to the Comet but none for the Fairlanes. Other than width, front end geometry is basically same. Upper & lower control arms are identical. Possibly wheelbase makes a difference?
