Can't find alignment shop

[Welder]

Hello everyone
I'm in the middle of my front end work. Replacing A arm, springs, shocks, tie rods and front sway bushings. Everything is going good. No frozen bolts or ball joints and I should have it all back together soon ( Thanks to everyone for there front end posts). The problem is I went looking for a place to get an alignment and no one will touch my 124. Tried Firestone , mavis and a couple of small shops. Pep boys said they would try and when I mentioned having the car loaded with weight( 2 passengers and luggage) They laughed and ask if I planned on driving in the grand Prix and that no one does that. I'm putting a lot of time and money into this ,and want it done right. I live on Long Island in New York. Any help or recommendations would be Greatly appreciated

[DieselSpider]

Local Firestone where I live was very accommodating however its up to each shop manager. I was cautioned that other Firestone shops may not be comfortable with a less common vehicle however if it was in the Hunter computer and they did not need to purchase a high priced specialty tool that they would do it. If it comes to it you can look for a shop that caters to racers or street rod builders however there should be members here that can point you to a shop near by that have aligned theirs.

[njoconnor]

My read of the factory manual (as well as several write ups here and on Mirafiori) was that the loading of the car was done before final torques on the control arms and trailing arms, in order to set the bushings properly. (having a manual circa 72 meant "full load" was 4 passengers and some luggage....). Haven't seen anything about alignments needing the loading.

I found my alignment guy (Madison WI) by asking the mech who used to work on my A4Q (there always seemed to be an old British sports car of some sort in the next garage bay). The alignment shop was a one person operation, surrounded by the area's largest Honda dealer; who, it turns out, sent all their customers to him for their alignments. He did a great job, and I have a return apppointment next spring for a re-check. I'd ask any vintage car mechanic in the area for their reccomendations. And mention them to the alignment shop when you go.

Great going on the suspension work! I look back at that as both the hardest and most satisfying work I've done on the car to date. Feels great on the road when you're done too!

Neil

[DieselSpider]

Specs printed in the owners manual in the glove box on page 48 lists the camber and toe with no reference to torque values and then has the following notation regarding setting the camber and toe: "The above data apply to cars laden to the equivalent of 2 adults (300 lbs) plus 130 lbs of luggage."

When the car is unladen the front wheels will toe in so if you set the toe unladen to the laden specs the car can end up severely toed out once it is laden with a driver and passenger in it. When I bought mine the previous owner was having extreme issues with the car wearing the inside of the tires since they were aligning it unladen and once you sat in it the wheels would be very badly toed out. Mine could be more susceptible to this due to the weight difference between the Diesel and Gasoline engines however the owners manual clearly states the alignment specs in it are for a car that is laden to its rated capacity of 430 lbs which is 35 lbs less than my 250cc Aprilia which is rated for a 465 lb load.

If the alignment rack lists the same values as the owners manual then it has the laden specs however some do have the unladen values which will be the values observed after you do the laden alignment and then unladen the car.

Motor homes also need to be aligned laden the way you will be traveling with them especially if they have independent front suspension.

[lglade]

I'm having the same dilemma, but I think we can find the basic alignment tools to do the work ourselves on eBay for less than $150.

FWIW, I left my original alignment shims (washer-style) in place and wish that I removed them when I replaced the control arms. I lowered my car and my alignment is off by quite a bit now; the best solution seems to be removing the shims and starting fresh with the U-shaped shims that can be inserted into place with the control arms installed.

[Welder]

Thanks everybody for the ideas. I like Lloyds idea and am going to order the shims today.

[So Cal Mark]

you'll find most of the chain stores don't have "real" alignment techs. If they're afraid of your Fiat I wouldn't take any vehicle to them. Besides asking vintage car mechanics for a recommendation, look for a frame shop or ask the local body shops who they use