1967 Front Camber Issue

[Bill Sargent]

I recently completed a full suspension and brake restoration on my 67 912 (December 66 build). All new rubber, bearings, Koni inserts in Boge front struts, Koni rear shocks, new T bars (21F/27R). Elephant racing supplied all the parts (which were great). Everything went together fine. Got it aligned today. Rear was OK. Right front OK with -0.35 camber. However, left front camber was -1.3. Car drives OK but will drift very slightly if hands are taken off the wheel due to the camber imbalance. I want to correct the front camber imbalance and would like advice. Options I see are:

A. Live with it. Zero cost but might have some tire wear? The pull to one side is only noticeable if hands are off the wheel at speed and it is mild.
B. Slot the holes in the left front A arm to allow ball joint to be adjusted inward to reduce camber. A rough calculation indicates a slot allowing 10mm inward movement would decrease camber by 1 degree. Zero cost but modifies a nice original part. A thread from 2010 indicated the writer used this method to correct a -3 camber on one side due to damage and a poor repair.
C. Elephant Racing adjustable ball joint - $375 if I buy 1 for the right side and adjust it to match the left at -1.3 camber. Do I really want -1.3 camber on both sides? Option B seems better, and cheaper.
D. Elephant racing adjustable camber plates. $725. Bolt on solution that should resolve the problem and allow camber to match at whatever I want on both sides (within reason).

Opinions on these options and other thoughts welcome.

[Cliff]

My 912 would drift as you describe. Alignment didn’t help! The technician did. Said to take those directional tires off ( not for rear wheel drive cars) & he discovered that I had a worn beat up wheel bearing! Did the wheel bearing & brake job, Michelin replicas & it seemed to correct it , mostly. I did make sure the bearing were not causing any drag’ too. It’s been some time & miles since and it really doesn’t drift to the right, which most streets do flow right for drainage? Still not perfect & I hardly notice it at all. Also, yrs ago I had a mechanic lower my car and he could not get both torsion bars to extract on the same end! So, he ball parked it and that was that. Don’t know if that was causing any handling/ alignment errors or not. Just something I’ll have to advis any new owners; unless I have it redone if I redo the rear suspension parts & setting.

[Bill Sargent]

Tires are nearly new Vredestein Sprint Classic 185/15, non-directional. All new wheel bearings. Issue is with how car was built, or (more likely) possibly something got tweaked.

I had a 67S when I lived in the UK in the 80s that had a similar issue - which I lived with. This one seems correctable.

[edmayo]

If the car is lowered that will increase negative camber. Make sure it is set to the original ride height. That being said we often settle on about -1 * or thereabouts for various reasons and that little bit won't cause any undue tire wear. Sometimes you just can't get factory specs. I set the right front to 1/4* degree more castor to help offset road crown. Also since the front suspension was all apart you really should have corner weights done if you haven't already. If off by more than about 25 # that will also cause pulling, especially under braking.

[Bill Sargent]

Hi Ed - Car has been lowered some but not excessively. Rear fender lips are 25.75" and fronts are 26.25". So maybe an inch lower than stock. All heights are within 1/8" side to side. It was a bit of a crap shoot since I changed the torsion bars as part of the process (21F, 27R). If I were to raise the car up an inch I think the right front, which is now -0.3 degrees might go to positive camber. Car drives well and does not pull to one side under braking. In fact, if I did not know about the front camber imbalance, I might not have noticed the drift issue.

I have not had corner weights done yet, so that is something to consider. Do you have any thoughts on the options mentioned in my first post to reduce the left front camber by about 1 degree?

[Cliff]

Tires are nearly new Vredestein Sprint Classic 185/15, non-directional. All new wheel bearings. Issue is with how car was built, or (more likely) possibly something got tweaked.

I had a 67S when I lived in the UK in the 80s that had a similar issue - which I lived with. This one seems correctable.

I remember that 67 S in some early readings…….

[edmayo]

If you really want to correct this I would use option D.

[Chris Pomares]

I've run neg 2 at front and 2.5 on the rear for 4000 miles with 200 wear soft tires and the tires show so little inner tire wear that I have to use a tread depth gauge to tell any difference.
Here is Ed adjusting my clutch the day before the concourse and historic display at the Parade. After all these years I'm still learning from the best guys out there. Thanks Ed! After the concourse and dinner I ended up in the hospital with a triple bypass. At least the car was healthy.
70 to 90 mph and 28 mpg from Denver to Palm Springs in 95 to 115 degree weather.

[66S]

You might need to portapower an inner fender if you can’t get it right by top adjustment. The fender to inner fender fit might be a clue. A collision can push the inner fender in.

[sithot]

My '67 isn't the most confidence inspiring car at interstate highway speeds but it does track fine. Wind moves it around. On the interstate (I-81) , wind combined with heavy trucks it's not fun so I tend to stay on the back roads. There, it shines. I believe the SWB 911 is the most fun of all the cars in our garage which includes a GT3. The feedback and sounds of the "little" 2 liter engine with the oft maligned 901 gearbox (learn it, love it) , light steering and ballerina like handling, it's the perfect recipe. Alois Ruf says: "It's like driving my pants". He's right.

I hope you can put yours right.

FWIW: The '74 got a much needed dose of someone who knew what he was doing 2 summers ago. Now it has perfect alignment and is corner balanced.
The front end was raised and the guys at Elephant suggested sectioning the "Michelin Man" (bump stops) on the front shocks. This is short of buying dropped spindles. No more "porpoising".
Now it makes good use of the Avon CR6 ZZ's!