65RoadRacer
Well-Known Member
So the story goes like this: I was a magazine editor for five years, and my '65 became a project car there. Over the course of about 3 years, I took the car to Willow Springs after each suspension improvement/modification and after five trips I was able to shave 8 seconds from my lap times. They aren't the best lap times, but it is kinda cool giving grief to Mustangs and Porsches.
The final suspension upgrade started last year and completed this year (yeah, my car sat in the shop untouched for four months) was a complete coilover suspension system. Our shop had some changes, and two people I have never been very fond of did the installation. Much of the job was botched, I had nearly two pages of complaints to my boss about bolts that were loose (including two subframe bolts), bolts and fittings that were cross-threaded, and a few places where incorrect bolts were used, even though the instructions stated specifics (one tech said "these instructions are crap" and chose not to use them).
I went through as much of the car as I could after I had it towed home (they wouldn't finish it). I paid a lot of money for shop time, and even with my complaints the owner didn't seem to care - he just wanted his money. I had enough, and within a few months I was out, starting on a new career where I'm completely thrilled to be a part of a great company.
Last weekend, I hit Willow Springs again and after a few laps something didn't feel right about the car. I went faster, and knocked a couple more seconds off my time, but I quit running mid-second-session because I didn't like the way the car felt. Two nights ago, I was replacing my race tires/wheels with the street setup and I noticed the right front wheel was moving a little too much.
Rest of the long story short is that I found one control arm bolt loose because the proper washers weren't used (alignment shop I blame for this - they won't get my business anymore) and all four of my ball joints were never torqued down properly. The right upper ball joint had actually backed out far enough that the threads were barely engaging, hence the movement I found. They weren't coming out prior to this because I've swapped the wheels a few times and didn't notice that additional movement, but I'm sure pushing hard at the track helped to loosen the one ball joint up a bit more.
I contacted my former boss and told him how unhappy I was, and that I was throwing my car into turns at 100+ mph with loose ball joints. He was 'concerned', and glad nothing catastrophic happened, however, he didn't really react about me saying his technician put out sub-standard work, and through his negligence it could have been far worse. I have to replace parts and get the car completely checked out and a new alignment done, to which he didn't even offer to pay for. This is why I'm so glad I don't work there anymore.
I tightened/fixed everything last night and test drove the car... it's amazing how smooth the front end is now without all that clunking and extra movements that I couldn't nail down before. It makes it very hard to trust shops anymore, the alignment shop I trusted never caught the loose control arm bolt - which they adjusted!
The final suspension upgrade started last year and completed this year (yeah, my car sat in the shop untouched for four months) was a complete coilover suspension system. Our shop had some changes, and two people I have never been very fond of did the installation. Much of the job was botched, I had nearly two pages of complaints to my boss about bolts that were loose (including two subframe bolts), bolts and fittings that were cross-threaded, and a few places where incorrect bolts were used, even though the instructions stated specifics (one tech said "these instructions are crap" and chose not to use them).
I went through as much of the car as I could after I had it towed home (they wouldn't finish it). I paid a lot of money for shop time, and even with my complaints the owner didn't seem to care - he just wanted his money. I had enough, and within a few months I was out, starting on a new career where I'm completely thrilled to be a part of a great company.
Last weekend, I hit Willow Springs again and after a few laps something didn't feel right about the car. I went faster, and knocked a couple more seconds off my time, but I quit running mid-second-session because I didn't like the way the car felt. Two nights ago, I was replacing my race tires/wheels with the street setup and I noticed the right front wheel was moving a little too much.
Rest of the long story short is that I found one control arm bolt loose because the proper washers weren't used (alignment shop I blame for this - they won't get my business anymore) and all four of my ball joints were never torqued down properly. The right upper ball joint had actually backed out far enough that the threads were barely engaging, hence the movement I found. They weren't coming out prior to this because I've swapped the wheels a few times and didn't notice that additional movement, but I'm sure pushing hard at the track helped to loosen the one ball joint up a bit more.
I contacted my former boss and told him how unhappy I was, and that I was throwing my car into turns at 100+ mph with loose ball joints. He was 'concerned', and glad nothing catastrophic happened, however, he didn't really react about me saying his technician put out sub-standard work, and through his negligence it could have been far worse. I have to replace parts and get the car completely checked out and a new alignment done, to which he didn't even offer to pay for. This is why I'm so glad I don't work there anymore.
I tightened/fixed everything last night and test drove the car... it's amazing how smooth the front end is now without all that clunking and extra movements that I couldn't nail down before. It makes it very hard to trust shops anymore, the alignment shop I trusted never caught the loose control arm bolt - which they adjusted!
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