Rearend is off center

[ScottieBell]

Hello, I haven't been on in a long time. Used to have a Vega Panel, but sold it due to bills. I now have a 1976 2+2 I am putting together. I have an issue in the rear of the car. The rear is off center to the left of the car. I have a couple of inches between the inner wheel tub and the inside of the left tire. I have maybe a half an inch of space on the other side. You can also see where its had this issue for sometime now, because the inner wheel tub on the right is all scuffed up from the tire hitting it a bunch. Wore the undercoating completely off. How can I center this. Only thing I thought was to bend the panhard bar just a little bit, but don't think that's a good idea. Can you adjust with the control arms somehow?

[cjbiagi]

It is common for the rearends to be a little off center, yours seems to be a bit more than normal though. Is there any sign of being in a accident? The 76 should have a straight panhard bar, correct? There are a couple ways to correct this but both involve getting a adjustable panhard bar. On my 75 with the curved bar I modified it by cutting the end off by the axle and threading the end of the bar and installing a high quality teflon lined heim joint. The other way to do it would be to purchase a aftermarket adjustable panhard bar. You have a 1 1/2" difference between the two sides which means you need to move the rearend over 3/4" to center it.

[ScottieBell]

Yes the panhard bar is straight. I have some dom tubing and I thought about making an adjustable bar myself also, I’m pretty sure I have enough. I see no evidence of this car ever being in an accident, it’s pretty nice, super straight and no rot. I also put a 15x8 with 3.5 BS wheel on it yesterday with a 275x60/R15, that’s actually when I noticed the off center issue, and the tire is super close to the front and rear edges of the wheel well. Is that how they usually are? I have seen in the tire and wheel thread that this setup works. Seems really close, if the tire expands at high speed or a burnout.

Is there a trick to this forum not turning completely black every time I try to type something here? LOL. Makes this very difficult.

[waybad]

When I put my Don Hardy rear under mine,, the pass side front part of the tire was about a 1/2 inch from rubbing,, the backside had about 2 1/2" I took it back out
and found that who ever welded the lower control arm on had not centered it with the Drivers side.. welded up the holes and red drilled them to get the rear to be centered
in the wheel well. lot of work but worth it,, didn't want it to track sideways going down the street like some of the 75 up novas did..

[cjbiagi]

You said the tire is very close in the front and rear of the wheel opening. Assuming it is pretty even then I would say that is just the result of the size tire you are using. I don't know about using tubing for a panhard bar. The panhard bar is under tremendous stress during cornering so you need a very strong bar (solid) to prevent it from bending. If you already have a good bar it is not that difficult to make it adjustable. I had a machinist friend of mine drill and tap the end of the bar after I cut the end off, then it was just a matter of screwing in a Heim joint. I used a 1/2" heavy duty one, don't cheap out there.

[hammerdown7]

The mount for the '76 and later cars should be bolted on the left side wheel well. They did sell spacers for minor adjustments, you could use longer grade 8 hardware and make some larger spacers.

Dick

[cjbiagi]

Dick, good point. I forgot about the 76 and up having a bolt on bracket. Guess I am too used to 75's.......

[ScottieBell]

You guys rock! I'll crawl under and take a look tomorrow, and assess the situation. Thank you all for the advice.

Anyone know where a guy might find a 2+2 fender emblem? Been looking online, can't find anything.

[marco_1978_spyder]

Your torque arm could be bent too... I did this on a 75 but it was easier than normal because the trailing arm mounts on both sides had rusted away from the body. (held on with bunjie cords)

I turned into a parking lot with an extended curb that I didn't see and caught the right rear tire on it while trying to turn. This in turn bent the tourqe arm just a bit, and the car rode crooked from then on just like those 75 + Nova's did. (I remember seeing them like that all the time!) An inspection revealed that I'd bent the torque arm slightly.

Just thought I'd throw this out there.