First my thanks to Craig Stuard (CraigS) for doing the alignment while training me on the principles and process. Craig also provided the specialized tools needed to do the alignment.He was very patient with my many questions.

The ride height was set to 4" in front and 4 7/16" in the rear checking these measurements at all 4 corners (near the ends of the 4" tubes).

In my case with IRS we started with alignment of the rear suspension. Having the modified lower A arms with Mike Fortes' adjustable ends makes the job a whole lot easier ... without the mod you have to pull the Heim joints out to make any adjustments (of which there are many in this iterative process). This is a mod well worth the costs.

The shims installed on the rear Lower Control Arm (LCA) bolts were removed after making sure the front LCA were shimmed up. As I understand it this allowed the rear LCA to float until all the adjustments on the A arms were completed. In order to reduce the variables, Craig started with the front LCAs in one position ... the same on both sides of the car. This allowed all the adjustments to be made on the one Upper Control Arm (UCA) and the rear LCA. After several iterations the camber and toe in, both slightly negative, were completed (see table below).

The next step was the front end ... which first required getting the steering wheel aligned with the front wheels and then completing the final alignment.

Since the best way to do this is to change the steering shaft coupling to position the steering wheel on the rack splines, this involved (at least eventually) taking out the rack bolts and washers,

First we tried to see if we could adjust it by changing the rack using the Breeze eccentric bushings. There was a little adjustment but not enough. So Craig marked the position of the bushings with yellow paint for future reference. This left us no choice but to get the rack in position to remove the coupling which on up the Mk 4 is frankly a pain in the butt. Additionally we loosened the bearing at the front of the DS foot box to get a little more play in the shaft along with partially lifting the rack out of position. Craig moved the coupling position to position the steering wheel while I moved the or held the steering wheel in position as needed and inserted the collar back on the rack after getting the rack moved to roughly straighten out the tires. After several iterations these are the final results:

Steering wheel aligned:



The castor (for power steering), the camber and toe in were adjusted and then the tracking checked against the rear tires

Alignment Numbers:



We then went back and reinstalled the shims in the rear IRS LCAs.

Yesterday I reinstalled the steering rack stops to prevent the inside of the tire edge from rubbing on the F-panels. I ended up with 2 stops on both sides with one on the DS being the slightly wider version that is supplied with the Breeze power steering rack.

These photos show the stops installed before covering with larger boots:

DS



PS



Here are the resulting gaps (with the suspension at ride height):

DS



PS



The last task was painting the inner control rods where the paint was rubbed off.



Key Lessons Learned:

1. If you have not done this before ... Make sure you have someone who can show you the ropes And explain the process;
2. If at all possible don't take the vehicle to an alignment shop for the first alignment ... unless they are experienced in alignment on FFR cars. The total elapsed time for us was about 8 to 9 hours and Craig has done it many times. My guess is an inexperienced shop would charge a boatload of labor and still not get it right;
4. Get the rear IRS A arm modification from Mike Fortes;
5. Get the Breeze offset bushings;
6. Keep a log of the results of each adjustment. Craig even took photos of the camber and casto results after each adjustment; and,
7. Do all this before installing the body.

Again much thanks to Craig ...