Hello everyone,
I am getting close to doing the Shelby drop on my 65. I have been doing much researching on this before I attempt doing it. One concern I have is re-installing the shims correctly. Once they are removed, how do you re-install them the way they are supposed to be? I guess I am just a little afraid of messing up the front end of my car and not being able to get it back to normal. Has anyone here did the Shelby drop with shims? Thanks alot for any help and advice that will make doing this a little easier for me.

 

the shims (between UCA and chassis) are for adjusting camber and caster.
so you will need them, just a different amount of shims. when you finished with the drop go straight to an alignment shop

 

put the shims back exactly how they were before the drop.

if not, youll have a really hard time driving in a straight line.

my dad put his back and drove it to big o and the guy said that was the right thing to do.

 

Couple suggestions. Use masking tape to hold the shims together if there are several in one stack. Put them back where you take them out. As you put the UCA back in place, add the shims, and tighten the nuts in the eng compartment just enough to keep the shim from falling out. A floor jack under the front helps to take the load and weight off the control arm as you work. Be sure to use a spring compressor and proper safety steps. Take it to a reputable front end shop as soon as the work is done. Personally, I used BigO, and they sucked. One bad shop doesn't mean they're all bad.

 

I cut each shim pack thickness in half when I did my drop. Specs ended up being real close to what I wanted: 4 degrees positive caster, -1 neg camber. I believe if you leave the shim pack at the thickness from the UCA stock location, assuming alignment is correct to begin with, then your camber will end up being positive, ie, top of the wheel outward.

 

I always wondered which way to go with the shims when you lower the upper arm. Thanks for the post, I'm planning this mod on my '66.

 

I removed 1/8" shims from each side and it brought it real close to the proper camber.

 

fakesnakes

The shop manual has picture with the UCA with shims that should show you.