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Tue Mar 20, 2012 1:10 pm

I've always thought my '69 Ghia was a bit lower on the drivers side front but I thought it might be the front torsion bars sagging with age. I decided to jack up the front beam and put it on two axle stands either side of the beam tonight so the front suspension was level, thus ruling out any sagging front torsion bars.

With this I measured from the top of the front headlamp bowls to ground, and the top of the arches to ground. The front drivers side bodywork is around 10-11mm lower than the passenger side. I thought it might be the opposite rear suspension sagging so I measured the back of the car when it was back off the axle stands, the rear lights are about even, but the rear arches, the drivers side is about 5mm higher. I've heard stories of the rear arches being uneven from the factory so no big problem there but the front is quite noticeable.

I've fitted adjustable spring plates on the back so I could wind down the suspension on the opposite side but that would mean the rear would end up uneven. I'm not sure if this is just a "feature" of this hand built car or something more serious like the body has maybe shifted on the floorpan and got slightly twisted perhaps. Or maybe the front beam mounting is not aligned right, although I don't know if that's even possible.

Of course they might just all be like this...?

Tue Mar 20, 2012 1:50 pm

The front torsion bars support both sides together, so I can't see that being the issue. Rear torsion bars are independant side to side, so maybe look there. Maybe the splines were indexed incorrectly when installing the adjustable spring plates. The front beam could be bent. Did you measure to see if the wheel base is different on either side? The pan and/or body could be bent too. I'd take "X" measurements underneath. If you can't determine the problem with a series of measurements at home, I'd take it to a body shop with a frame rack for measuring if you really want to figure out what's going on.

Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:37 pm

I've measured the wheelbase both sides (crudely with a spirit level down to the ground and then marking the floor with tape) both sides are within 5mm of each other which is almost certainly down to my method of measuring, so I'm re-assured by that. Also measured the bottom corners of the screen opening and the top of the sills, both are equal and level.
I know one of the front headlamp bowls has been replaced over the car's lifetime so I'm starting to wonder if the difference isn't down to a bit of inaccurate previous repairs on one of the front sides. Question is, which one...

Tue Mar 20, 2012 3:57 pm

Sounds like a possibility. I would then try to find another KG to compare measurements with.