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Author Topic: 69 Body Sag  (Read 15685 times)

gbowman

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69 Body Sag
« on: August 22, 2018, 12:55:23 AM »
Looking for some opinions as I'm a bit baffled at this one. My 69 Pacer body sits lower or (sags) on the driver's side a little over an inch lower than the passenger side. My first thought was weak leaf springs, but it turns out that isn't the issue. I have the car sitting on a completely level floor, air pressure the same in all tires, etc... When I measure various points on the frame to the floor, they're pretty much the same on both sides, not even a 32nd of an inch off. When I measure from the floor up to the bottom of the center of the rear fender well, the driver's side is 1 3/8" lower than the passenger side, so I have to assume it's something in the body. Anyone ever seen a phenomenon such as this??? Thanks!
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68 RS/SS 396
69 X11 SS

69 Zee

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Re: 69 Body Sag
« Reply #1 on: August 22, 2018, 02:50:22 AM »
Have you looked inside your trunk ?  The rear shock hasn't ripped thru the shock tower has it ?  That's about the only thing I can think of that would let the body drop while the frame remained the same distance.
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Darrell
'69 Camaro Z/28: 03B NOR X77 Dusk Blue, white top, all orig, Under construction
'69 Firebird all original 350 all power w/ac
'70 Plymouth Superbird: One owner, Limelight green, 45K miles, all original U code

BULLITT65

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Re: 69 Body Sag
« Reply #2 on: August 22, 2018, 05:00:39 AM »
Well just thinking out loud. while it is unibody in the rear, if your front body bushings on the opposite front  (Kity corner) were missing or rotten, could that tweak it enough for the rear corner to be high on one side and lower on the other? I would think that would affect your frame measurement though

Another thought, I have seen plenty of twisted Camaros from what I guessed was to many hole shots with to much HP. Usually you see metal damage from it right at the roof seam to the body though. (right behind the passenger quarter window).
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1969 garnet red Z/28 46k mile unrestored X77
-Looking for 3192477 (front) spiral shocks 3192851 (rear)
-Looking for an original LOF soft ray windshield
-Looking for original Delco side post negative battery cable part # 6297651AV

gbowman

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Re: 69 Body Sag
« Reply #3 on: August 22, 2018, 11:45:06 AM »
The shocks don't appear to be damaged nor are they pulled through anywhere. I guess it's possible that I have a bad/weak shock on the low side, as they appear to be original to the car, but I haven't swapped them out yet to confirm. I checked all the body bushings and they seem to be intact.  I venture to say the car hasn't participated in any hole shots as it's an original, unrestored car with only 82K miles and retains the original factory sheet metal as far as I can tell based on the date code stampings. Thanks for the input and I'll keep looking.
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68 RS/SS 396
69 X11 SS

69 Zee

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Re: 69 Body Sag
« Reply #4 on: August 22, 2018, 12:46:43 PM »
Yes, the shock or shock area would be the first thing I'd address.
Is this problem something new that just occurred?
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Darrell
'69 Camaro Z/28: 03B NOR X77 Dusk Blue, white top, all orig, Under construction
'69 Firebird all original 350 all power w/ac
'70 Plymouth Superbird: One owner, Limelight green, 45K miles, all original U code

olddragracer

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Re: 69 Body Sag
« Reply #5 on: August 22, 2018, 01:13:02 PM »
I do not think the original shock absorbers have any effect on the resting height of the car
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olddragracer

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Re: 69 Body Sag
« Reply #6 on: August 22, 2018, 01:34:23 PM »
pardon my use of the English language
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gbowman

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Re: 69 Body Sag
« Reply #7 on: August 22, 2018, 01:56:51 PM »
Quote from: 69 Zee on August 22, 2018, 12:46:43 PM
Yes, the shock or shock area would be the first thing I'd address.
Is this problem something new that just occurred?

No, it's not something that just occurred, it was like that when I bought the car a few weeks ago. The car still drives and rides fine, it's just a bit annoying to me when I look at it!
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68 RS/SS 396
69 X11 SS

69Z28-RS

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Re: 69 Body Sag
« Reply #8 on: August 22, 2018, 02:09:07 PM »
Quote from: olddragracer on August 22, 2018, 01:13:02 PM
I do not think the original shock absorbers have any effect on the resting height of the car

You are absolutely correct, unless it's the incorrect shock for the car ... which might cause an issue...
.. and the english language is what most of us *try* to use... :)
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69 Corvette, '60 Corvette, '72 Corvette
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william

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Re: 69 Body Sag
« Reply #9 on: August 22, 2018, 02:27:28 PM »
Unlatch the top and measure the gap from the bow to the windshield header. If it is not uniform all the way across, there may be some twist in the structure. 1-3/8" is a lot and if the body were that badly twisted the door alignment would be off also.
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Learning more and more about less and less...

69 Zee

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Re: 69 Body Sag
« Reply #10 on: August 22, 2018, 03:19:01 PM »
Quote from: 69Z28-RS on August 22, 2018, 02:09:07 PM
Quote from: olddragracer on August 22, 2018, 01:13:02 PM
I do not think the original shock absorbers have any effect on the resting height of the car

You are absolutely correct, unless it's the incorrect shock for the car ... which might cause an issue...
.. and the english language is what most of us *try* to use... :)
Well that can open up a whole another can of worms.  I assumed this just happened and you knowing the car.
Since you just got it, have you tried going back to the previous seller and asked them about it ?  And was it noticed at time of buying ?
I agree if the frame was twisted that much you'd see some of your other panel alignments off, specially the doors.  How do they look?
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Darrell
'69 Camaro Z/28: 03B NOR X77 Dusk Blue, white top, all orig, Under construction
'69 Firebird all original 350 all power w/ac
'70 Plymouth Superbird: One owner, Limelight green, 45K miles, all original U code

69z27z87

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Re: 69 Body Sag
« Reply #11 on: August 22, 2018, 04:33:05 PM »
I saw basically the same thing in my car for years.... the body was twisted from high RPM launches. Driver's front comes up and pushes the passenger rear down. And then everything on the car twists... so other things don't look so out of alignment.

We took the whole back of the car apart... quarters, trunk floor, rear tail, wheel housings.... to repair rust. We put it back together straight... then dropped the trunk lid on... holy cow!... touched the sheetmetal on the drivers side while almost an inch up on the passenger side...Took some careful work to bend that piece back into shape.

Also, using a straight edge I found that passenger side A pillar had more bow in it than the drivers side.

The twist can be very subtle across the whole car...it can be hard to notice... when I used to look through the rear glass from way back of the car... I could see the rear package shelf was not parallel to the dash....

I did have a frame shop pull on the assembled car many years ago... it helped, but we could not pull enough to totally level the car.
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1969 SS396 - L35, Z87 Daytona Yellow, Yellow Houndstooth, Black Vinyl top
1992 Z28 - LB9 Purple Haze, T-5WC, grey leather interior

gbowman

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Re: 69 Body Sag
« Reply #12 on: August 22, 2018, 05:54:04 PM »
I'll take some more measurements this evening at various points and see what I come up with. Thanks for all the input thus far. 
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68 RS/SS 396
69 X11 SS

BULLITT65

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Re: 69 Body Sag
« Reply #13 on: August 22, 2018, 06:11:57 PM »
another posibility as you say its all original and you don't think it is from hole shots.

If the car was jacked up at one point, possibly just one side or with one jack stand holding up one corner for a long (over a year) extended period of time, you could have the body warp a little like what you are describing. As mentioned I would think you would see other evidence such as door gaps that would also have resulted,  especially since the difference side to side seems so large.
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1969 garnet red Z/28 46k mile unrestored X77
-Looking for 3192477 (front) spiral shocks 3192851 (rear)
-Looking for an original LOF soft ray windshield
-Looking for original Delco side post negative battery cable part # 6297651AV

WorkinProgress

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Re: 69 Body Sag
« Reply #14 on: August 22, 2018, 07:01:50 PM »
Does your convertible have all GM springs, front and rear? I have heard many of the repro front springs are not a matched rating even though they are sold as a set.

You didn't say if your car is a S/B or B/B.

I parted a '69 B/B RS convertible back around 1980. When I removed the front springs, on top of them were GM rubber spacers. They come in two sizes 3/8" and 9/16" thick to adjust trim height. One car will use two of the same thickness. Possibly your car has them and one has fallen out or when a new spring was installed one was not reinstalled.

I will dig out the NOS spacers and take pictures if there is any interest, only if someone will post them for me.

Hydraulic shocks do not affect the ride height, they are just dampers.

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