Just took Bazza's car to the alignment shop, and...

[ProjectBazza]

Been working on my good friend's '71 VG Valiant for a few months now, and this morning I finally took it to an alignment shop. Had to make a few stops, and turn a few corners, and even though I've had the car for (what?) 2-3 months now, I never noticed this until this morning.

Check out where the turn signal lever is on this car (old picture from a car show):

Kinda freaked me out for a few seconds at the first turn!

 

[CFD244]

Geez that thing is weird

 

[Super-Cuda]

Geez that thing is weird

Look at the cool gauge cluster though!

Speedometer and Tach included!

First time Ive noticed that in an A-body!

 

[ProjectBazza]

Speedometer and Tach included!

Not to mention the 8-track player!



I wish it had an oil pressure gauge instead of an idiot light, as it would have made that initial start-up less nerve wracking, but she made pressure good pressure right away, thank God.

 

[Syleng1]

Quick question:

Is it down for right and up for left or the other way around? I’d assume since floor shift, you could rotate the steering column 180 to get what we consider normal.
Also the key switch is right by the door. Hot day and the window is down and some one runs up and steals your keys. Lol! Sorry, I have very little faith in humanity. Lol!
Syleng1

 

[ProjectBazza]

Is it down for right and up for left or the other way around? I’d assume since floor shift, you could rotate the steering column 180 to get what we consider normal.

I think that's right (up for L, down for R), but I haven't gotten the call to pick 'er up yet to make sure. But I'll certainly check on the drive back!

As for spinning the column 180 degrees, I was thinking the exact same thing! Quite a few things left to do on it before we take it back home to Bazza this weekend, so not much time to investigate this, but if you know of an easy way to check which way is "up" (for us) on the column, I can certainly look for it/take pictures.

 

[Bennoel 10]

When I drove a right hand drive car in England it was a little weird/confusing to say the least but having the turn signal indicator on the right side of the steering column made perfect sense as you need your left arm free to shift the trans.

 

[ProjectBazza]

Update: The car is home, and it tracks wonderfully now! (Go figure!)

The turn signal is indeed "Up" for L, and "Down" for R, and here's a (somewhat) better photo of the gauge cluster:

As far as the steering column being rotated "180" is concerned, beats the hell outta me, as I don't see any good "indicators":

And since the car is going back to WI this weekend, I'm not going to tear into this, so it will have to remain as one of those Unanswered Questions!

Jim

 

[Syleng1]

Update: The car is home, and it tracks wonderfully now! (Go figure!)

The turn signal is indeed "Up" for L, and "Down" for R, and here's a (somewhat) better photo of the gauge cluster:
View attachment 1716152368

As far as the steering column being rotated "180" is concerned, beats the hell outta me, as I don't see any good "indicators":

View attachment 1716152369

View attachment 1716152370

View attachment 1716152371

And since the car is going back to WI this weekend, I'm not going to tear into this, so it will have to remain as one of those Unanswered Questions!

Jim

Thanks for checking! Glad the alignment worked out.
Syleng1

 

[Bennoel 10]

As far as the spinning the column 180 degrees I believe any adjustments or corrections would be made in the steering box, ie. the worm gear might be reversed or something ?? The idler arm now trades places with the pitman arm. That's my guess.

 

[Mtrhead]

Perfect for delivering mail