Capri - Camber Adjustment

Not much has been happening with my Capris over the last few weeks & no shows or outings. After taking the big splurge & buying the new set of tyres for my XL, I decided that the front alignment needed a check. However, before doing that, I have been aware ever since I have owned this car that the front LH wheel has a couple of degrees of negative camber making the wheel splay out a little. The left front side has had some reasonable damage at some stage in its life & this was confirmed by the spray painter & a wheel alignment specialist. Others have suggested that the front strut has been bent & that is why it is slightly out.



As I have repeatedly said in my blog, I am not a mechanic so some of you will have had much more experience in these matters than I have had. Anyway, all the good books say the camber in set at the factory & is not able to be adjusted in the Capri. So, the question is, without major modifications is there a way to reduce the negative camber? I understand there are camber adjustment plates that can be inserted on the top of the struts & there are adjustable track rods but I wanted to test the theory that the strut might be bent.

Some months ago I borrowed a strut from a club member so as I could compare the two. This week I finally got motivated to remove mine from the car. It came out without too much trouble as I had them out last year.



When I placed the two struts side by side, I then noticed a major difference. The steering arm on my XL & my green Deluxe is bolted to the strut with two bolts. The strut I had borrowed, supposedly a Capri 4 cylinder one, had the steering arm as an integral part of the strut (see the photo below). I then started searching through all my manuals & parts books to find out if such a difference existed. One manual had a strut with the steering arm as part of the strut while all the others had the detached steering arm. Again, another example of the many differences in the way Capris were built.



After looking very carefully at my strut there appears no evidence that it has been damaged or bent & so the puzzle continues. What does appear to be different is the plate attached to the body of the car where the strut is held by the three bolts.
I am off to consult with my resident panel beater to see if this is the cause of my slightly negative camber. More to follow in the next few days.

POSTSCRIPT
Firstly, the spare strut was not from a Capri & advice suggests it was from a Mk 2 Escort. I then thought about placing a spacer washer under the outermost bolt on the strut cap with a theory it just might provide a few degrees to straighten the strut. This proved useless as there is some movement in the top of the strut. So, in brief, I just re-assembled the car as it was. I am fairly certain that the problem arises from past accidents to the front of the car. The only way to completely fix it is to use a pair of adjustable strut caps or set of adjustable track rods. Maybe another time!!