Waking up a Sleeping Beauty, 1934 5 window

[The Art Doctor]

Well I took her for a 30 minute drive tooling around the neighborhood. In a few spots I got a bit spirited and cranked her up to 30mph and things got a bit squirley. I have never owned an car with bias plys and heard they wander, and boy does she wander but it seems deeper than that. On the first drive it was all smiles and wonder and concern about braking and not much attention was paid to handling other than noting the very heavy steering. This drive I really was getting to know the car. If I take my hands off the wheel at speed she goes quick right. Its like the free play in the wheel is there to the right and not in the middle where it feels stiffer. It looks like the Pittman arm is straight down with the opposite end of the drag link centered over the axle and the wheels straight forward. I think all that is how its supposed to be and there is no adjustment. Is it possible the Pittman arm is off a spline, or are they keyed to be idiot proof?


The only thing I could adjust is the tie rod. I did a rough measurement after the initial drive and it came up 1/4" toe out using the tread for reference. I roughly set it to 3/16" toe in for the 30 minute drive where it seemed to get much worse. Last night marked an accurate measuring line on tape by spinning the wheel against a sharpie. I set to an accurate 1/8" toe. I hope to take it for a spin today and see if its any better. I will report back.