Frame alignment

[92GTS-R]

Tried to help a UK fellow Mustang owner last weekend to see if the front frame is out of alignment on his 72 Sportsback.  I had printed off the frame diagrams on the wiki, but being a novice the measurements on the diagram were not easy to read?

For example 33.90?   Well I presume these diagrams  were produced in the 1970s so the measurements are not going to be in Metric!  So 33 would be 33 inches and 90 being like on a PYE chart?  100 being a full circle= 1 inch?, 25 being a 1/4 of a circle 75 being 3/4 of a circle, so 90 would be almost 1 inch?

Is this correct?

Now the issue we had is that the lower control arm strut rods we managed to get into the Front Frame crossmember, adjust them to the same thread length but looking at the lower control arms, it seems one is more forward than the other?  (The control arm support strut rods are new as are the lower control arms).    

Are there any better ways (more simple ways) of measuring the frame and checking its straightness prior to fitting the engine?  Or even after the engine has been fitted?    Trouble is with this particular car it has had new inner fenders already welded in place along with shock tower mounts, and the lower frame rails have been patch welded.    The top cowl to front radiator support panel measurements seem to be correct, but its the lower frame rails and Engine crossmember control arm points that concern me?  

We were both novices but we just could not get to grips with the frame measurements.

 

[tony-muscle]

33.90" would be 861 mm. The decimals are 100th so 90/100th if that makes sense.

 

[92GTS-R]

Ok Thanks, so 100 = 1 inch.

 

[Stanglover]

Ok Thanks, so 100 = 1 inch.

Yes, .9" = .900 thousands of an inch or 9/10" so in this case 33.9" is 33 9/10" and so on. I would NOT confuse metric with imperial on these cars, way too easy to screw up. (33 7/8" is probably close enough taking tolerance into account)

Side story; When I left the UK in 73, there was no metric hardly ever used. Also, I learned "first angle orthographic projection" in drafting, whereas over here, the standard is third angle. When I started work at Canadian Fram, the first job I did, I screwed up, because I read the drawing as first angle. In effect, I made the part backwards. From then on, any jobs that came in from Germany that were in first angle, I got to do. The Canadians couldn't read those drawings!