Ok I finally got the Front Camber plates and Rear control Arms. Now I would lke to know if there is a way I can set them and know where they are set.

I have not installed them yet. I'm a big Do it yourself kinda person. So is there a way for me to check to see where the camber and Alignment is set?

I may install the parts and set them to a point and then take them to a Alignment shop but still how will I know if they set them right?

 

http://www.soloperformance.com/Shopp...t/Default.aspx

 

It's pretty easy to check alignment yourself for less than $20.

 

How can I check it for less than $20? I see that there is all the right tools on that site but how could I do it for less that $20?

I was thinking there was a way with some long levels or something.

 

You might already have most or all of what you need at home.

Tape measure for toe-in. Go from mid tread to mid tread front and back
as far up as you can (but same height front and back of tires).
String squared around the car on jack stands (or something similar improvised)
at mid-tire height also works well for toe-in, and gets the individual rear toe.
Remember that the track is about 1/2 inch less wide on the rear.
This tool and a small steel rule for camber:
http://www.sears.com/shc/s/p_10153_1...?keyword=39567
If you're not on a perfectly level road (many are angled down toward the curb),
then you can turn the car around, measure again, and average the two readings.
Oh, and a calculator than does inverse sin function helps. You might need to
look at a math book if you don't remember some simple trigonometry from high school.

 

Thanks for the great info!

 

So I made it to the alignment shop today. The front camber plate haven't come in yet so I just let the guy put the alignment and rear camber back to stock. Well I was thinking the guy was doing a good job but then I got home and looked under the Mini I saw that most of the red paint on the rear control arms was messed up. I guess the guy didn't know that he should have turned them by hand. I'm so ready to kill this guy. The good new I never did business with this guy before today and I never will again.

 

I think in general the alignment shops do not know how to handle alignments when people have added aftermarket adjustable setups.
After I added adjustable front camber plates and adjustable lower rear control arms, I took it to a local shop that I thought was good with unique cars (not a chain store type alignment shop). I stayed with the alignment guy the whole time and had to tell him how to do the alignment. He was confused because all he knew how to do was read the specifications and how tos out of the electronic manual for a stock car. He dinged up my front plates and would not adjust the rear toe because the manual said a special tool was needed. I told how to do the rear toe without the tool but he would not even try. He was not very precision in adjusting to the numbers I wanted and only got it close enough. He just would not spend the time to do a precision alignment. The front camber ended up way off and I had to readjust when I got home.
I am going to do my own alignments from now on.

 

Good for you. This is all too common, and it's really not rocket science (but it is pocket rocket science).

 

Yesterday I called the guy and told him I wasn't happy. I was pushing for money back. I told him that it will cost me more than I paid him to fix the paint. He didn't seem to care.

So the reason I ended up at this guys shop is because the shop I wanted to do it couldn't do it because the Machine was not working. So they told me to go see this guy. And to be fair they did tell me to go to one other place but I went to this one. Anyway I called up the people that sent me to this guy. I told them what happen. IN turn they said they will not seen anyone else down to see this guy.

Here is a another note about this story. There is a shop about 10 Minutes from my house that does tire work for me but I didn't think they had the Machine to do 4 wheel alignment but they do. If I would have taken it to them then I wouldn't even be writing this. Plus one of the guys that did work there owned a MINI. So all the guys have kinda messed with a Mini or two. That would me my Mini and the guy that worked there. When the front camber plates come in I will take it to them.

So I talk to Atla and they told me that I couldn't match the paint on the bar because it is Power coated. But they did give me the color(s) that would match if I wanted to paint over the power coat. I this point I may just paint the bars BRG to match the car.