Can you do a wheel alighnment on a car without the wheels on it?

Technically you can, but the machine most shops use requires the wheels to be on. If you wanted to pull out some sort of measuring device, level and all that complicated stuff, sure, you could do it without the wheels on. Changing the rod ends will NOT ensure proper alignment. I would contact the BBB in your area for help with this guy, I wouldn't trust him as far as I could throw him.