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Just put the body back on the rebuilt chassis which looks great but check out the gap between the door and the front fender. It wasn't like this when we took the body off.
Does anyone have any ideas on fixing this? My mechanic reckons that's the way it is and we haven't moved the doors at all
Body Shims and alignment of the front end on the frame. Looks like the front end is down. Suspect your old frame/bird cage had some rust issues in the area of mounts #1 & 2. Did you try to align it when you first dropped the body back on? That was the time to do it.
Just one old guys opinion,
Unk
Hi p,
Are both sides the same or similar? Often the gap on the right side is larger than that on the left side.
Sometimes if the front clip isn't extremely securely bonded to the cowl a few shims between the bottom of the core support and the front crossmember will help close that gap a bit. Make sure everything else… bumpers, bumper brackets, etc. ….is loose when you apply the shims.
Since the core support is bolted to each side of the clip's aprons, shimming under it tips the clip up and closes the tops of the doors' gaps,
Maybe?
Regards,
Alan
Here's an example from a 69 showing the location of the shims.
With that amount of gap I do not think shims will help. The shop that has my 69 is trying to remedy this situation now on my drivers side. My issue was not caused by rust, but by someone who had the clip off before and did not put it back on correctly. We replaced the upper cowl bonding strips, but the cowl area on mine needs some adjustment/bonding material cleanout to get the LH back edge of the clip to sit down farther.
I have learned that if these are not put back together with care then the entire front clip, hood and all will not line up.
Joe
Actually you're correct the right side is larger than the left but both are larger than before we took the body off I've tried to explain it to my shop guy but he thinks that's how it is. Thanks for the info Alan it has a new radiator support so I guess v this could add to it.
Hi p,
If the clip is really tightly bonded to the cowl the shims may not work, but they're worth a try.
EVERYTHING need to be loose so the clip can move up when the shims are inserted. BUT the core support needs to be snugly bolted to the clip at each side.
Good Luck!
Regards,
Alan
Refers to the entire front section as a whole.... fenders, hood, etc. I had to set ours 3 times to get it right before bonding it. Here`s a shot of a "front clip" sitting next to the car before we installed it....
nose alignment
