When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
Currently I am in the process of putting my 68 Convertible back together after being apart for several years. Unfortunately in the process of tearing the car apart I have come across many issues that I have fixed or am in the process of fixing. So I am a little unsure of what to use as a "datum" to get everything re-aligned. This is the process I have been going about to put it back together based on things I have read here on the forum and the Ecklers book.
1. I first leveled out the frame on my lift using a laser level and measuring off the bottom of the frame
2. Installed the doors and adjusted the rear gap and the door striker so it opens and closes easy. I also had to adjust the #3 & #4 body mount shims to get the gap as best I could.
2. Installed the front clip with the inner fender wells and radiator support
- I adjusted it back to the doors as far as possible
- Then lined up the centerline of the nose, hood, and windshield frame with a laser light
- Lined up "tilt" of the fenders from side to side using the laser level
Right now I think it looks pretty good other than maybe trying to tilt the nose up a little to close the front door gap at the top and fixing the other body gaps. I think the only thing that still concerns me is that the front point of the hood is not flush with the front headlight area and it was like this before I took the car apart. I know there is a support brace going from the core support to the front bumper, but I don't think it will push it up.
Any suggestions or recommendations for things to look at before I bond the front end back onto the car?
how many shims are under the core support right now... mine ended up being atleaast 1/2 thick i spent alot of hours where you are right now.. new doors, reinstall front clip, repair body mounts, replace rocker channels. then align it all and shim. it looks like the front clip needs to go up in front and down by doors... did you grind all the old compound off the clip and body mounting surfaces? looks like pass door needs to go up in the front or a thinner washer on number 3 mount.
I would say the frame should be supported by having some wheels on it ,as it would when its on the ground first . Engine and gearbox in so it will sit as "normal" as possible , before adding glue .
how many shims are under the core support right now... mine ended up being atleaast 1/2 thick i spent alot of hours where you are right now.. new doors, reinstall front clip, repair body mounts, replace rocker channels. then align it all and shim. it looks like the front clip needs to go up in front and down by doors... did you grind all the old compound off the clip and body mounting surfaces? looks like pass door needs to go up in the front or a thinner washer on number 3 mount.
I don’t have any shims under the core support now. I will probably try that next. I don’t think the front clip can go down in the back anymore. It is already hitting the steel rocker channel on the bottom. I will play with it some more this week and see what I can get
I would say the frame should be supported by having some wheels on it ,as it would when its on the ground first . Engine and gearbox in so it will sit as "normal" as possible , before adding glue .
That was my plan once I got it close. My only concern with this is that I have adjustable spring perches in the front and an adjustable rear leaf spring so I don’t know if it is set level now.
As for the final door gap, if the doors are bare or empty you will need to add about 10 or 15 lbs of weight to each one which will cause them to sag, as if the windows etc were in place. Don't want to assume you know that but also didn't want you to go thru all the trouble of adjusting them only to have the gaps change once they are loaded up. Good luck.
That was my plan once I got it close. My only concern with this is that I have adjustable spring perches in the front and an adjustable rear leaf spring so I don’t know if it is set level now.
Yes , problem with that is , it will all change again when you reset it on its wheels , then you get to do it again anyway .
I would concentrate on getting the back of the door to body gaps right first , that way as you move forward you can actually really adjust the front clip to suit the rest of the car. But here's what I would do to it after I got it in the wheels supporting its weight position.
Try taking those outer braces off and loosen the 2 frame horn extensions and the support bar right at the front surround , put a jack under the middle of the big crossmember and lift it a touch , that should get the nose to hood level (or more level ) , if it looks like binding up ,it will tend to push the clip back to the windscreen , get 2 jacks under the horn extension(s) and go straight up. Or a combo of both , don't loosen those horns too much though , otherwise you can loose the adjustment when you tighten them up.
Are your inner guards still glued to the hood surround/guards ? if not then keep an eye on the front rubber strips on the tops of the inner guards , there should be some weight on them . You might want to remove both screws at the front clip door area for a while , forget the door gaps at this stage and concentrate on the top of the hood surround to windscreen area, that is the key area to get right . You say it had the problem before you pulled it apart , you might end up breaking the inner guards glue bond off and resetting them later .
Have you got the hood bolted down ?
If your planning on re-using the wiper door that should be in there now as well .
Looks like your missing the false 4th gill internals as well , they are part of the firewall and could have been a good guide to resetting .
The rad support is the nose support and the hood hinge mount.raise or lower that will not effect hood gap. Lowering hood hinges is difficult. Some have cut and re-welded them. If hood lines up good at hinge points but high or low at center, the headlight mpunting bar could be tweaked and holding hood surround at the wrong angle.
The rad support is the nose support and the hood hinge mount.raise or lower that will not effect hood gap.
It will effect the hood to hood surround gap at the front and height difference IF the inner guards are not bonded to the hood surround .Looking at the pictures shows a new inner guard in there , The OP didn't elaborate if those inner fenders were bonded or not .
In the third picture, it looks like the bolt on the trailing arm is in backwards. If you have to service it in the future, you will have to cut it out. The castle nut should be on the outside. Jerry
You can raise the hood by shimming under the hinges. Lower it a little by shimming under back bolt. I dunno about shimming the hood surround up higher off the inner fenders. The center of the hood. There is a brace goes from crossmember or air tank goes up to the center of the nose all way forward by bumper. I think it should go to the bigger metal bar behind the headlights. Mount between the vacuum solenoids. That is where the headlight weight has pulled down on the nose the last 50 years or so.
The doors are assembled with everything except the door skins right now. I am guessing the door skin would be a couple of pounds. I will have to keep that in mind when I adjust to get the final gap.
Yes , problem with that is , it will all change again when you reset it on its wheels , then you get to do it again anyway .
I would concentrate on getting the back of the door to body gaps right first , that way as you move forward you can actually really adjust the front clip to suit the rest of the car. But here's what I would do to it after I got it in the wheels supporting its weight position.
Try taking those outer braces off and loosen the 2 frame horn extensions and the support bar right at the front surround , put a jack under the middle of the big crossmember and lift it a touch , that should get the nose to hood level (or more level ) , if it looks like binding up ,it will tend to push the clip back to the windscreen , get 2 jacks under the horn extension(s) and go straight up. Or a combo of both , don't loosen those horns too much though , otherwise you can loose the adjustment when you tighten them up.
Are your inner guards still glued to the hood surround/guards ? if not then keep an eye on the front rubber strips on the tops of the inner guards , there should be some weight on them . You might want to remove both screws at the front clip door area for a while , forget the door gaps at this stage and concentrate on the top of the hood surround to windscreen area, that is the key area to get right . You say it had the problem before you pulled it apart , you might end up breaking the inner guards glue bond off and resetting them later .
Have you got the hood bolted down ?
If your planning on re-using the wiper door that should be in there now as well .
Looks like your missing the false 4th gill internals as well , they are part of the firewall and could have been a good guide to resetting .
I got the car put back on the wheels today and adjusted the ride height. Overall the gaps changed quite a bit and I think they look better than before. Just need to figure out how to get the front of the drivers side door up. I have adjusted the door hinges as much as I can right now and I don't think the fender can go down anymore.
- Looking at the hood this weekend, it looks like the left and right edges are fairly flush and just the center was low on the body side. I could push up on it really easily and get close to the same shape. I will see if I can get that to match better with the headlight support when I bond that back in. If that doesn't work I might put a Stut rod from the core support to this area to match up better.
- The inner fender wells are still attached to the front clip, I removed them as a whole unit. The way the previous owner bonded them will make it about impossible to separate them cleanly. When I removed it I had to remove the false 4th gills. There was some damage that I need to fix on them.
- Yes, the hood is bolted down, but I don't have the hood latches installed. I will have to get the wiper door in there as well to check that fitment.
In the third picture, it looks like the bolt on the trailing arm is in backwards. If you have to service it in the future, you will have to cut it out. The castle nut should be on the outside. Jerry
Good point. This is a toe adjustment nut I designed into the frame when I rebuilt it so I don't have to mess with shims. I had everything assembled before I set the body on it so I didn't have any issues installing. I will have to look at installing from the inside of the frame. Thanks
I realized that there is supposed to be a bracket holding the header support bar up on either end. I ordered the brackets the other day and they don't seem to line up. Is there any one who has a picture of these installed?
Your request is my pleasure. Just noticed mine yesterday and it has a lot of shims on it. Rt side has way less shims. This is also a 72 with a one piece aftermarket front clip. Notice I have a huge gap at the top of the inner fender liner and no foam there.
Body Reassembly Advice
