I've been lookin at a few C5's this past week 2002-2003's. One particular car I like, the gap between the front of the passenger door and the front fender is inconsistant and quite tight towards the bottom. Is this typical GM tolerance or should there be more cause for concern. Car has very low mileage and I checked everywhere for repaint etc and find nothing. Is it easy to realign the fender / door without the paint being peeled or disturbed (visable to the eye?)
I also noticed on some cars the fit between the back of the headlight and the hood seems inconsistant (some higher than others) guess it's just luck of the draw?

 

My front fender / drivers door fit is terrible, but factory original .

 

I haven't looked at too many Vettes up close (except my own...I'm a newbie), and my panels match up very good, so I am not for sure on how the panel fitment is on them, but here are some things to look for (not limited to) when you find a suspect something is up.

--Run a CarFax report first. Check for major previous damage
--Check the orange peel. I know GM has some thick orange peel on their cars (both my Vette and my TA has quite a bit), so be sure this is consistent between the fender and the door and the other panels in question. They must match perfect as far as the peel goes.
--Of course, also check for color match between panels, or look for a 'blend' (stand back far and look at different angles for a subtle color change, especially in metallics)
--Check for paint edges inside the panels (fender and door edges).
--Look for where any bolts have been loosened and the panels moved, then the bolts retightened. You should see evidence of this if they have been changed.

As far as your question about re-aligning, keep in mind, when you start working on the one gap in question (door and the fender), and you get this aligned, you will probably throw off the hood to fender alignment. So this could turn into quite a project.

Hope this helps!

Good luck! Hope it all works out for you!

Scott

 

Mine was off a little from the factory but not what you seem to be describing. I got hit in the drivers door and the entire drivers side was redone. The body shop got rid of that defect and the "factory" orange peel. It's amazing how bad GM paint is. Most of us don't realize until you have a Vette redone by a competent body shop.

I too would run Carfax but be aware. Mine had $12k in damage and it doesn't show up in Carfax. It just depends on what the body shop reports. It's a good resource but remember "garbage in garbage out" applies.

 

I will check all the paper routes I can. Just wondering about your first hand experiences. True about the orange peel...some are better than others from what i've seen so far. Thanx 4 input.