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Ok. Newbie to the C3 and unlike me made more of an impulse buy then a research buy on my 68. Any ways after getting the car home and ordering a bunch of suspension parts I realized the top of the front fenders do not line up with the window molding or the doors. Remember the newbie part please and don’t crucify me for my ignorance but I had no idea the front clip was epoxied to the car. It would appear that who ever installed the one piece clip didn’t do the best job. It looks like the front clip is separating from the body. See pictures. My question, is there a fix that does not require the complete removal of the clip or am I better off pulling it and starting over. Any help or suggestions are much appreciated!
Thanks
Travis
Last edited by Travis S; Sep 17, 2022 at 09:29 PM.
It LOOKS like rust has pushed things around under the fibreglass panel . Hard to say from those pics . Can you open the doors wide and take some more pics of that area from the other side .
Get the car out on the driveway and some good side pics showing the gaps at the doors , front and back , both sides , close up and further back to get a proper perspective .
Also closed hood gaps all around . Bottom of the rear of each front guard to under door trim .
It LOOKS like rust has pushed things around under the fibreglass panel . Hard to say from those pics . Can you open the doors wide and take some more pics of that area from the other side .
Get the car out on the driveway and some good side pics showing the gaps at the doors , front and back , both sides , close up and further back to get a proper perspective .
Also closed hood gaps all around . Bottom of the rear of each front guard to under door trim .
Thanks for the response, I have been out of town but here are some more pictures. I can’t get the car out in the driveway right now because the front suspension is off the car. That is why I was hoping to figure out how big of issue I have. Don’t want to put the new RideTech suspension on a car that needs to much work.
Here are a couple of the passenger side, it has a little separation but not as bad and the hood lines up better.
Did you take the inside kick panels off and have a look ? They are at your feet when you sit in the car , taking them off allows you to see the A pillar base , which is a great tell-tale as to the condition of the windscreen surround . You have to take off the big aluminum scuff plate first as that overlaps the edge of the kick panel , then there a screw up under the dash to get out .
It's hard to say just how bad it is , but unfortunately it looks like rust has weakened the outside of the corner below the windshield and the fibre glass piece that is rivetted onto it has come away . That is what the top edge of the guard is supposed to be glued to (yours probably still is ) , but now it ( looks to be) floating free. Can you move the edge in or out a bit by hand ? you shouldn't be able to budge it ,but it normally sits closer to the screen . Your also missing the stainless trim on each corner and the one on the wiper door. With the trim on you can get a better idea of where it's supposed to be.
Did you take the inside kick panels off and have a look ? They are at your feet when you sit in the car , taking them off allows you to see the A pillar base , which is a great tell-tale as to the condition of the windscreen surround . You have to take off the big aluminum scuff plate first as that overlaps the edge of the kick panel , then there a screw up under the dash to get out .
It's hard to say just how bad it is , but unfortunately it looks like rust has weakened the outside of the corner below the windshield and the fibre glass piece that is rivetted onto it has come away . That is what the top edge of the guard is supposed to be glued to (yours probably still is ) , but now it ( looks to be) floating free. Can you move the edge in or out a bit by hand ? you shouldn't be able to budge it ,but it normally sits closer to the screen . Your also missing the stainless trim on each corner and the one on the wiper door. With the trim on you can get a better idea of where it's supposed to be.
Did you paint it the black or dark grey color ?
Here is some pictures of behind the kick, not the best but what I could get with my phone.
There is a slight surface rust but nothing I would consider bad. I can push in the upper corner of the fender with just my thumb and medium pressure.
Car was painted cyber grey metallic by the previous owner. Actually looks great on the car and there is nothing original about it so I was fine with it. The rear end was flared like a 70 which looks better to me. The doors are ether really late 68 or more then likely 69. Have a ton receipts from the early 2000’s that would leave me to believe someone did a frame off restoration but between now and then was completely neglected. Into to the car 14,000. Don’t mind spending some on the body but don’t want to head down a money pit rabbit hole ether. I appreciate any guidance! If I should cut bait and start over then that’s what I will do. Won’t be the first car I lost money on!
There has sure been some kind of work going on under the dash . Firstly ,what I can see is someone has hand laid glass outside the pillar down to the floor area. All the original panels were press molded . Maybe they cut away the floor area to access the pillar for rust repair . If your happy with the inside of the pillar condition then that's cool .
You shouldn't be able to move the top edges of the guards at all . So I think I guessed it , the fibre glass has come away from the steel windscreen surround . each side has 3 big rivets holding the brace part (which the guard gets glued too. Here's an old pic showing a trial fit of the firewall on a 69 . Lotsa rust cut out of that car .
What Im talking about is the "7" looking piece right by the door opening , its only got two rivets in it in this pic but that is what the guard gets glued to .
The big question is just what do you want to fix ? As in how far do you want to go ? First thing is any serious repair work is going to damage that paint .
Getting the guards to firewall unglued is a major head f**k . That false gill area is just a nightmare. It's doable with a heat gun and PATIENCE . But I can't see the side of the car from far enough away to see if the guard has been glued back on wrong or someone pumped bog in there to try and stop any water leaks and hold it together or what ! If it's just the area at the top of the guard that's bugging you , people have cut that part off to allow access to the corner of the surround for repairs and glassed the section back on .
It have heard that the factory made each car fit its doors as it was glued together and file finished the edges . So that could be a factor in why the gaps are in yours too.
The big question is just what do you want to fix ? As in how far do you want to go ? First thing is any serious repair work is going to damage that paint .
Getting the guards to firewall unglued is a major head f**k . That false gill area is just a nightmare. It's doable with a heat gun and PATIENCE . But I can't see the side of the car from far enough away to see if the guard has been glued back on wrong or someone pumped bog in there to try and stop any water leaks and hold it together or what ! If it's just the area at the top of the guard that's bugging you , people have cut that part off to allow access to the corner of the surround for repairs and glassed the section back on .
It have heard that the factory made each car fit its doors as it was glued together and file finished the edges . So that could be a factor in why the gaps are in yours too.
I don’t mind work but paint and body are not speciality. I have watched and read a few things on front clip removal and install. Think I could do it and then have a pro sand and paint. At this point I have no sentimental attachment to the car so what I don’t want to do is drop thousands into something and end up spending more then just replacing it.
Unfortunately the upper corners are not the only issue with the front end. The way the inner fenders are attached don’t look right to me. The right front corner of clip by the hood and headlight has a small dip in it. (Don’t really know how to explain it). Anyways I think your right and it has to come off.
I should have done a better job inspecting the car or stuck to my C6 and C7 wheel house, LOL! I made the mistake in my head of thinking I was getting what I thought was a good deal at 14 and even if I doubled that to fix any issues I would be sitting good. Think I would blow past that figure fixing it.
1968 front clip issues
