macraekw

I was installing the upper radiator shroud and found that the passenger side holes do not line up – the shroud holes are about ˝” high compared to the inner fender fresh air intake bracket. The radiator support holes and radiator weld nuts are fairly well lined up with the inner fender bracket. If anything, they are a little low. I believe that I should be able to be adjusted by shimming the radiator support.

http://s1076.photobucket.com/user/macraekw/library/

This got me to wondering how to raise the inner fender fresh air bracket which caused me to investigate further. The driver side inner fender skirt is about 3/8” above the frame horn. The passenger side is right on the horn – in fact, the skirt is resting on the sway bar bracket. I then measured the height from the floor to the top of the wheel wells and the passenger side is 3/8” lower than the driver side at both the front and rear wheels. So, the body is obviously sitting low on the frame on the passenger side

I did an initial fit of the front bumpers and the driver side bumper has a 5/16” clearance from the body on the top. The passenger bumper is only about 1/16”. This got me to thinking that this level issue may be also causing the gap between the body and the corner of the passenger side windshield – (there is no gap on the driver side).

The passenger door gap is uniform around the perimeter and the door shuts nicely and is flush with the body surfaces. The driver side gap is fairly good but it’s still a little close at the top rear which is why I added another shim to the rear outboard body mount point on the driver side. Attached are some photos and a diagram showing the shim count at the various body mount points.

Should I add/remove shims at the eight passenger compartment body mount points to equalize the body height disparity from side-to-side? Should I also try and raise the nose by leaving the four inner fender to radiator support bolts in place and jack up the support then add some more shims to the third arm radiator support mount point?

I’ve learned from online forums that the shroud should be fitted during the body mount process and of course, I didn’t do this nor did I keep track of the shims removed when I did a body-off 30 some years ago, but that’s all water under the bridge.

JohnZ

How about a clue as to what year we're talking about?

AZDoug

Based on the pics, it appears to be '59 or '60. Possibly a '58.

You may need to elongate the holes in the radiator shroud on both sides.

First thing i would do is get the car on level ground and measure the frame to floor distance at different, and exactly opposite points of both sides front and back and then also the body to floor, Inside of wheel fender lip, and also headlight bucket mounting to find out what is "off", i wouldn't try to adjust the body to fit the frame or shroud unless something is off.

Doug

macraekw

Thank you Doug. You're right - it's a 60. I should have mentioned that..

MOXIE62

On a few C1's I've had to enlarge the holes to fit. I know, should not have to do this but sometimes there is no other fix. Al least that I could find. Most of the time the head of the bolt covers the bubba fix.

macraekw

I re-shimmed the five body points on the passenger side to level the body side-to-side by adding two shims to each of the outboard passenger compartment mount points and to the right rear by the trunk. While it leveled the body from side to side, it didn't have much effect at the front of the car. I'm thinking that I need to shim the radiator support to raise the front of the car. Any comments from anyone else?