SWenholdIV

Can anybody tell me if there was a slight body line change in the thirdgen span of camaros? I'm of the opinion that the hood and/or the driver's side fender (at the very least) are from a different car as the degree of decay matches each other but not the rest of the car. I'm also starting to wonder though whether they're from different years because while ALL OTHER body lines match up, the top of the fender where it meets the door just will not match. here's pics..

Passenger's side CORRECT way:


and Driver's side, hopefully you can make out the little lift at the very top corner:


Again, all other body lines match, and yea its possible but I think it's unlikely its bent on accident because the hood seems to match it and I can't put it back with just careful firm pressure. Thoughts?

white gold 88

Looks like the front end is up on the drivers side or the front end is over toward the passenger side. Take it to a good body shop with frame and measuring equipment. They should be able to get it back right.

djjon76

Hi.
I've got exactly the same problem! In exactly the same position! So either we have both had an accident in exactly the same spot or something is not quite right. Even the gap between the door and the fender on yours looks the same as mine. Mine is a RHD so the fender is on my passenger side.

white gold 88

As someone has suggested before, you can measure the front with a ruler to check for squareness but the ruler must be kept straight. That's why we use tram gages.

SWenholdIV

no man nothing's out of squareness, the car's never even been in a recorded accident. EVERY other body line and EVERY other gap are perfect (including the middle of the fender with the middle of the door and between the fender and the bumper). The driver's side door doesn't even sag! And the car tracks nice and straight as well. I am gonna check the bottom fender lip, but like I said this is a very localized thing where only that small area is amiss.

HA! maybe your other fender is mine and I have yours

white gold 88

If you are sure the inner structure is right then you may be able to slide the sheet metal around. You'll have to loosen nearly everything that's attatched to the inner structure. There's a bolt on the front of the fenders, behind the headlight area also. You'll also need to loosen the headlight panel. There are alignment holes on the fenders and upper rails that you should be able to look at and tell if the fenders will move the direction you need.

The reason I say it looks like the front end is over is that on your passenger side the fender is against the a-pillar and even looks to be sitting inside of the door. The drivers side is the exact oppisite. Also the hood looks to be sitting forward on the drivers side, passenger side looks correct.

SWenholdIV

alright maybe I can explain better then I pictured lol. On the passenger's side, the top corner of the fender that's pictured lines up with the door (well the whole fender lines up with everything actually, but anyway) and it also lines up with the little indent in the a-pillar that seems to be for the fender to kind of overlap over for a nice solid squared look.

On the driver's side everything still matches up just like the driver's side, but it looks like somebody took their hand or something that could wrap behind the top corner closest to the a-pillar and pulled, bending the metal up and away from the a-pillar indent and the door lines at the window in that area ONLY.

And yes for the time being I adjusted the hood to get it to work temporarily (otherwise the hood was actually rubbing the driver's fender) so without a closer look the average joe wouldn't know the difference. So that's why there's also a slightly smaller gap on the driver's side. To get that I did loosen things up a little and retightened, but that didn't help the pull in the top of the fender.

LarryL

I had same problem when I replaced my fenders(new ones) and doors (used off same car). Mine I was able to pull door out on top with adjustment on top hindge. After that the door gaps were not right (between fender and door). Then had to move fender forward (moving to the front) this opened the gap up. Then I moved the whole front (by bumper) to make sure everything was square and gaps were close by door. I could never get it (the gap) perfect. As it turned out someone had replaced one door skin (I forget which side) and pulled the door skin to tight. It drove me crazy, I replaced the door skin now gap is much better. Yours really looks like it can be adjusted out like it said above. When you pull door out (top of door)and move the fender to the front hood will fit better. It is a pain.

djjon76

If it's not causing any damage to the door (eg the fender isn't rubbing on it) is this something that people would be able to live with? I know thats not the way it should be, but if its a PITA to fix, is it better to live with it and just tidy any paint damage etc?

Just throwing the idea out there.

Cheers

SWenholdIV

alright so I put a little bit more concerted thought into it yesterday (mind you I just got this car so I had only a little time to really focus on it before) and I realized the hood doesn't open really that easily. I mean it won't 'pop' up like it should. So I took whitegold's thoughts and ran with them. I started messing with moving sheetmetal around again. Once I started doing that I realized yea the driver's side fender is straight with the door, but it's way inside of where it should be in relavence to the tire and the hood and all. So slowly but surely I unbolted things and pryed on this and pulled on that and eventually (after dark) I got things looking good in their rough locations.

Unfortunately I need to get some shims for my door though because now in order for the front to be perfect, the fenders are now outside of the doors! and yes I did end up fixing the original problem with the fender and the apillar lol. After I did all this though, I just happened to look at the window of my driver's side door, and at the very top its barely touching the weatherstripping! So apparently when somebody put this car back together they just threw everything together without really caring at all (check the build thread for why I said that). Oh btw yes my bottom fender mount lip is ok, amazingly! (cuz I know that'd be the next question lol)

SWenholdIV

Well..if it's not causing paint damage and hurting anything then..yea I guess it could be lived with, but not for me. Clean is always the goal