Jorlain

iTrader: (4)

Hello, everyone!

My car will finally be rolling in for paint here in a couple weeks, so I'm test fitting panels and trying to get everything aligned. The passenger door, both fenders, and hood came from my parts car to replace rusty pieces, and I'm having a hell of a time getting them aligned. I was able to slot the holes slightly for the upper hinge bolts on the door to get that pretty close at the rear of the door and along the rocker. The fenders are being a nightmare. The driver side sits nearly a quarter of an inch deeper at the bottom compared to the door and rocker panel. The passenger side is quite the opposite.

Anyone have any tips for getting everything aligned? I've had the car torn apart for a long time. Maybe I'm just forgetting or overlooking something. Also, what's the general consensus on panel gaps? I was shooting for about the thickness of a paint stick but I'm not sure if that's being too optimistic at this point or not.

Thanks in advance!
Mike

TransamGTA350

iTrader: (2)

The lower fender mount pinch seams are typical spots that get crushed from improper jacking. It's possible that yours are distorted and/or the donor fenders are distorted. The pinch seams can usually be persuaded back pretty close to the original location. On the fender that is too deep, you may need to use shims. On the one that is too far out, it sounds like the pinch seam is pushed out too far and may need to be bent back in. Also, if you need more up/down/front or rear movement of the fender bottom and elongating the hole in the fender won't work, you can carefully cut the threaded nut off of the backside of the pinch seam, reposition it and tack weld it in place.

Are all of the donor body panels OEM? The fit of the aftermarket stuff is pretty bad, especially fenders.

Thickness of a paint stick is about right for panel gaps.

Jorlain

iTrader: (4)

They all are OEM panels, as far as I know. That's a good point about the pinch welds. The one on the passenger side was tweaked a bit, if memory serves. I did move it a bit to get it vertical again. Maybe it was pushed\pulled side to side and I failed to notice. I'll scope it out this afternoon and see what I can come up with.

BIRD91ZRAG

iTrader: (1)

I see you're in Brainerd? I used to vacation in Aitkin County, and go to Pillager to fish the Crow Wing River...

Jorlain

iTrader: (4)

Haha! Yep! I grew up in Aitkin, actually. I've lived in the Brainerd area most of my adult life, though (not hat it's real far from Aitkin). Small world.

BIRD91ZRAG

iTrader: (1)

We would stay at Edgewater Beach Resort, on Cedar Lake. I'm thinking of coming up and visiting some friends up there this July, maybe going to the Street Machine Nationals in the cities too.