Finer Points Of Aligning Front Sheet Metal?

Cool Beans · Apr 26, 2015

So I've purchased new fender extensions, a new bumper, bumper brackets, valance, stone guard support brackets, and stone guard (which was way off from factory, I've tried to tweak and salvage it).

I've got the rear hood (original) to cowl gap set @ 5/16". Fenders (original) to hood gap is approx. 1/4". The new fender extensions actually fit pretty well to the original fenders. Standing there looking at the front of the car from the top, it looks pretty good.

The issues I'm having are with the new valance sheet metal and bumper. Do I align the bottom of the fenders in/out in relation to the poorly fitting valance? Or is there a measurement I should start from for the in/out of the bottom of the fenders and beat the valance into position? The same goes for the stone guard. I cut and bent it out a bit to match the original piece better. There is a 1/4" of adjustment on each end for the fenders to adjust.

As it sits now, I just bolted everything together as best it would fit to see where I stood. I then bolted the bumper on and it is 3/8" of an inch to far to the drivers side and it is adjusted all the way to the passenger. Is this a symptom of the sheet metal being out of whack, the brackets, or the frame?

Note, most of the front clip that I've replaced is due to what looks like a fender bender. Nothing major that I see. I've taken a couple diagonal dimensions across the engine bay and everything is close. Worst was 1/4" off, but that was also the least accurate points I picked (cowl to firewall flange to center of fender bolt head). Not sure how to check the frame but there isn't any evidence of buckles, cracks, welding, etc.

There is a rule about engine alignments in boats; "The tail wags the dog". Where ever the shaft coupler ends up during setup, all the machinery is adjusted to fit that. You do not pull the coupler to the motor. Is there such a rule about aligning the front clip?

Please help! I'm not trying to restore her right now, I just don't want to look to bad going to shows this summer I will post pictures later.

Thanks!

horse sence · Apr 27, 2015

Always start you sheet metal alignment with the doors .get the door to quarter gap and the door to rocker gap set first .Next is the hood ,set your gap to the cowl and edge of hood to edge of cowl ,you may need to adjust the hood hinges to get the tops to fit flush .You want a straight line between the hood and cowl .Next will be the fenders ,you want the fender tight to the cowl and a good gap at the door and fender .the fender to hood gap should be done at the same time .I have found it best to fit the headlight buckets to the fenders before the fender is bolted on the car ,it is a lot less trouble . You may need to adjust the front of the door in or out to align with the fender so expect to take the fenders off a couple of times .The stone deflector should be next ,then the front valance .You will probably have to form the valance ,especially aftermarket valances to make them flow with the edge of the front fenders .
The shelf the fenders bolt to on the inner fender aprons can sometimes be bent out of shape ,especially on 65-66 if the fenders have been off because that flap of metal bends very easily .It can be bent up or down if you have problems with the fender and hood being flush down the top ..
This should get you started ,there are other methods that may be needed such as forming of the pieces to make it align better ,if that is needed and you want to know what to do just ask .

Cool Beans · May 17, 2015

I appreciate the write up and sorry for the late response. . .every other project besides this one is taking precedence right now. Hopefully in a couple weekends I will get out there and try this out. I will report back with pics and I'm sure more questions!

Thanks!

Cool Beans · Jun 27, 2015

Man it took awhile to get back to this. . .Here is my first crack at this. It also illustrates, at least in my eyes, the poor fitment of new sheet metal. The biggest issues I see are that the ends of the valance are too round vs the fender, and the bumper needs to shift over another 3/8" to the passenger side but I've run out of adjustment. And, if I shift it over farther it will pull the bumpers center off to one side, lol.

So, what's the next step? What point do I stop shifting pieces, and make the decision to start cutting/hammering/welding?
Thanks!

Cool Beans · Jun 27, 2015

Valance end curves. Suggestions on how to pix this? I was thinking to cut the curved portion free from the lip that bolts to the fender, then fold/curve it to fit and weld it back together? Or should I order a new piece?

horse sence · Jun 27, 2015

Is it possible your bumper brackets are bent ?
you may have the front sheet metal shifted to one side ,measure from the side of the front rails to the out side of the fender on both sides and see if they are the same .
Get some heavy ply wood and trace the front of the fender at the front valance ,cut the ply wood as smooth as possible and place it inside the valance .You may be able to clamp the valance at the top and bottom flange that bolts to the fender ,gently hammer the edge at the side of the lip on the valance until it draws the side of the valance in and touches the ply wood .you can use a piece of hard wood against the side of the valance to hammer on to keep from denting the valance ,or use a hard face plastic hammer . The ply wood will act as a form .

Cool Beans · Jun 27, 2015

Hmm, I will get out there tomorrow and take some measurements. The bumper brackets are new. The originals were in bad shape. The plywood idea is pretty slick! I never would have though to do something like that.

Thanks!

Cool Beans · Jun 28, 2015

So. . .there is a 1/4" difference to the drivers side if my rough measurements are in anyway accurate. but, that would require a 1/8" shift to the passenger side. . .which means the bumper would need to be moved even farther over to be passenger side to center up. I also put the tape on the bumper, and from the "center"(the middle point of the bumper) the bolts are off 1/4". Could be my measuring, but. . .

horse sence · Jun 28, 2015

I did have a new bumper that fit farther to one side ...on a 67 fast back .The brackets were good and when i took the bumper back off i could see one side was in a different angle on the sides .I actually bent the side sticking out the most with a rubber hammer ,it really didn't take a lot to bend it .I would check the bumper again .Trace the bumper on a large piece of card board ,flip the bumper over and see if it still looks the same against the tracing .

Cool Beans · Jul 12, 2015

So! I traced and flipped the bumper, and it was indeterminable really. . .so I marked the bolt holes and drew a grid on the tracing. Measurements on each side show the bumper is more or less equal. Everything fits OK, not perfect, but good enough. . .so I just opened the holes in the bumper brackets up so I could slide it over and bolted it down. Is that cheating? I also put the rear valance on which fit much better than the front. Still not perfect, neither is the new bumper, but looks good.

The most important thing? I put enough bolts back in to keep it together and went driving

candphall · Jul 12, 2015

Perfect is over rated

Cool Beans · Jul 19, 2015

Yeah, I realize these cars were never perfect from the factory. . .it's hard to not reach for perfection "while you're at it" though. . .

I have a sig quote from another forum I might need to copy here to remind me. . .

"The Perfect is the enemy of The Good"

Finer Points Of Aligning Front Sheet Metal?

Cool Beans

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