tighening up the gaps
Some simple, light hammering can make a lot happen, too.
That's what I do. Set the doors to the quarters and check window seal. Set the hood to the cowl, set the fenders.
I'm working on one of those. It has reasonable gaps. Same color, too. All original.
Here are a couple of tricks that I've noticed with the A body cars-
-Decklid panel alignment on '70 up cars is something to be desired, because of the poorly manufactured hinges. They curve too far back on the design and in order to get some of them to come forward and align with the quarter extensions, you need to open up the hinge insert rectangular holes a bit, for the decklid to slide forward.
-Door weatherstrip and window seals at the front edge suck. This is usually due to a chain of events in fitting, caused by poorly stamped fenders. This is a relatively easy fix.
In order to get the door to align with the fender, they shim the crap out of the door hinge on the car. Take them out. That will help the front vent window or one piece glass (duster/demon/sport/late dart/ scamp) seal against the A pillar.
After you've done that the fender will usually not come in any further to meet the door. This is because the corner of the fender that meets the cowl is too long. If you hammer the radius and make it larger, the fender can come in, which also helps the fender to hood gap.
-Upper quarter panel to door (concave area) belt line to body line is usually garbage. This is because they got a bit lazy at the factory, when they welded the complete quarter panel to the door jamb rise. This is also an easy fix.
After you've fitted the front of the door loose with no shims, align the lower body lines of the door against the quarter panel and tighten the door so it has a nice gap against the quarter. Ignore the top/ belt alignment for now.
Be sure to check the door fitment with your glass and window frame (if applicable) with regulator and no striker. this will give you the correct weight and will not rely on the striker to correct the door open and close motion. The striker and latch are there to hold the door shut. Not to correct alignment.
After the door is where you like it in the frame, bump the top of the quarter panel down, at the top of the belt line, right next to the door. There is a thin spot in the front, leading edge of the quarter skin, where it is spot welded to the jamb, right where the concave area peaks. If it doesn't tweak enough to allow the belt line areas to align (where the window felts are), you can drill the spot welds at the concave area, in the jamb and bump it down lightly, then re-weld. Most of the time, a few strikes with a mallet is enough to work.
Before I started on the Scamp, it had acceptable gaps, but after rebuilding the door hinges and seeing a heavy shim in them, I knew I could make an improvement without much work and it paid off.
Just be thankful that you can adjust it. I had to do everything on this car with a welder, lead substitute and a file;
Unified front clip to cowl and rocker = zero gap adjustment on all hinged panels. If I tighten up somewhere, I open somewhere else.
That car was so flimsy that I actually built the drivetrain and suspension when I did bodywork, set weights in the doors to emulate loaded condition for panel alignment and eliminate panel dive.
My favorite part was the front trunk lid. If you try to flex the hinges to get it to move one way or another, you will destroy the cam ratchet prop mechanisms inside. Zero deflection. It is also held level with the fenders, with solid rubber weatherstrip, so I got to mask the weatherstrip with a layer of masking tape and install it, to check body work for panel fitment, during every stage. I discovered that duct tape was too thick and threw panel alignment off and got to redo the entire front end alignment.
Some simple, light hammering can make a lot happen, too.
That's what I do. Set the doors to the quarters and check window seal. Set the hood to the cowl, set the fenders.
I'm working on one of those. It has reasonable gaps. Same color, too. All original.
Here are a couple of tricks that I've noticed with the A body cars-
-Decklid panel alignment on '70 up cars is something to be desired, because of the poorly manufactured hinges. They curve too far back on the design and in order to get some of them to come forward and align with the quarter extensions, you need to open up the hinge insert rectangular holes a bit, for the decklid to slide forward.
-Door weatherstrip and window seals at the front edge suck. This is usually due to a chain of events in fitting, caused by poorly stamped fenders. This is a relatively easy fix.
In order to get the door to align with the fender, they shim the crap out of the door hinge on the car. Take them out. That will help the front vent window or one piece glass (duster/demon/sport/late dart/ scamp) seal against the A pillar.
After you've done that the fender will usually not come in any further to meet the door. This is because the corner of the fender that meets the cowl is too long. If you hammer the radius and make it larger, the fender can come in, which also helps the fender to hood gap.
-Upper quarter panel to door (concave area) belt line to body line is usually garbage. This is because they got a bit lazy at the factory, when they welded the complete quarter panel to the door jamb rise. This is also an easy fix.
After you've fitted the front of the door loose with no shims, align the lower body lines of the door against the quarter panel and tighten the door so it has a nice gap against the quarter. Ignore the top/ belt alignment for now.
Be sure to check the door fitment with your glass and window frame (if applicable) with regulator and no striker. this will give you the correct weight and will not rely on the striker to correct the door open and close motion. The striker and latch are there to hold the door shut. Not to correct alignment.
After the door is where you like it in the frame, bump the top of the quarter panel down, at the top of the belt line, right next to the door. There is a thin spot in the front, leading edge of the quarter skin, where it is spot welded to the jamb, right where the concave area peaks. If it doesn't tweak enough to allow the belt line areas to align (where the window felts are), you can drill the spot welds at the concave area, in the jamb and bump it down lightly, then re-weld. Most of the time, a few strikes with a mallet is enough to work.
Before I started on the Scamp, it had acceptable gaps, but after rebuilding the door hinges and seeing a heavy shim in them, I knew I could make an improvement without much work and it paid off.
Just be thankful that you can adjust it. I had to do everything on this car with a welder, lead substitute and a file;
Unified front clip to cowl and rocker = zero gap adjustment on all hinged panels. If I tighten up somewhere, I open somewhere else.
That car was so flimsy that I actually built the drivetrain and suspension when I did bodywork, set weights in the doors to emulate loaded condition for panel alignment and eliminate panel dive.
My favorite part was the front trunk lid. If you try to flex the hinges to get it to move one way or another, you will destroy the cam ratchet prop mechanisms inside. Zero deflection. It is also held level with the fenders, with solid rubber weatherstrip, so I got to mask the weatherstrip with a layer of masking tape and install it, to check body work for panel fitment, during every stage. I discovered that duct tape was too thick and threw panel alignment off and got to redo the entire front end alignment.
