Fender Alignment on 66 Dart

[DaveZee]

Hey Guys-
How hard is it to align the fenders with the hood on a 66 Dart? Is it just loosening some bolts, or is it a major project?

Thanks!

Dave

 

[Roberson_Tech]

depends what is out of alignment :worthles:

 

[66dartman]

just put new fenders on my 66 over the summer and I think there is enough slop in the bolt holes the you can move the fender around and align it pretty close. The doner car had a shim under the passenger side upper stud near the windshield post, but my car did not need it. They aligned easier than I thought they would.

 

[Roberson_Tech]

on the 65 4 door I had to have the frame worked on and after that they still did not line up, there is a lot of slop in the fenders and hood adjustment but the inner fenders need to be in the correct location.

It is very easy to pull the front clip off here are some shots from the 4 door you can see the mounting points.

 

[Roberson_Tech]

before and after

 

[DaveZee]

Here is a pic. Passenger side isn't too bad, but the driver side is pretty rough.

 

[Roberson_Tech]

have you tried to move the hood back on drivers side split the differerence betweeen fenders, look at the angle I took the last photo. site down the line like that too see if hood or fender is off.

 

[daves66valiant]

ouch

 

[OldVart]

Usually the easiest way to align front fenders on any vehicle is after the doors have been installed and properly aligned. Once your doors are perfectly positioned, you then use the front edge of the doors as your starting point to align the fenders. There's lots of alignment room on those fenders, and with the use of shims and a little push / pull here and there the fenders should align correctly. Keep taking measurements as you go to ensure that everything is staying square, or your hood will never fit correctly. Once you have the fenders aligned where they should be, just snug down the retaining bolts, then align the hood to the cowl, then to the fenders. It is fairly simple, but I must admit that I've invented some new cuss words getting some of them aligned properly over the years.

 

[1966 dart wagon]

very good lookin 66, :thumblef: glad to see u fixed it, and do what those other guys said put the fenders on and leave the bolts tight then put on the hood and have that loose to so u can adjust everything and such