What's the order of fitting body panels?

[rennch]

After my recent paint job, my fender and hood gaps are all over the place. So, I'm wondering which one to do first? Do I do my fenders first, then realign the hood? Or get the hood squared up, and then do each fender individually?


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[Dpmulvan]

Fenders first

[Iciclehead]

Originally Posted by Dpmulvan

Fenders first

Hmmm, I am willing to bow to the knowledge of my betters, but I did the fenders first on my '75 and had a hard time getting the hood right.

On my latest project I was going to do the hood first and then the fenders on the theory that I have more adjustability on the fenders (slotted and oversized holes and such).

I am sure no matter which path you pick, there is a degree of dicking around required....

Dennis

[rennch]

Originally Posted by Iciclehead

I am sure no matter which path you pick, there is a degree of dicking around required....

Dennis

LOL...yes, I'm sure that's true!

[911Freak]

Start with doors to rear quarter-panels, then front fenders to doors, then hood to cowl & fenders...

This process works well not only fine tuning "post paint" but also for re-boding a car (as the 50+ Singers I did).

Most importantly it should be done before paint.

While you are doing all the bodywork etc, dry fit everything, once fitment is perfect; drill 1-2 small 1/8" alignment holes in the door hinges, door strike, deck-lid hinges, hood hinges (both on the hood as well the hinge to body) etc.. After paint it makes getting the perfect panel alignment less time consuming.

HTH

[arrivederci]

Originally Posted by 911Freak

Start with doors to rear quarter-panels, then front fenders to doors, then hood to cowl & fenders...

This process works well not only fine tuning "post paint" but also for re-boding a car (as the 50+ Singers I did).

Most importantly it should be done before paint.

While you are doing all the bodywork etc, dry fit everything, once fitment is perfect; drill 1-2 small 1/8" alignment holes in the door hinges, door strike, deck-lid hinges, hood hinges (both on the hood as well the hinge to body) etc.. After paint it makes getting the perfect panel alignment less time consuming.

HTH

This ^^^. The idea is to work from back to front since the doors have to align to the rear quarters first. I did all of this except the small 1/8" alignment holes prior to painting.

[rennch]

Originally Posted by arrivederci

This ^^^. The idea is to work from back to front since the doors have to align to the rear quarters first. I did all of this except the small 1/8" alignment holes prior to painting.

Great! Thanks man!!


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[Shaun @ Tru6]

Originally Posted by 911freak

start with doors to rear quarter-panels, then front fenders to doors, then hood to cowl & fenders...

This process works well not only fine tuning "post paint" but also for re-boding a car (as the 50+ singers i did).

Most importantly it should be done before paint.

While you are doing all the bodywork etc, dry fit everything, once fitment is perfect; drill 1-2 small 1/8" alignment holes in the door hinges, door strike, deck-lid hinges, hood hinges (both on the hood as well the hinge to body) etc.. After paint it makes getting the perfect panel alignment less time consuming.

Hth

+1

[Canada Kev]

Originally Posted by 911Freak

Start with doors to rear quarter-panels, then front fenders to doors, then hood to cowl & fenders...

This process works well not only fine tuning "post paint" but also for re-boding a car (as the 50+ Singers I did).

Most importantly it should be done before paint.

While you are doing all the bodywork etc, dry fit everything, once fitment is perfect; drill 1-2 small 1/8" alignment holes in the door hinges, door strike, deck-lid hinges, hood hinges (both on the hood as well the hinge to body) etc.. After paint it makes getting the perfect panel alignment less time consuming.

HTH

This makes perfect sense as the quarter panels aren't gonna move, so get the gaps from there to the doors right. Then, as the doors should now be correct, align the fenders to those. And then the hood 'cause you already got the fenders all done up nice.

The drilling holes to keep track of the alignment you spent so much energy on is a great idea!

[Iciclehead]

Originally Posted by Canada Kev

This makes perfect sense as the quarter panels aren't gonna move, so get the gaps from there to the doors right. Then, as the doors should now be correct, align the fenders to those. And then the hood 'cause you already got the fenders all done up nice.

The drilling holes to keep track of the alignment you spent so much energy on is a great idea!

I think the order makes sense with one thought to add. it is important to keep the edges of the front fenders aligned with the front of the hood. My issue was that one fender was a little higher than the other at the front so initially my hood did not line up well it needed a little "twist".

I did fiddle it to be pretty good, but based on the knowledge from this thread what I would do is the order as described, but only put a few bolts in the fenders (front and back of them) and then fit the hood....that way if I need to move one fender up or down a little it would be only a couple of bolts and plus I'd want to do it before the Terosat ribbon/sealer got too good of a grip.

Dennis

[Omegaman]

I started by fitting the hood, got it lined up with the windscreen panel, then front fenders, doors, sills, engine lid aligned with rear window panel and finally the rear quarters. Came out really good.

[Omegaman]

I figured there was no way of knowing if the door was in the correct position, the windscreen panel hadn't moved so aligning the hood to that was the only reference.