Improving panel fit and alignment

[Paul M]

Hi All,

im in the process of improving my panel alignment for my 72 Mach 1 prior to paint, I have noticed a lot of issues with this. Firstly I have prepared all my panels first by bare metal stripping followed by, dolly repair, 2k etch, filler, then high fill 2k primer.

i have refitted the panels to the car at this point to look at the panel alignment with each other, with this I have found misalignment with most, after adjusting the fit multiple times I have locked them into position at the best point I can get through bolting, I still have issues with one of my doors about 1/8 from top to bottom with the gap at the door latch side, I am considering welding the edge of the door slowly to build up the edge to improve the fit ?
next the eurethane bumper does not fit well, not sure what I can do with this yet any ideas appreciated,

One of the front fender extensions does not fit nice, I would like to bend it about 1/16 but worried about it being brittle and snapping any ideas doing this ?

i have noticed the quarter panels do not marry with each other when fitting the trunk lid, maybe 3/16 out on one side , also one front indicator is approx 3/16 out compared to the other side.

to me it seems the car was not jigged perfectly prior to spot welding it together I say this as it has never had a major crash only superficial damage.

has anyone had similar experience with these issues? If so, how should I tackle them.

Regards

Terry from Australia.

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There's most likely significant body work covered up with bondo & little use of hammer n dolly. lay 3 pcs of paper next to one another, they all lay nice and flat. Now crinkle them up a little and lay them next to one another and you get undesirable gaps. I'd like to have seen it in bare metal before it was filled to make a better analysis. Also with weld repairs on these panels use a small mig usually set on the lowest setting. Jump around with the heat only using tack welds & a damp rag to cut down on heat warp.

 

[Paul M]

Hi everybody. I’m in a similar quandary. Planning to spray primer soon. Trying to fit Fenders, and they don’t align well. New aftermarket fenders fit beautifully at first, but now that doors and fenders have been removed, fenders seem to want to be forward a little. Has anybody flipped the fender washers from the mounting tab of the car, to the mounting tab on the fender? I feel like that might give me just enough forward movement to align well.
FYI, I have not moved hood or bumper intentionally, so as to keep a bit of a baseline.

Remove your fenders completely. install new bushings and pins in the doors and install them 1st, setting the gaps exact, add the fenders last. (I showed a lot of this in Media on this site). If you are using after mkt fenders the dies and tooling usually has flaws since they use what dies they can come up with even if they are worn out. With aftermarket you should expect to fight it for alignment to the point of excessive shimming even cutting n trimming. The fenders usually only need the top reward bolt shimmed and the bottom reward bolt shimmed, it kind of sandwiches the contour that meets the door.

 

[Ron Tanzi]

Fixing body panel alignment on older cars is about as enjoyable as being boiled in a vat of hot Crisco oil. It makes me insane. Then once the doors and fenders are aligned, you have to screw around with the windows because they will need to be adjusted. Then of course there is the hood!! Although my hood fits perfect the fender gaps are off at the tops where they meet the front doors. I have factory fenders and I had them off 20 years ago when I replaced the L & R front inner fender sheet metal with reproduction pieces and made any rust repair with the engine out. The shock towers were good and exactly where the factory put them. I realize panel fit on our cars (all cars of that era really) was less than stellar from the factory. It is rare to see a fastback that has a nice fitting trunk lid. I am interested to see what all the guys on the forum did to get their body panels gapped properly. Maybe I will be inspired to drive myself nuts and fix those gaps that I think maybe only I see. LOL.