C1 Door and truck lid fit

[Thomas R.]

Being new to C1, I have spent a lot time searching through the archives to get a sense for how well the doors and trunk lid fit on C1, in particular '61. Some say the body fit is poor to begin, others say if body has been off the frame and was not shimmed back that causes major issues or overzealous restoration can make a mess.

The '61 I'm looking at, the doors are are kicked out at bottom to rear qrtr maybe a 1/4". The drivers side door does not line up with the front fender body line, out maybe 1/8". Looking down the side of the body it is very noticeable (drivers side lined up pretty nice). Is this usual, can it be "adjusted" to to at least look good from 5 feet away?

thanks!

[Dennis A.]

Re: C1 Door and truck lid fit

Thomas...

These sound like they can be adjusted from the door hinges. Certainly the front is nothing more than moving the door forward a little. Biggest door problem is when the rear of the body requires shims under the rear mounting bolts to bring the body post towards the rear opening of the doors. This is not as hard as it sounds, but takes a little effort. I'm not sure why the bottom of the doors are kicked out the 1/4"? Working with doors requires two people, one to hold everything in position while the bolts are being torqued.

[Ed Jennings]

Re: C1 Door and truck lid fit

There is certianly considerable variation from car to car as far a body panel fit goes. I have seen a lot of 61-2 trunk lids that do not fit real well, and the door-out-at-the-bottom syndrome is not uncommon either. In amny cases adjustments can be made to make these panels better, but many were not perfect on day one.

[Wayne P.]

Re: C1 Door and truck lid fit

What you describe sounds very normal. It's about a description for my 62 that is untouched from factory assembly.