Body shims without doors and front clip

[Steve L.]

I understand the concept of adjusting number of shims with doors and front clip in place. But if the doors are mounted with the hinge bolts loose on the birdcage A pillar and no front clip on a coupe, then the number of shims, IMO, seems less of an issue.

Why cannot the doors be adjusted for rear gap by moving the hinge placement since they are on slots anyways. Once the rear door gap is set, and the front clip goes on, the front door gaps can be adjusted by moving the front clip around prior to gluing it in.

Am I missing something here?

[Alan S.]

Re: Body shims without doors and front clip

Hi Steve,
I think you can do what you suggest.
The frame was measured for the # of body mount shims with no regard to the body that was to be placed on the frame.
The gaps for the doors and hood was mainly set by adjusting the hinges and the use of shims at the hinges as needed.
You MIGHT have to do a little body work on either the clip or doors to get just the front edge gap you're looking for, but that happens even on coupe bodies with little or no flex and factory bonded front clips.
Regards,
Alan

[Steve L.]

Re: Body shims without doors and front clip

Thanks Alan