Re-attaching front clip

[Steve L.]

I need to take the front clip off to rebond my firewall to the door pillars.

I've already looked at the method for removing the front clip but can someone fill me in on what to look out for and method of reattaching the same clip.

Currently the body is on a dolly and the doors are off. But I think I will reinstall the body on the frame without the front clip. Then reinstall the body with engine and suspension in place, probably with the doors installed and and lastely, reinstall the clip. Does this make sense?

Any advice would be appreciated.

[Chuck S.]

Re: Re-attaching front clip

I need to take the front clip off to rebond my firewall to the door pillars.

I've already looked at the method for removing the front clip but can someone fill me in on what to look out for and method of reattaching the same clip.

Currently the body is on a dolly and the doors are off. But I think I will reinstall the body on the frame without the front clip. Then reinstall the body with engine and suspension in place, probably with the doors installed and and lastely, reinstall the clip. Does this make sense?

Any advice would be appreciated.

In my opinion, you are on the right track to reinstall the body on the frame for the front clip installation. Reinstall the correct number of shims at the proper locations and torque the body bolts to specification. Reinstallation of the doors as a reference for door gaps should also be done. Reinstallation of the engine and suspension on the frame is is not required for the front clip installation in my opinion

Once the front clip is installed, all body work is complete, and body gaps adjusted, remove the body from the frame and reinstall it onto the dolly. Restore the frame and chassis components and reassemble the rolling chassis, then drop the painted body onto the restored rolling chassis. Some restorers prefer to paint the body on the restored chassis to avoid paint damage during the body drop, but it requires very careful masking and, inevitably in my opinion, touch up of your fresh chassis restoration. If you are careful, body paint damage can be avoided.

[Paul Y.]

Re: Re-attaching front clip

To make it easy to put the same front clip back on with screws, I drill the screw holes before I separate the bond. That way, I can put it back where it was for the proper door gap. If you are using clamps than this will not apply. I would drill screw holes in all of the areas where it is bonded to inner fenders also. This makes it easier to line back up where it came off. You will want to grind all of the old bonding agent off to the point where the front clip wants to hang where it should. Grinding off more bonding agent is better than leaving too much on because the new will fill in the gaps. I hope this makes sense to you. Paul

[Harmon C.]

Re: Re-attaching front clip

Don't just worry about the door gaps as they can look good and the hood won't fit. The hood hinges are mounted to the interfenders. If the hinge mount point is too high you will be in deep trouble as they don't make flater hinges. Make sure you are low or right on with the hood hinge pads.

[Chuck S.]

Re: Re-attaching front clip

Don't just worry about the door gaps as they can look good and the hood won't fit. The hood hinges are mounted to the interfenders. If the hinge mount point is too high you will be in deep trouble as they don't make flater hinges. Make sure you are low or right on with the hood hinge pads.

Excellent point...my 70 came from the factory with hinge pads just slightly high, and the factory used a body jig.

Hood fit problems on my car consist primarily of the front edge of the hood being high relative to the front fascia and, as you said, the hood can't be lowered because of the height of the hinges is fixed. The "lippage" can be reduced by adjusting the bracing under the front nose, but I haven't found that to be enough...I'll resume playing with it soon. Worst case, the perfect over-restoration will require some creative body work in the front hood gap area.

Actually, I guess the real "worst case" would be to have to break the bonds between the fenders and inner fenders and raise the fender height at the front of the hood. I've looked at that, and it's not something I want to take on because of the complicated joints at the front bulkhead; a lot of fiberglass damage would probably result, and I don't think it's worth it.

But, since Steve's objective is to simply rebond the entire front clip assembly firmly to the rear body, shouldn't the inner fenders remain bonded to the fenders as part of the assembly? In that case, shouldn't what he had regards hinge pad height remain the same?

[Steve L.]

Re: Re-attaching front clip

I don't intend on taking off the inner fenders. I just want to get to the firewall/doorpost bond area with the least amount of disturbance.

The screw holes, I gather are for holding the clip to the firewall pieces during bonding and for re-alignment of the clip. How do you fill in these screw holes once the bond has set? How many screws on each side would be required and what size of screws Would these be machined screws with nuts.

Thanks again

[Paul Y.]

Re: Re-attaching front clip

Drill the holes before you separate the front clip. Use small sheet metal screws when reassembling. Small screws with a small hex nut head are easiest to work with and can be handled easily with a 1/4 inch drive socket set. With the holes for the screws drilled before separation it will be easy to line every thing up. Drill every two to four inches. When rebonded, you can grind out a larger V over each hole and fill with small pieces of mat and resin, getting larger until a bit over flush with the body. After the fiberglas cures you can grind it down and finish it up by block sanding. Sand until it is flush and completely flat with the body panel. It will be undetectable and shrink and expand the same as the rest of the fiberglas. With it aligned properly for your door gaps all of the rest should stay in the same place also including the height of the hood hinge inner fender mounts.

[Harmon C.]

Re: Re-attaching front clip

I understand from your posts that the gap is too wide at the top now so you may not want to put the clip back where it was. I would drill the holes when I liked the fit and then bond it on.