Front Clip not fitting - How many shims were used at the front Radiator Support?

[Scott S.]

Re: Front Clip not fitting - How many shims were used at the front Radiator Support?

Scott, may sound like a stupid question but why is the front glass being replaced? Was the car wrecked ?

Brad, thanks for the reply.

This car was involved in a front end collision of some kind around 1971. When the paint was stripped we discovered that the front RH side of the car and nose had been replaced with panels from 1963-1964 (off-white fiberglass) and a RH fender vent panel from a red 1967. The RH inner fender was from 1963-64 too, because there was off-white fiberglass visible again when we removed the radiator/hood support from the underside of the RH front wheel well. Also, there were no indentations for the heater hoses and/or C60 hoses on the engine bay side of the RH inner fender, which I think began in 1966.

The only undamaged original '67 black fiberglass we discovered on the front end was across the cowl at the bottom of the windshield and from the driver door forward to the half-way point of the front LH fender, right above the middle of the front tire. Everything else was patched together.

So, given all of the above, it seemed best to replace the front clip.

I had similar problems with my 69 and the problem ended up that the car had been wrecked years ago and the frame was not repaired correctly. The frame "horns" were bent down one a little more than the other making hood alignment impossible. Also resulted in problems that your having. If you think about it theres not many cars that a corvette won't go under in a wreck. the first thing thats going to be bent are the frame horns and the area behind the front wheels. This just my experience

The RH frame horn was bent down, and instead of repairing it correctly in 1971, they stuck extra shims under the radiator support on the RH side. When we stripped the frame and had it dipped in a non-caustic solution to remove all rust inside and out, we also had an alignment shop put it on a frame jig to bring everything back to GM specs.

For whatever reason, they seem to have not brought the RH front frame horn completely back to spec. The top section of the RH frame horn was even and level with the top side of the LH frame horn, but the bottom section of the RH frame horn was too low (bent downward) by about a half-inch or so.

[Brad S.]

Re: Front Clip not fitting - How many shims were used at the front Radiator Support?

Scott, I also had my bare frame checked prior to putting the body on for fit checking. My highly recomended frame guy told me I would probably have to bring it back with the body on to check the horns. I kept assuming the horns were correct but they wern't. It took me a while to figure it out. I took it back and he fixed it with the body on. It worked MUCH BETTER! Again just my experience

[Scott S.]

Re: Front Clip not fitting - How many shims were used at the front Radiator Support?

Scott,

You haven't mentioned, but just to be sure...do you have a 67 frame and all of the correct body mount cushions in place at the frame locations?

Wayne mentioned frame alignment. Have you had this verifed by a compentant source?

I thought so, but when we measured the frame horns on Wednesday evening, the lower section of the RH frame horn (where the radiator support attaches) was about a half-inch lower than the un-hit LH side.

If yes to all, it looks like you may need more shims in the back to teeter the front end down. If all else fails, take the body off the chassis and level it on four jack stands (one each corner of the bird cage) Bond the front end to the body using the measurments to the floor in your AIM and by using your eyeball to get the proper drop in the body line peaks along the side.

A frontal side view on each side from about 20 feet away will provide the best view.

Remember to dry fit everything with a .06 gap before bonding and devise a simple method to locate the front clip back into place when the adhesive is on. I used popsicle sticks to maintain my bondline gap in areas where I clamped the hood surround to the cowl. Use a bond adhesive with about 30 minutes of work time if you can so you can get everything where you want it with time to spare.

tc

Will definitely test fit everything many times, and try the popsicle sticks. I still need to research bonding adhesives.

[Scott S.]

Re: Front Clip not fitting - How many shims were used at the front Radiator Support?

Scott, I also had my bare frame checked prior to putting the body on for fit checking. My highly recomended frame guy told me I would probably have to bring it back with the body on to check the horns. I kept assuming the horns were correct but they wern't. It took me a while to figure it out. I took it back and he fixed it with the body on. It worked MUCH BETTER! Again just my experience

Thanks Brad, that is definitely GOOD to know. I didn't figure it would make any difference if the body was on, but if it needs checking again after the body is on, we'll do it.

[Scott S.]

Re: Front Clip not fitting - How many shims were used at the front Radiator Support?

Another problem to solve, the top of the bonding strip is sticking (curving) inboard near the driver side door, which pushes the entire panel away from the cowl assembly where it is supposed to bond. The passenger side bonding strip is (more) flush up against the inside of the panel, not curved inboard at the top. Grinding the section of the bonding strip down to resemble the passenger side should help with the fit, or is that a really bad idea?

I tried to show what I'm referring to in the pictures below.

[Joe R.]

Re: Front Clip not fitting - How many shims were used at the front Radiator Support?

JR,

I understand now about the "box", thank you. I didn't get to work on the body mounts as much as I expected, we got sidetracked checking and re-checking the front frame horns for straightness, and then worked on the radiator support, drilling out both bolts that were broken off but still attached to the large square nut, inside the "cage" on the bottom radiator support mounts.

About leaving the #4 body mounts loose and adjusting it later to line up correctly with the rear of the doors, does that apply to coupes or convertibles (or both)?

I'm working on a coupe.

Scott,

The Coupe is not effected as much as the Conv. with the #4 mount but there is still some sag that will have to be taken into consideration.

I would recommend NOT to try and compensate for a bent frame by tilting the body forward and "eyeballing" or "plumbobing" the front end on this Corvette. If you use this method you will be using a bandaid at every corner.

Square the body on the frame and if it gives you problems find a frame shop with a laser guided frame machine and fix the problem.

JR

[Brad S.]

Re: Front Clip not fitting - How many shims were used at the front Radiator Support?

Scott, I had to fix frame horns before fitting front group or I had similar problems