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