body alignment on chassis

[Stacy C.]

I'm trying to bolt up my inner fenders to the radiator support but it's not lining up. The body has been taken off the frame before by a PO, I'm not 100% sure it's been shimmed correctly. I have read that there's play in alignment for side-to-side, but is there play front to back and if so how much?? Any guidance on this subject.

[Wayne W.]

Re: body alignment on chassis

A little but not much. Just the width of the body mounting holes.

[David H.]

Re: body alignment on chassis

Radiator+Support+annflat.jpg

New or old radiator support?

From the attached photo it looks like the radiator support was installed very early in the build process. How was the shimming done at that time?

Sorry, having difficulty attaching photo!

[Stacy C.]

Re: body alignment on chassis

New repop support, don't know who made it, no #s or writing on it. The thought has went through my head its not right one or its out of spec.

[Wayne W.]

Re: body alignment on chassis

Sorry we cant tell without a picture. All 63-65s should bolt up. 66-67 will bolt up but is laid back at a greater angle.

[Stacy C.]

Re: body alignment on chassis

Is this a good enough pic? I think it's the right support, it might be out of spec though. I need the body to come forward about 3/4 of an inch, I can bend the top of the support backwards but it won't help me on the bottom hole. Looking down from the nose of the car, the support is actually closer to touching the valance panel on the drivers side than the passenger side.

On a side note, I had 6 shims on each side. I'm under the impression that many is outside the norm, is this true? I don't quite understand the relation of the radiator support shims and how they factored how many they needed, for the rest of the body mounts I think I get it.

[Wayne W.]

Re: body alignment on chassis

Looks like the correct support.

The shims were determined like all of the other shims, with a jig.

You might take a look at the rear and see how many shims its going to take for the rear bumper bracket. If that is a high number, loosen all of the body mounts and slide the body forward as much as you can. You might also check the center line while you are at it.

[Stacy C.]

Re: body alignment on chassis

Anything look wrong with the mounts on this?


Thanks for the help guys.

[Stacy C.]

Re: body alignment on chassis

Couple more questions:

1. I couldn't get the body to move forward any on the frame, is there a potential problem with the steering column shaft not lining up with the rag joint?

2. I put the 6 shims for the radiator support back on, if I push the support toward the firewall(kinda hard) the bolt holes line up but with seemingly a good amount of stress. Is this normal?

3. I have rivet holes in my top surround rain channel, how do I repair this? Rain channel.jpg

[Gene M.]

Re: body alignment on chassis

Stacy,
Taper grind out both sides around holes pack with rosin and matt. Pack tight. Sand and refinish as normal.

Bolts should clear holes without binding, normally. Was there any front end damage under a previuos owner?

The advice to square up body with all body mounts and align doors is a good one. Be sure the shimming is not excessive at any points as this is a clue you have something wrong. I feel the core support shimming is last of all the other mounts as you do not want to overstress the front nose. What were the rivet hole for, securing the inner fenders? If so that answers your issue on the forward hole core support alignment.......

[Stacy C.]

Re: body alignment on chassis

Gene,
Thanks for the reply.

The car was hit sometime in it's life on the passengers side.

What were the rivet hole for, securing the inner fenders? If so that answers your issue on the forward hole core support alignment.......

The rivet holes are from a failed attempt by a PO of trying to hold the inner fender up.
The passenger side inner fender is NOT bonded in, I figured the drivers side inner fender, which is original and undamaged, should be squared away first. I raised the front end some by a floor jack before trying to align up radiator support holes to inner fender. How much nose droop should I experience unconnected with radiator support?


The car has been off the frame by a PO that told me he replaced all shims as they originally were. I'm wondering if there is any trick to centering the on the frame by measuring points?

I have not removed the steering column from the rag joint but the 12 point bolt has been loosened. How far is the steering shaft supposed to go into the rag joint anyway?

Sorry for all the questions, my first C-2 and things would be easier if I had taken it apart to begin with.

[Gene M.]

Re: body alignment on chassis

don't lift it more than 1/2" or you will stress it the opposite way. use judgement in this case. you are dealing with a "loose" front end.

I center the body on the frame side to side by measurement off the frame side rails to the rockers.

Front to rear I center the wheels in the openings. You should have enough clearance in the mounting points to still slip the bolts in.