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EFV-8 Club Forum / 1940 Ford Discussion / Hood-to-Fender Margins

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Hood-to-Fender Margins     kubes40 08-14-2017 @ 2:26 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 3394 Joined: Oct 2009 Jay, I have no doubt you are quite capable. I am a firm believer in doing things methodically. Ya know, one thing at a time. You'll get it! :) Mike "Kube" Kubarth JayChicago 08-14-2017 @ 8:43 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 480 Joined: Jan 2016 Mike Thank you for all that good advice. I guess I'll get into this, one of these days, when I have the time, and in the mood, to tackle a tedious project. Thanks! Jay sarahcecelia 08-13-2017 @ 9:04 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 1182 Joined: Mar 2013 Right on Mike! That's exactly why the Japanese and Germans started to win car sales in the 60's; they were very precise about the fits of all components, and made precision motors to power them. On the other hand, cars from Detroit were literaly "thrown" together. That was a"Wake up call" for Detroit,but it still took quite a few years for Detroit to "come to their senses" and start to improve all of the "fits" on the cars they were producing, as well as make precision motors to power them. Today they are pretty much in line with the foreign cars as far "fits" and quality of their power plants. Regards, Steve Lee kubes40 08-13-2017 @ 8:35 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 3394 Joined: Oct 2009 Jay, In reality, these cars often left the factory with poor gap (adjustment). Some of the factory photographs as well as dealer photographs clearly depict very poor alignment. It sounds as if you are going about this issue the correct way (in my opinion). Prior to painting a car, I enlarge a number of holes used to later fasten the front sheet metal together. A slightly larger hole here and there can and does make a huge difference in the ease of aligning the front clip. At the point you are at, I might suggest you loosen all of the bolts between the grille and fenders just a bit - enough that you are able to 'man handle' the fender(s) / grille. Also, do the same at the fender / cowl attachment points. You need to allow the movement of these pieces with effort. I would also suggest that for now you remove the lower radiator pan entirely. I hate to suggest this but you may find that you'll need to remove the grille and open up the holes at the fender and grille to allow more adjustment to be made. You may also need to do this at the fender / cowl points. Oh, you may want to remove the hood rubber bumpers for now. They can and do create pinch points. You may find they need to be trimmed. One other piece of advice: Attempt to fix one thing at a time. in other words, get one fender to fit, then the other. yes, you'll find it necessary to move back and forth but attempting to align everything at one time will prove not only nearly impossible but quite frustrating. With as many of these as I have restored, this part of the process is always one I tend to disdain. It's a pain in the butt nearly each and every time regardless of all the little 'tricks" I've learned through the years. be patient my friend... you'll get it right This is one of those tasks that the proverbial "long road" may just be the quickest route. Mike "Kube" Kubarth This message was edited by kubes40 on 8-13-17 @ 8:38 AM JayChicago 08-13-2017 @ 7:24 AM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 480 Joined: Jan 2016 40 Standard I have unequal margins at the hood-to-fender lines, tight on one side and about 1/4 inch gap on the other. The hood is tight at the cowl. A previous Kubes' post on adjusting the hood advised to get the hood adjusted right at the cowl first, then adjust the fenders to the hood. So I am going to attempt to shift the fenders and grill to the hood. I've just started looking at this, and can already see I won't be able to get enough movement out of the grill. The two bolts at the bottom of grill into it's supporting pan under the radiator won't allow much movement. It does look like I could shift that pan, could get 1/8 inch movement there before the pan hits the frame rail. But it appears to me that the pan has never been touched, is as it left the factory. So my question is: am I going about this the right way? How to shift the fenders?

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