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EFV-8 Club Forum / General Ford Discussion / Adjusting body panels

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Posted By Discussion Topic: Adjusting body panels     westgateblvd 07-27-2018 @ 7:20 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 35 Joined: Mar 2018 I am trying to adjust the front end panels on a 1937 Tudor Sedan. The fenders inner fenders, hood and grille are from different cars. Is there a way I should handle this?? Not working out very well right now. Got the hood gap at the cowl good. Inner fender fits nice to the hood filler. Hood filler fits nice to the hood. Made my grille, and i worked and got that to fit very good. Closed the hood, and the hood slid over the stud without touching any edge. I then tightened the inner fenders down on both sides and reinstalled the fenders. Now everything is off again. The slots in the fenders sit way higher than the horns where the bumper brackets go, I loosened the front bolt on the inner fender to lower the fender to the right spot. Now the rest doesn't fit again. Any suggestions on how all of this is done?? Thanks silverchief 07-28-2018 @ 1:33 PM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 524 Joined: Oct 2009 This is not going to help much, so is just submitted as a matter of interest I grew up in south Bend, Ind so a lot of us young guys drove Studebakers. If we had a door or other panel that fit poorly, we would take it to an old timer who was retired from Studebaker, where it was his job to check alignment of body panels as cars moved along the line. We would pull our car (of any make) into his garage, where he would place a short piece of 2 X 4 at various spots between the offending panel and car body. After about ten minutes of him pulling here, pushing there, and twisting.....the bad panel would fit beautifully. He always charged us about $5.00 Definitely a lost art. This message was edited by silverchief on 7-28-18 @ 1:35 PM westgateblvd 07-28-2018 @ 5:38 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 35 Joined: Mar 2018 Your right. It didn't help much, but a interesting story. I have had this car now for almost 25 years. Only get one day off a week, and every other weekend so I havn't had much time to work on it. The body was off the frame, and the motor mounts were set back 9". Not a nice thing to find out when the body is in the air, and you are lowering it down on top of the motor. I had to cut out the firewall in order to get the body down. Now this is the first old car that I have ever redone by myself. Almost everything I have learned comes from people online at various sites. The whole front of the car as missing when I bought it. Didn't have to pay that much for it then, but now I belive I have near $20,000 in parts in it, and ready to go on it. The owner before me was going to make a Gasser. Then changed his mind and wanted one of those Rat Rods. No fenders and Model T headlights. Not me.. I wanted a nice 1937 Ford Street Rod. I hunted for original sheet metal. Found front fenders one place, and each rear fender in different parts of the country. Running boards are also steel. No plastic, or Tupperware here. I was told way back when I brought the car home from a neighbor that worked in a garage that the 37 is the first year that Henry Ford put the headlights into the fenders, and that each car was completely built, so if fenders were being made. They were made for that car along with all of the other parts. When parts like fenders were replaced nothing fit just right. That is where I am right now. Trying to get the panels to fit right. Most of the other big jobs are done. Motor in, front and rear suspension done. Brake lines (there wasn't any) all bent and installed. Master cyclinder installed under the floor. Made my own firewall, and all of the floor out of 16Gauge sheet metal. New radiator. New glass. new front and rear bumpers. Heater and defroster. and Etc. Now you may not like me, because I am one of them. Maybe with the motor and some stuff, but my body is 1937. Even my front windshield cranks out like it did back then and the center vent opens and closes. Thanks. Al supereal 07-29-2018 @ 11:37 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 6819 Joined: Oct 2009 Replacing the sheet metal on most cars is an ordeal because the stampings were often somewhat different from plant to plant. I once owned a Model A coupe that had quarter panels that were quite different from each other. In most cases, all fasteners must be left loose until the clearances and positions are in an acceptable position prior to tightening them up. If the car was damaged in a collision at some time, it is possible, and likely, the frame was bent. When I was restoring my '47 convertible I found that the left rear frame "horn" was bent, probably from being used as an attaching point for a hook placed in one of the frame holes. This made fitting the door gaps and the trunk lid a challenge until we pulled the frame back into position. As you have learned, nearly all body parts are related to the others , and getting a decent fit is almost always a compromise situation. westgateblvd 07-29-2018 @ 3:16 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 35 Joined: Mar 2018 I was just thinking. I have been raising the cowl to fix the rear door gap. Shouldn't I be raising the back behind the door to open that gap?? TomO 07-30-2018 @ 7:26 AM reply profile send p.m. Senior Posts: 7256 Joined: Oct 2009 Mike Kubarth gave instructions on how he aligns the front clip on a 1940 Ford. I used a similar method on my 1940 Mercury. Basically, you have to align the hood and grill and then match the fenders to them. You may have to enlarge the holes in the fenders to get the range of movement that you need. You cannot do this until you have the body aligned and fastened to the frame. The body should fit on the frame with just the cushions and some thin shims. Tom westgateblvd 07-30-2018 @ 6:45 PM reply profile send p.m. Member Posts: 35 Joined: Mar 2018 Yes I have read his instructions. Some were helpful even if it really didn't refer to the 37 Tudor. I got some help tonight from a post at jalopy journal. It said because when I bought the car it had been thrown around this persons yard with a fork lift, and the floor was almost gone. The body was laying on pieces of 2x4 on top of the frame. I am having one heck of a time with the door gap on the passengers side. The lower hinge was loose. I thought that maybe I could take them off and fix them, but they are welded into place. Edges the screw holes.. The works. The guy I bought it from was going to make one of those Rat Rods. I wanted to build a 1937 Ford Tudor Sedan. I replaced the floor. I made my own out of 16 gauge sheet metal. I even pounded in the beads with a rounded off cold chisel. Now "B" pillar may be off. They said to cut the spot welds that hold it in place and move it over 1/8". I built it. I can cut a slit behind "B" pillar and push it over at the bottom giving it the proper gap As for the loose hinge in the lower front goes. I closed the door and welded a a bead in the bad area. Works fine now..

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