Front sheet metal alignment help

[Limey57]

Okay, if I had any hair I'd pull it out.........  Any hints and tips on re-assembly the front end sheet metal?  Inner fenders, core support and outer fenders, been refitting them now for two days and moving one to even up the gaps throws everything else out, where's best to start?  I thought maybe the back edge of the outer fenders relative to the doors?

[djfordmanjack]

Gary , I haven't done that before, but looking at the production pics, they assembled the whole frontend and then put it on the car. You could do it this way. starting with the fender/door gap would be logical, but since the whole frontend rests on the radiator core support and the inner fenders are bolted to the support and the fenders to the inner fenders and those are lined up with the header panel....with a lot of bolts difficult to reach when on the car....that is a never ending story to align. I'd try to do it factory style. leave most of the screws slightly fastened and put on the whole thing , then shimming the front support until it lines up at the doors.

[Limey57]

They make it look so easy don't they?  Just had another hour in the garage and it's (slowly) starting to come together.  I think the problem is (was) that the passenger side inner fender has got slightly twisted (probably in storage) which made it slightly shorter than the other side.  A good dose of swearing and brute force seems to have sorted it.

Mind you,I haven't tried the fit of the hood yet, it was okay before I blew it all apart for painting, but then again the doors used to fit once, after painting they seems to have changeed shape!!!!!!! 

[djfordmanjack]

I am sure they had a proper front end jig in the factory, where they did an initial alignment on the front. I know what you are saying, because I have been aligning hoods since I have had 57 Fords...
the design with the front center support is very clever because it takes the twisting force out of the front end. It might be a bit more difficult to align though. remember that any up/down alignment on the center front mount will affect fender to door gaps and side to side ( limeted) will affect square hood gaps. when the center is aligned and you have bad/different fender/door gaps from L to R, it means your frontend is twisted and it will cause bad fit of the hood. ask me how I know...I have a lot of work to do on my wagon.

[Jeff Norwell]

very interesting photo from the line.I notice how all interior and glass assembly has been put in first. the front clip of sheet metal seems to be the last and yes Guenther, the hood is the final install.

[Ecode70D]

    Since there are different ways to do this, the only advice that I can give is make absolutely sure that the front doors are in good alignment.  The back edge of the front fenders are spaced off the front edge of the doors.     

[djfordmanjack]

Yes Jay. Gary keep in mind that any difference in gaps left to right will move your fenders front to back and might get the hood opening out of square and/or the frontend out of center.
That factory pic is very interesting. Did anybody of you ever realize that most of the OG paint survivor or desert cars have different fading patterns on the body and the fenders ? Most times the fenders are much more worn from sun and rain than the rest of the body. I think it is because the paint layers on the fenders were different from the thickness on the body. probably because they weren't painted at the same time and place ?!

[RICH MUISE]

Seems like a few of us are at this stage. As near as I can tell from the way the panels are made, first the core support gets mounted with the center bolt, then next are the inner fenders, then the spash panels that go behind the parking light area, then the hood hinges. The hood hinges go over the inner fender and the spash pan so they are sandwiched between the hinge and the core support. You guys probably figured that out last week....I'm just getting my hood hinges ready to assemble, so I'm just to that point now.
I guess we've already determined a few months ago t5hat the leading edge of the inner fender goes inside the outer fender, so there is nothing between the fenders and the nosepiece.

[57redwhitered]

Yes Jay. Gary keep in mind that any difference in gaps left to right will move your fenders front to back and might get the hood opening out of square and/or the frontend out of center.
That factory pic is very interesting. Did anybody of you ever realize that most of the OG paint survivor or desert cars have different fading patterns on the body and the fenders ? Most times the fenders are much more worn from sun and rain than the rest of the body. I think it is because the paint layers on the fenders were different from the thickness on the body. probably because they weren't painted at the same time and place ?!


In 1966 the auto body class I was a member of at a vo-tech school went on a field trip to the BOP plant in Kansas City and we observed that the front clip on most of the cars were not a perfect match to the body color. Figured it was because they were painted at a different place out of a different barrel of paint with a different guy painting them.  No robots in those days.

[Lgcustom]

Having worked in Ford plants in the late 60's/early 70's, I can tell you that fenders and hoods were painted in a separate area from the body. Thus, variations in paint application were common. The late 70's were the start of painting the whole car as an assembly.

[djfordmanjack]

thanx guys, for your hands on confirmation of my assumption, that is precious information !