About to start body work. Advice please!

[One_fast67]

I’m about to start setting panel gaps and doing body work and I need some advice regarding where to start. I know one of the first steps is to hang the doors. Does it make sense to install the door locks to keep the door fixed in position at the rear quarter? After the gap is close between the door and the quarter, hanging the fenders will be next. The doors and fenders are both Dynacorn pieces so the initial gaps are ok but they definitely will need work. I’m guessing it would be best to install all of the mounting hardware for the fenders before really starting any body work. On the fenders, there is a significant gap between the mounting flange on the fender and the rear apron when I set the edge of the fender flush with the cowl. How much of a gap is too big? I am thinking I can slice the fender inside the mounting flange, push the flange down, and then weld in a filler piece to remove the gaps and eliminate the need for a lot of shims. Is there anything else I need to be aware of? Any tips? Does my approach make sense?

 

[msell66]

IIRC, start with 3/16” gaps during bodywork. After paint, those will end up at 1/8”.

 

[Horseplay]

You have the general process laid out in the correct order. No need to install door locks. You will want to rig up a "door stop" to keep the door shell from closing too far into the cabin causing the flush face of the panels to come out of line. Don't be surprised if you find you need to add some metal at certain places to get a straight or closer fit. It really all depends on just how "perfect" you are trying to get it.

Mark is right about initial gap space. Most guys use paint sticks which are 3/16" thick to measure the gap. Don't try to get it too tight because by the time you prime, color and clear it the thickness does build up.

And be forewarned the bottom door to rocker gap is usually going to be pretty large. Don't fight it at the expense of the quarter and fender gaps. You can always weld on a rod to the lower door edge to fill it up if you really desire.

All this advice is coming from a garage wannabee. I did my own car and it turned out very well in my opinion but I am no pro. Maybe Rusty will chime in with his expertise.

 

[stangg]

On the door locks you really should install them and the strikers to verify that all your mechanical parts fit and function properly on the door. Nothing worse than trying to bolt a part onto a finish painted part only to have to cut / grind or drill to get the part to fit properly. Might not be an issue with original doors, but with new door shells, you should pre-fit all the critical parts.

 

[C6ZZGT]

You should also have weight in the doors.

 

[Horseplay]

He's just doing his initial body work and fitting the various pieces to check gaps. There is more than enough adjustment capability to square a door again when weighted later. The door won't change size and shape by adding weight. And I agree about the door locks at some point but when just seeing how stuff lines up initially I didn't install them. After I had things individually straight and such I then rehung everything for the final round of bodywork/blocking when the door catches and the majority of panel fasteners were installed.

Again, not even close to a pro here just sharing how I did it.

 

[One_fast67]

Thanks for all of the tips! I’ll probably set the doors so that the narrowest gap is 3/16” initially. I will then through in the locks just to make sure that position won’t cause any issues. Once that is done, I’ll take the locks back out and ensure there is a rigid stop so that the door doesn’t move around when I am working on it. After that gap is good, I’ll install the hood and get the gap set at the cowl. Then, I was planning on installing the headlight bucket on to the fender and move the fender around to get the front edge of the hood and the headlight bucket lined up. That will then leave the gap between the door and the fender to deal with.

This is my first foray into this process so please let me know if I am completely off base.