Hood Fender Alignment Progress.

[55 Fargo]

Hi all, today I brought the 47 to a friends truck shop, he used to be a bodyman in the past.

Well we were able to suck in the fenders on the sides along the front doors, then we lined up the hood, good gap at the cowl, adjsuted the height of the hood, to the cowl, the hood lines up pretty good to the front also.

But along the tops of each fender, the fender is high in the center on both sides, the gap is fine, but the fendr is a higher than the hood a bit.

We tried a few things, I tried some more tonight, not much different.

I am beginning to think, this maybe as good as it gets, and it ain't that great.

Are these cars know to have prro panel fit in the front clips. Like I mentioned the gaps are finer, it's just each fenr is high olong the hood in the center of the fender along each catwalk.

This is my own greenhorned fault, I started with a car that was ruff, and was probably in a collision of 2, not sure what to try next, spent 6 hours at my friends place today, my wife was not impressed, the brightside, the car is running and driving well...............Fred ps how do yall have the front clips fittin on your cars, do some of you share my problem with this one

[randroid]

Fred,

First and foremost, I am not a body man so what I'm going to ask are the sort of questions I'd probably ask myself if I were in the same situation, presuming I know your situation.

You spent time with a body man, and when you left his shop did he have any off-beat suggestions for you to try or was it more like wishing you the best in your future endeavors? I tried putting a baja kit on somebody's VW Bug some years ago and struggled an ungodly amount of time until the owner off-handedly mentioned something about a heada-on collision his wife had had a year earlier. That's when I broke out the BFH and begin straitening a lot of stuff.

I took a ton of measurements including triangulating all common points to a common axis, and while it wasn't easy I was able to get the body close enough that the baja kit not only fit but looked pretty good. There are so many compound curves on the front clip of our beasts that it would be extremely simple to miss a small warp. For example, I backed my '48 P-15 into a snowbank and bent the rear of the left rear wheel well up at about a 45° angle. Wondering how in Hell I was ever going to re-align it I one day grabbed the bottom and gave it a pull, which brought it back almost perfectly in place. I found a few dimples along the front edge and by squishing them with channel-locks while gently pulling on the botton I was eventually able to get it in place, or at least the same as the right side wheel well.

These cars all went together properly when new so it should be possible to get them back there. Take more measurements than there are places to measure and you'll eventually find something a little bit off; this at least gives you a solid place to start.

Good luck. I don't particularly envy you the job, but if you look at it piece at a time rather than as a whole it might become obvious where things are wrong. Take those measurements around the obviously out of place area to your friend and see what he has to say.

Gives you a place to start. Look at it as a puzzle you're going to beat.

-Randy

[oldmopar]

Take a look at the 1949 Chrysler Reference Guide On Body Fitting Facts at the link below

http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/025/page29.htm

[55 Fargo]

Take a look at the 1949 Chrysler Reference Guide On Body Fitting Facts at the link below

http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/025/page29.htm

Thanx, some of this is applicable, and some is not, as the 1946 to 1948 Chryslers are a bit different.....Thanx again