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Leveling the Body

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 2:55 pm
by GG Gregory
I just had my 27 Roadster painted and the body was removed from the chassis. I have the body mounted using the original wooden blocks but now the drivers door won't shut correctly. The gap near the lower hinge and door is closer than at the top. The inside edge of the door is hitting a mounting screw at the bottom on the hinge side of the door. Which way should I go with adding a shim or 2...the front mount at the drivers feet or at the wooden block ????

Re: Leveling the Body

Posted: Wed Aug 14, 2019 3:07 pm
by Quickm007
Hi,

Just use shim in the middle of the body. I face-up the same issue and it is work really well and it is a cheap solution. All the best,

https://www.modeltford.com/item/BSHK.aspx

Shime.JPG
Shime.JPG (23.25 KiB) Viewed 2509 times

Re: Leveling the Body

Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 6:18 am
by GG Gregory
Thank you Quickm007

Re: Leveling the Body

Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 11:13 am
by Norman Kling
While the body is off it is a good idea to check for straightness and level of the frame. Once that is done, you start with the radiator and firewall and get everything set so the hood fits correctly. This fit is either up or down or side to side. Once you get the hood to fit, you work back from side to side. If the block under the hinge is too high or too low the door won't fit. work first to get the front doors to fit, then work on the rear of the body. Every time you shim something up, it affects something else, so might take a bit of experimentation until you finally get it right. To add to all of the above, be sure the hinges are also straight and the doors are not bent. If it fit before you removed the body, it should fit when you replace it unless you bent something while it was off.
Good luck. It can be done.
Norm

Re: Leveling the Body

Posted: Thu Aug 15, 2019 3:29 pm
by Kevin Pharis
Norman clearly has done this before. No car body is as rigid as we like to think it is, a little shimming is always required to get things to fit right. Some naturally fit better than others, and some require a ton of work. Read Norman’s post a few times and be patient