Well, after spending last winter, this spring and summer scraping, cleaning and painting the underside and of my 70SS and then restoring the entire chassis (frame blasted, painted, new bushings etc. etc.)I finally lowered the body back on to the frame this past weekend. It went very smoothly considering it was a one man operation...engine hoist at the front and chain fall at the rear. Previous posts on techniques have been very helpful.

Here's a technique that I used for aligning the body to the bushings in the frame as it was being lowered. I put threaded rods about 8 inches long into the nuts encapsulated in the underside of the body. Since the rods were hanging down it was pretty easy to line up because the holes in the bushings were the targets. Once the body was seated on the frame I removed the rods and replaced them with the body bolts.

Here's my question. When measuring the parallel gap of the distance between the frame and rocker panel to check how well the body was aligned I found that the gap was about 1/8 to 1/4 inch wider on the passenger side. Anything to worry about or am I being too picky?

well does everything look good? I mean do you really want too bump your body 1/32nd of an inch too the left?? If it's not looking right (ie tires stick out further at one end than the other, or the car is sitting sideways, you may want too move it... however, I'm sure you'll get much better answers than Mine http://www.chevelles.com/forum/biggrin.gif sounds like your making progress.. we want to see pictures man.. pictures http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

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X-Ray View of my Chevelle :D (http://www.normieschevelle.com/sideview.jpg)
Getting Closer (http://www.normieschevelle.com/passfull.jpg)

On my 66 there are alignment holes on the passengers side. One in the frame and the other in the brace the mount bolts on to.

Before taking the body off I measured the same difference you mention. Putting it back on I was able to set it in the middle.

Rob

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www.si.hhs.nl/~rob (http://www.si.hhs.nl/~rob)

The difference that you have measured is pretty small and will not mean much , unless you are putting really fat tires. If so, check the body position at the rear wheel wells.

You should be fine as long as it is square, meaning the gaps are exactly the same down each side. An 1/8 inch will not matter. However if you are off an 1/8 inch front to back then the core support will not be square and the hood and fenders will never line up.
Patients is a vertue! http://www.chevelles.com/forum/smile.gif

Do it right the first time.

FastSS396man

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69' SS396 Chevelle
L78 396/375hp
M-21 Close Ratio
Cortez Silver
10 year Resto
It's brand new again!

Thanks for the replies. I know at the assembly plants the accuracy of the final product was, and still is a victim of tolerance build ups. But since no one is doing a time study on me to see how fast I can rebuild my car, I think I'll do my best to get it as close to perfect as possible.

FASTSS396MAN IS RIGHT.

We had to move the body approx. 1/4" on our '69 Elke to make the doors/fenders/hood line up perfectly. We took all measurements before disassembly, however, that really doesn't mean anything if is off to begin with.

Lining up the doors to the body, then the fenders to the doors really worked (Advice from others on this site). We bought hinge rebuild parts from OPG for the doors, then I beadblasted/sanded and rounded any edges before reassembly. Looks great, works great.

Team Members Forever.

Richard, Judy, MAXX2


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LVMAXX,

I wasn't smart enough to take measurements before disassembly but if I did and there was a variance from side to side, I'd correct it now anyway.

Thanks for the advice on alignment sequence for the doors and fenders.

Check out the post(s) "Fender To Door Match" currently showing on this site.

Team Members Forever.

Richard, Judy, MAXX2



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