I am prepping my car before turning it over to my bodyman by fit-checking and aligning the doors, fenders, etc. The doors are original to the car, both fenders are NOS GM and the radiator support is from a donor but straight. The hood is original but haven't gotten that far yet. The car is a 67 SS convertible. The body bushings are new.

I believe that my first mistake was not taking a lot of photos & measurments prior to disassembly. I have spent countless hours trying to get everything to fit "just so" and am running out of ideas. I spent the day with a guy helping me, who has had some experience at this (mainly on later model Chevys) but we both ended up scratching our heads. Another problem is that I don't know what is considered "good enough" for the alignment process.

My current primary issue is that the lower front part of the doors want to stick out while the lower rear part sticks in. All of the other gaps/spacings look good. Nearly the exact same thing is happening on both sides. The doors have been stripped of all paint & filler and have only a coat of epoxy primer on them. Any counteracting adjustment that I make causes the upper portions of the fender-door-rear jam alignment to go hay-wire.

Please help before I have to start pricing BFH's & start cussing my bodyman for leaving me with a job that would drain that patience of any normal man.

Phil

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Phil Wise
67 SS Convertible
(now on the down slope of the resto curve)

Try loosening the lower hinge bolts on the door, just enough to bring the door in.
Then try moving the striker to ajust the rear of the door.
One thing to keep in mind, the lines on these cars wern't that great from the factory to begin with. you'll drive yourself crazy trying to get them perfect.
One thing I found out while puting my car back together was if I walked away from the car for about 24 hours or so, everything seemed to look better. And the more time I spent trying to line things up the worse they got.
But keep trying, doors can be a headache to line up.

Jeff Litka
72 Chevelle SS
72 MonteCarlo

I dont think its possible to get that stuff perfect. Had a problem with the "perfect" body alignment my self the last 3 restos I've done. If you can get it lined up plus or minus an 1/8th inch, you're doing better than the guys who put it together when it was new.

Thanks for the replies guys. I am adjusting the doors without the latch & striker in place. With all else looking good, the bottom front sticks out about 1/4" & the bottom rear sticks in about 1/8". I haven't measured to be sure. I hope that I am not wasting time here 'cause I still have to install the hood & wing/vent windows. I will keep plugging away & use about 1/8" as my goal. BTW, the hinges are original too. I installed new pins & bushings.


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Phil Wise
67 SS Convertible
(now on the down slope of the resto curve)