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mromaus

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
Hi guys,

I started doing some body work on this car.

I was looking for some insight into what is possibly going on with the driver's side fender.

Is it aftermarket? Is there a method of aligning it correctly?

What are the possible ways to fix it?

I have not taken the fender off yet, it doesn't look to difficult to do. I would like to know what I should be looking for.

Advice and links are welcome!

Thanks in advance!
 

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#2 ·
You must be talking about the gap around the headlight housing to the fender. I would be looking at where the fender bolts to the radiator support. Even the fender is a bit higher than the hood line.
 
#4 ·
:cool: Before you assume that the fender is at fault, you'll need to do an inspection and measurements of the affected area. Look for signs of prior frame damage, damage to fender mounting points, rust damage, etc. Is the fender really higher, or does it just look that way -- check out how the headlight assembly is bolted on, etc.

Once you've determined which parts are really misaligned and/or damaged you can plan a repair.
 
#6 ·
68-13427 said:
I was thinking the hood is low on the dr side. Terry
Click to expand...
I agree. Adjust the hood bumper that's mounted to the radiator support.

I doubt you have a repop fender, I don't think they make them for your car.

There's no reason to remove the fender at this point. In order to be of more assistance, we would need to see more angles of your front end sheetmetal.
 
Discussion starter · #7 ·
Sounds good!

I will take more detailed pics tomorrow.

I have been in and out of the car, while I would not doubt that this may be the result of a fender bender I do not see any type of tool marks or indication that any of the part the car has been straightened.

I will try to post some pics with a tape measure as well.

I think what may also be helpful is from what to what points should I be measuring to see if any of the internal mounts are tweaked?

Thanks again!
 
Discussion starter · #8 ·
I took a bunch of photos.

Also, I am beginning to come to the conclusion that it may not be the driver side is high but the passenger side is low.

The google doc I will link here will allow you to post comments (I tried to put the pics in an organized table).

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1ATvETsoC2Hjz9y1HZreTKBH3JsLs4BTDNmMEQUu6En0/edit?usp=sharing

I have a couple of thoughts, but that doesn't mean I know how to realign the parts.


I have three theories:

The battery try is rotted out pretty badly and is no longer supporting the passenger side fender.

or

The guys I purchased this from repainted the car. Maybe they took the front apart in order to make it easier to paint and did not align things correctly.

or

As mentioned above it may not be the fenders at all and the bumper, headlights, grill, and hood are all messed up.

Thanks!
 
#9 ·
For one thing these cars were far from perfect gap wise from the factory. The battery tray shouldn't be holding up the passenger side fender the radiator support does that. Looking at your newer pictures I would try raising the hood rubber bumper on the drivers side a smidge just to bring the hood line up about half the distance to line up with the fender line closer. Now check where the front fender bolts to the top of the radiator support to make sure there are no shims in between both parts. If there are no shims the angle part of the fender that bolts to the top of the radiator support may not be formed sharp enough in the 90* bend or it could be welded off a bit holding the fender up.
 
Discussion starter · #10 ·
I took a look and I don't have "L" brackets to the radiator support.

It works the opposite way on this Skylark where the radiator support has a 90 degree bracket.

I will mess with it some this weekend and see what I come up with.

For the record I have been trying to get on v8buick forum but to no luck. While I know this is for Chevy's I am hoping to get enough insight here to align these fenders a little better.

Looking at pics it seems to be getting done somehow.

Thanks,
 
#11 · (Edited)
Marco, the passenger side fender shouldn't touch the bumper. It may have been tweaked in a fender bender at some point. Also take a look at where the radiator support is bolted to the frame horn on both sides. The bushing on the passenger side tends to degrade worse because of battery corrosion. How do your door to fender gaps look on both sides?
 
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Discussion starter · #12 ·
I will check those things out for sure! Thanks again!

I will get under the car this weekend and take a look.

Also, I was watching a video on aligning Chevelle fenders, the person used a paint stick as a distance indicator for the lines.

Does that make sense?

I can say with certainty that the lines are not the same for both doors.

I don't want to touch anything until I have a good understanding here. I am afraid that I will make the situation worse.
 
Discussion starter · #13 ·
So I took a look under the car and on one side the radiator support fairing was visable then on the passenger side not so much. Leaving me to believe it might not exist anymore.

Here is my question.

Should I just buy a hole polyurethane body bushing kit?

The rubber softseal ones I purchased cost me $30.

I see entire kits in polyurethane for 80...

Thoughts, advice?

I have never done this kind of work before.

Thanks!
 
#14 ·
There is a patch kit available to repair rot under the battery. Sold by OPGI, Year one etc, made by mrbuick.com. Has to be welded in, smoothed, finished, painted etc

There are shims at the front of the fender to adjust the front fender heigth.

Bumper also has adjustments in the brackets and bolts.

Sent from my SM-T817V using Tapatalk
 
#15 ·
If you want to get into changing body mount bushings be advised if you start spinning cage nuts or breaking the bolts you just opened a bigger can of worms.
 
Discussion starter · #17 ·
70GS455 said:
There is a patch kit available to repair rot under the battery. Sold by OPGI, Year one etc, made by mrbuick.com. Has to be welded in, smoothed, finished, painted etc

There are shims at the front of the fender to adjust the front fender height.

Bumper also has adjustments in the brackets and bolts.

Sent from my SM-T817V using Tapatalk
Click to expand...
I see some shims there at the front of the passenger side.

I will check out that battery tray repair kit. Even though I was considering just buying some sheet metal and welding it in place, I just need to get the car up high enough.



Who makes a good bushing kit? I'm sure I wont enjoy this project, so I don't want to do it often.
 
#18 ·
mromaus said:
I see some shims there at the front of the passenger side.



I will check out that battery tray repair kit. Even though I was considering just buying some sheet metal and welding it in place, I just need to get the car up high enough.







Who makes a good bushing kit? I'm sure I wont enjoy this project, so I don't want to do it often.
Click to expand...
I prefer rubber mounts. Cars (oldbuickparts.com) has the best: BM644 and BM644A. You will need the set sold for a convertible, as skylarlks have an extra pair under the front cowl. They are also sold at Inline tube.

You will need BM644A, INL12475, INL12476, INL12477. Do not use the mounting cushion with the separate washer, use the BM644A with the molded in washer

As mentioned, removing bolts is a crapshoot. I drilled a small hole above each bolt and sprayed pb blaster and let sit for a few days. Do not use an impact gun. Mine all came out without breaking.
Image


Sent from my SM-T817V using Tapatalk
 
Discussion starter · #19 ·
Thanks!

I was wondering what the difference was between cheap sets costing $80 and those costing $180, it seems to be the molded washer, along some come with complete new hardware.

All I understand right now between polyurethane and rubber bushings is that the polyurethane bushings last longer.

I have that in some joints the polyurethane bushings can be noisy, though I am also hearing that it's really not a problem.

What else is there to choose rubber body bushings over polyurethane bushings?

Also, I am starting to do my research here, so that this goes a bit smoother. I see a tool for the cage nuts.

Thanks again!

I like the PB blasting technique that makes good sense.

Does a complete kit come with the radiator support bushings I actually need?
 
#20 ·
As far as bushing material goes I wanted to stay with rubber. I bought a set from Ground-Up and was not satisfied with them at all. I returned them and ended up buying a set from Inline Tube. They are the closest to the stock ones that you can buy. As far as lasting most of these cars have had their original bushings and fuel and brake lines in them for about 40 to 45 years. Another thing is a lot of these cars won't be driven in all kinds of weather as they were when they were first bought. I figured that my bushings and lines will outlast me.
 
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mromaus
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