I recently took my 67 chevelle convertible to a bodyshop. The plan is to replace the drivers side quarter. He told me he was having problems with the gap between the top of the door and top of the quarter. It seems its wider(gap) at the top by a 1/4 in. The pass. side is about 1/8 wider at the top.Can this be worked into the quarter swap or? this is the second 1/4 I have to have put on. Is there something you guys can tell me I could tell him on how to correct it?
Gap issues
Dropzilla
1 - 19 of 19 Posts
I recently took my 67 chevelle convertible to a bodyshop. The plan is to replace the drivers side quarter. He told me he was having problems with the gap between the top of the door and top of the quarter. It seems its wider(gap) at the top by a 1/4 in. The pass. side is about 1/8 wider at the top.Can this be worked into the quarter swap or? this is the second 1/4 I have to have put on. Is there something you guys can tell me I could tell him on how to correct it?
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10,919 Posts
If you have already welded the quarter panel on, there isn't anythin g you can do to fix the gap. You have to do it before it is welded. What you need to do is, with the panel loosely fitted to the car, take a floor jack and enough wood to lift the rear of the frame as high as needed to close the gap. Then you weld it whilst it is jacked up. I had to jack several coupes to get a good gap at the door jamb. Good luck!
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2,258 Posts
I Personally would just add metal (welding), then just grind the gaps smooth.
To me using the body mounts to tighten or open the gaps just doesn't sound appealing. Same thing goes for twisting/flexing the car into shape (jacking it up).
Just my $ .02
-Todd
To me using the body mounts to tighten or open the gaps just doesn't sound appealing. Same thing goes for twisting/flexing the car into shape (jacking it up).
Just my $ .02
-Todd
Just speaking from my ability, if I tried to weld extra metal I would spend a lot of time and it would end up looking crappy. My jacking ability is much better than my welding ability. I jacked the front end to get the top of the fender closer to the door and it worked. I wouldn't hesitate to do it that way again.
Dropzilla, go to search and type in convertible body flex, there is some pretty informative reading, and as a suggestion, print it out and give it to your body man, it might help him out, I'm not suggesting that he doesn't know what he's doing, but when he told you he was having problems, maybe this will help.
The quarter could be off, body mounts squashed, frame flexed a little, hard to pin it down with out looking at it.
One thing you could look at, where the quarter comes around the back of the car near the tail light area, see if the left side looks different then the right. You might have to take out the tail light assembly to see it.
Rob
The quarter could be off, body mounts squashed, frame flexed a little, hard to pin it down with out looking at it.
One thing you could look at, where the quarter comes around the back of the car near the tail light area, see if the left side looks different then the right. You might have to take out the tail light assembly to see it.
Rob
It sounds to me like it's time to do some measuring and see if the problem is related to body & or frame flex or if the replacement quarter was just stamped/shaped wrong. Did the original quarters fit well before they were removed or was the car sagging?
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602 Posts
Did You or has anyone replaced your Body Bushings. They are pretty important in a convertible. Rubadub just might have your answer here.
Tony
Tony
The quarters were rusted bad but no noticable sag. I replaced all the body bushings with new. When the first guy put a qaurter on after I bought the car, he screwed it up bad. So by replacing the quarter again I hope to get a better result. Thanks guys
i'd say if jacking it up fixes it, thats whats actually needed, along with a check of the frame to make sure the back end's not drooping, but i dont think it would be a problem, loosen the body bolts, jack it, weld it, and just snug them up after youre done, maybe add a washer/shim or two ... body panels almost always have to be bent, twisted, finagled, forced and coerced into fitting properly....to me, adding filler is a last resort stop gap, it means the tail of the body will be drooping forever, or longer, but, as stated, if its all welded up, there maybe little else you can do w/o starting over, and personally i would probably (maybe, depending on other variables) rather start over than have a quarter inch gap difference from the top of the door to the bottom, it doesnt sound like much but, its a yard if you want good even gaps
one last thought, i personally think it would be much easier to add material to the door edge than the panel, were i forced to go that route
one last thought, i personally think it would be much easier to add material to the door edge than the panel, were i forced to go that route
youd probably be surprised at what they can fix, and you probably would very leery at hanging onto some of the cars theyve fixed, even though im sure theyre perfectly safe.
as long as the frame metal isnt torn, broken or fatigued (and sometimes one or more of those can be worked with, depending on other factors) they can usually make it so new parts will fit and it will go straight down the road, i had an 85 ford f-150 4x4 and i t-boned a guy who was blazin by and it bent both frame ends so the entire front of the front end was pushed over about 8 or 10 inches, and the bumper another 4 or 5, youd swear the truck was crab walking down the road but, it drove fine and there was very little body parts damage ...we took it to a friends shop and i thought we'd have to strip it down to the frame (i did have the bumper off) and the guy says "nuh uh...leave it intact"...he chained it down to the floor in 4 or 5 spots and put a brace thing on it between the frame ends and one behind the front wheel and ran a chain way out front ....put a porta power (hydraulic ram, think: "jaws of life") on it, and sure as hell, pushed the entire thing almost perfectly straight, hood, fenders, grill and support, whole thing took about a half hour (but, i didnt really care, we took no measurments or checked anything, anywhere)...in fact, if i were to guess, id say he was using the hood more than anything as a guide, if yours needs it, they would just chain it down and porta power up the rear frame ends, very minor job, i would think. although you would want your classic checked carefully and brought exactly to spec, drop tops are a different breed, since theres no roof (which adds a rather surprising amount of strength, rigidity and square bracing) so, they have to be reinforced and strengthened in other ways
depends who you talk to as to defining "sprung"...i take it to mean any damage that needs fixing, some might say its a frame beyond repair
as long as the frame metal isnt torn, broken or fatigued (and sometimes one or more of those can be worked with, depending on other factors) they can usually make it so new parts will fit and it will go straight down the road, i had an 85 ford f-150 4x4 and i t-boned a guy who was blazin by and it bent both frame ends so the entire front of the front end was pushed over about 8 or 10 inches, and the bumper another 4 or 5, youd swear the truck was crab walking down the road but, it drove fine and there was very little body parts damage ...we took it to a friends shop and i thought we'd have to strip it down to the frame (i did have the bumper off) and the guy says "nuh uh...leave it intact"...he chained it down to the floor in 4 or 5 spots and put a brace thing on it between the frame ends and one behind the front wheel and ran a chain way out front ....put a porta power (hydraulic ram, think: "jaws of life") on it, and sure as hell, pushed the entire thing almost perfectly straight, hood, fenders, grill and support, whole thing took about a half hour (but, i didnt really care, we took no measurments or checked anything, anywhere)...in fact, if i were to guess, id say he was using the hood more than anything as a guide, if yours needs it, they would just chain it down and porta power up the rear frame ends, very minor job, i would think. although you would want your classic checked carefully and brought exactly to spec, drop tops are a different breed, since theres no roof (which adds a rather surprising amount of strength, rigidity and square bracing) so, they have to be reinforced and strengthened in other ways
depends who you talk to as to defining "sprung"...i take it to mean any damage that needs fixing, some might say its a frame beyond repair
When they chain, port a power and move the frame. What happens to 1/4 pannels? Any buckle or waviness apear? Or do they lift the body off the frame somewhat? Thanks for the info. These thoughts have kept me up at night (do I need a frame?).
well, with even a little skill and/or luck the 1/4 to door gap will even out perfectly
seriously, thats what were trying to fix here, youd probably be amazed at the amount of flex, twisting and contortions a auto body encounters in the course of just a normal day, let alone a 30 year lifetime, thats why you must have the tires on the car and the normal weight bias on the tires when you install and/or adjust any body panel, if you dont, its all but certain they wont be alighned when you set it down...ever had jackstands under the frame behind the front wheels? if you have, you may have noticed how far you can jack the front bumper area up before the frame comes off the stands, probably well over 6 inches (conservative guess)...dont lose any sleep over it, go talk to a frame guy, he'll tell you what you need, and answer any questions...i'm kind of surprised the guy whos installing the 1/4's didnt suggest getting the frame checked, i would assume he at least tried jacking it up off the frame to try to even the gaps up?...you still havent told us if its all welded, or if he tried jacking it up or what, i'm hard pressed trying to imagine a guy going forward at that point if he cant get gaps even
seriously, thats what were trying to fix here, youd probably be amazed at the amount of flex, twisting and contortions a auto body encounters in the course of just a normal day, let alone a 30 year lifetime, thats why you must have the tires on the car and the normal weight bias on the tires when you install and/or adjust any body panel, if you dont, its all but certain they wont be alighned when you set it down...ever had jackstands under the frame behind the front wheels? if you have, you may have noticed how far you can jack the front bumper area up before the frame comes off the stands, probably well over 6 inches (conservative guess)...dont lose any sleep over it, go talk to a frame guy, he'll tell you what you need, and answer any questions...i'm kind of surprised the guy whos installing the 1/4's didnt suggest getting the frame checked, i would assume he at least tried jacking it up off the frame to try to even the gaps up?...you still havent told us if its all welded, or if he tried jacking it up or what, i'm hard pressed trying to imagine a guy going forward at that point if he cant get gaps even
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