What's your fender/cowl reveal look like?

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clementine

clementine

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Hi FABO!
Will anyone post a pic or comment on the reveal on my 67 barracuda...is this supposed to be this Tight? Sorry about the sharpie marks, i was about to start cutting and thought maybe the gap is supposed to be that way. Dunno..
Thanks

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It's not supposed to be that tight, but, it may have been that tight though. The body fit tolerances on these cars weren't great from the factory. On all of my cars the gap there is about the same as the door and hood gaps, ideally I think it's supposed to be around a 1/4" or so. Looking at your other gaps it looks like you would benefit from adjusting the fenders out a bit, of course you'll have to loosen all of the upper mounting bolts in order to accomplish that.
 
I've been chasing 3/16-1/4" down this whole side. I think it started when someone did the rear quarter. It's not bad, just a bit off, and a bit annoying. I care enough to fix it.


Thanks!
 
Yeah the factory body fits on these cars were all over the place.

Here's what my '71 Dart looks like, should be as it was from the factory. It has a height problem, the fender is a little low compared to the door and cowl. But the gap is better.

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clementine said:
Hi FABO!
Will anyone post a pic or comment on the reveal on my 67 barracuda...is this supposed to be this Tight? Sorry about the sharpie marks, i was about to start cutting and thought maybe the gap is supposed to be that way. Dunno..
Thanks
Click to expand...

I can see a couple of lines that could be worked with.
The top ridge of the door to fender as well as the outer panel of the door to fender look off to me.
The fist pic look like the door skin is farther out, and the that top ridge of both look like the fender is too far in.
Maybe just the pics, but that is what it looks like.

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TrailBeast said:
I can see a couple of lines that could be worked with.
The top ridge of the door to fender as well as the outer panel of the door to fender look off to me.
The fist pic look like the door skin is farther out, and the that top ridge of both look like the fender is too far in.
Maybe just the pics, but that is what it looks like.

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Click to expand...
NO. these cars were not computer designed, do the best u can and fugtaboutit. Door clearance and gap , all lined up id more important~!
 
Fenders and doors need to come away from the a-pillar a bit. The door gaskets are not much on theses cars, but I do like to do my test fitting with them in place to make sure there is enough room for the doors to close without binding on the gaskets. You're too tight to the hood.
 
Also add, that if the door is in to far you might encounter an issue with the door closing when the glass is in and up at the front corner/leading edge of the glass if it doesn't land in the upper gasket correctly. Really best to test fit before cutting anything. The glass will only adjust out as far as the belt molding in that front corner if that makes sense.
 
Yes!! Thank you! I have already cut as you can see, i have moved it too far away, but will correct by adding metal to inside edge...

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Yeah... I will get mine close and move on.
I figure if I keep people at a distance no one will know .
 
These cars rolled around for a lot of years with the gaps the factory set, and they definitely weren’t perfect.

I’ve cut fenders before to set gaps when doing concourse restorations on old British iron, but that should always be a last resort. Because if you haven’t tried everything, and considered all the possible problems that the gap could be a symptom of, you might just be screwing up a fender when the fender wasn’t the real issue. Ie, cutting the fender to fix a gap that’s messed up because the chassis is out of whack.

Regardless, it’s not something I’d do on any of my cars. That’s one of those “over-restored” things people do for show and concourse cars. I think it’s kind of silly, if they didn’t fit like that from the factory then a true restoration would leave it the way it was, not fix it to be perfect. But that’s not the way a lot of the concourse guys think.
 
I had thought about working on gaps before, then i took a nap.
Nothing wrong with perfecting something,but my want to finish something will outweigh the want to perfect something. Looking forward to seeing the fit and finish after.
 
Alot of times mounting tabs on fenders can be a little bent. Be surprized what a large screw driver/wedge can do do to align these issues.
 
Good ideas. I think this car has had a quarter put on this side. The other side is not as bad. It's a solid car but it is just slightly off. My cut job has solved two of my gap issues.... otherwise of it was just the cowl/fender I would have left it alone.


Thanks for the input....it gives me perspective, and I'll lessen my grip on the pursuit to getting it perfect.
 
There is a learning curve to this ya? I have a 34 coupe waiting in the wings that has no floor boards, no firewall, etc etc....so this is no problem. I only modified the fender in case I needed to go back. I am chasing 1/4" from someone else's quarter panel job.

Thanks for the replies!
 
clementine said:
There is a learning curve to this ya? I have a 34 coupe waiting in the wings that has no floor boards, no firewall, etc etc....so this is no problem. I only modified the fender in case I needed to go back. I am chasing 1/4" from someone else's quarter panel job.

Thanks for the replies!
Click to expand...
If had had a quarter put on at some point there would be evidence of that somewhere. It's totally possible it was was a 1/4 inch off from factory. Acceptable tolerances for the day.
 
I'm feeling pretty good about my chop job here. I'd say much closer than before....seems like it's going in the right direction.
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It was a sideways compliment...
Your bodylines are now tighter than one of our new Porsches.... Lol
 
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