Trunk lid- convert.

A photo would be helpful. "Adjustments" can often be made to provide a better fit. It's like making sausage, you don't want to see it being done. Year, model, etc ?
 
roadster36 said:
A photo would be helpful. "Adjustments" can often be made to provide a better fit. It's like making sausage, you don't want to see it being done. Year, model, etc ?
Click to expand...
I love roadster36's answer! Only because it is so true.
Yes, your lid can be repaired.
I'd recently done one that was pretty bad. Peeled the lip back of the outer skin. Cut the inner support section out in four pieces. Reshaped the skin and reinstalled the four pieces. It is stunning NOW and there are NO signs of repairs. Fits the body without question better than Ford ever had it.
Still, a very ugly process best left to a very able body man.
 
Thanks for the ideas- this lid is for a '48 ford convert. It's
only down 3/16" in the right lower corner and i'm hoping adjusting over disassembly.

R sullivan
 
Where twist is not too bad, I've seen my body man
Insert a 2 x 4 on the opposite side and push down to tweak
a door or trunk lid.
 
Yes, sounds like yours is in range of the wood block technique with no need for advanced surgery. Add in a bit of carpet on the block if car has finished paint.
I once read a description of a trip to the Packard assembly line in about 1948...
The observer described the final operation about so:
The finished car rolled out to a station where there was a very large man with a little pile of wood blocks...he would walk around the latest car critically eyeballing the doors, and if he found anything he did not like he carefully selected the proper chunk of wood from his pile and inserted it in a carefully chosen location between door and frame. Then he would suddenly hurl himself against the door, pick up the fallen chunk of wood, and close the door...which always fit perfectly as he strolled back to his cubby. Hard to say whether the wood or the fear motivated the door to fit...
 
In reply to Bruce L's factory "adjustments" described above at the Packard plant, I personally observed equally-barbaric techniques being "manually-applied" while fine-tuning the fit of Corvette doors and windows at the end of the assy line in Bowling Green in 1982. DD

Post # 1,000
 
In the early 90's when I started selling Fords it was not uncommon to have an air leak. If the weatherstrip was good you rolled down the window an had the fattest guy in the shop put his knees in to the door panel and pull down on the door frame. You did not want the customer standing there when he did it.
 
Another Packard adjustment/quality control measure:
Right before the cars reached the gorilla with the wood blocks, a steam line was inserted through a nearly closed door and interior filled with a blast of steam! Presto...no wrinkles or sags in the mohair, everything pulled up TIGHT!!
Yessir, nothing like old time craftsmanship and attention to detail!
 
Local GM factory had several men who had large hammers and assorted tools that fitted and refitted the doors through out the factory. First time I saw the guys put a knee to a door I thought he was going to jerk the door off the car. They left not a mark on the painted surface.
 
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