The fit and finish of any car from the era wasn't the best viewed with todays standards. They were crapping them out as fast as they could. They guy throwing the fenders on probably had less than a minute to get it bolted in place.
Front end alignment on my 38
- Thread starter darkmercury51
- Start date
Tinker
Well-known member
I don't disagree with you there. And it seems using pieces from 3 or more trucks makes it even less fun.
But it is a bummer, when you bolt on (even loosely), the grill/lower grill chin, inner fenders, supports, and the fenders... and then hood latch is off by a 1/4".
I'd go hood, grill, inner fenders and fenders. Then make those side panels fit, may have to do a little metal work to get them to show tolerances.
slantback37
Senior Member
I have much the same problem with my 37 Tudor, but I have the original frame. I was told by a oldtimer that worked for Ford that the panels were made for that car, and had to be tweaked. I had no frontend on my 37. I found a front clip from a Fordor. Nothing fits right. Up down up down. Back and forth. I get one side to fit good, and the other doesn't. Get that one set and the first one doesn't look right. You just have to keep looking and adjusting the parts, and hoping for the best..
rotorwrench
Well-known member
The assembly line workers at the various Ford assembly plants had new chassis and sheet metal to work with. Even if there were some inconsistencies, they likely knew all the tricks to make it all look good. They generally had the whole front clip together before the bodies were dropped. Commercial pickups were likely done the same way.
Here we are 70+ years later with stuff that may have been in harsh service and sometimes in wrecks. It shouldn't be to much of a surprise that problems arise in assembly. We have a lot more time to do the job now than the assembly line workers had back then. I haven't heard too many folks who did body off the frame restorations say it was easy to put back together. A good plan of action always seems to start with the engine hood to body fit but the body may still have to be moved up or down after that so it's always a crap shoot.
Here we are 70+ years later with stuff that may have been in harsh service and sometimes in wrecks. It shouldn't be to much of a surprise that problems arise in assembly. We have a lot more time to do the job now than the assembly line workers had back then. I haven't heard too many folks who did body off the frame restorations say it was easy to put back together. A good plan of action always seems to start with the engine hood to body fit but the body may still have to be moved up or down after that so it's always a crap shoot.
slantback37
Senior Member
But by raising the body, or lowering it on say one side. Wouldn't that throw off your door gaps??
rotorwrench
Well-known member
If your frame has a bit of twist or a bit of bend then it just makes it more fun. If a person does a body off resto job then a thorough frame check should be done before reassembly. Some folks mock every thing up for fit prior to painting then take it all back apart. If you can get it to fit good once then it should go together OK after painting.
38bill
Well-known member
So 38bill ya going to let us in how you set your beauty truck frontend up or what?
All I can say is this is what worked for me. Once the cab was in place I temporarily mounted the running boards to the frame as they seemed to have little adjustability. I figured that would give me a good starting point for the ends of the fenders. Next I added the inner fenders and the grill and front aprons. Then the hood was mounted and lastly the fenders. Then everything was tightened and tweaked to fit. After taking it apart and painting I reassembled it without any issues. The sheet metal was original except for the left side panel and the grill. Everything ended up fitting very well so I'm guessing I just got lucky.
I'm no expert at this but I can imagine how hard it would be to start without the stock mounting hole locations for reference. That's why I thought the entire front end may have to be assembled and then fit to the new frame.
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