Door, Fender, Windshield trim, Cowl, and Hood gaps

[dbmac 22]

I'm finishing up final assembly and struggling to get things lined up. The car came back from body and paint fitting well (as I remember), but now after all the other assembly, its not fitting so well. What are the typical gaps around the A-pillar? Where the door, fender, and windshield trim come together.... It seems like when I get the fender just under the trim, it is hard against the door. Door gaps are less than a quarter inch all around so not much room there. 

Similar for cowl/fender/hood - I have seen some pics where the cowl is tight against the fender, but my cowl is the exact same width as the hood so that doesn't seem right or possible. Plus there is a fender-to-cowl bumper which should be adding some space. 

Any pics would be great, just trying to figure out if its a pinkie or a thumb of space. 

 

[barnett468 418]

do you have repo fenders or doors?

did it fit better before you took it apart?

you "should" be able to run up to around a 3/32" gap between the cowl panel and fenders.

around 5/32" is a typical door gap with 3/16" being around the max and pretty large at that.

I have seen that pillar post gap vary in width with it being around 1/4" on average.

The gap between the sides of the hood and the fenders should be around 5/32", and this gap will determine what the gap between the pillar post and door, and fender and cowl is.

I have had to literally "twist" doors on a box stock car to get everything to fit to what I thought was an acceptable degree.

 

 

 

 

[mustangstofear 608]

This is my original R code. 

[RPM 1,190]

Yep, we certainly aren't building watches.

[mustangstofear 608]

Big difference between MCA  concours,  and the  standards we do now :) 

[redmastercraft 10]

mustangstofear,  can you post a picture where the door and fender meet the rocker.  Curious of what the gap looks like there.  Thanks...

[mustangstofear 608]

1 hour ago, redmastercraft said:

mustangstofear,  can you post a picture where the door and fender meet the rocker.  Curious of what the gap looks like there.  Thanks...

Sure can, will do it when I get home.

[dbmac 22]

Perfect, thanks for the details. I was trolling for-sale listings and found a few pics that looked similar (thought not very close up). The door and fender on that side is original.  It has been a few years since it came apart but I don't remember there being any major problems in that area. Body shop "aligned" them, the gaps looked good but they did not have glass/trim. So.... it needs a little more persuasion now. 

Does this order seem reasonable:

1. Glass has the least amount of play so that is "reference". 

2. Bottom windshield trim is next, that  ~touches the glass and A-pillar. It has very little play and pulling it away from the glass or body is very noticeable. Trim then sets how far up the fender and cowl need to come. 

3. Door is not under the windshield trim but needs to align with the fender. That would put the fender about where Barnett said - 1/4"

4. Back/bottom of the door needs to align with the body. Which means twist the door some more. 

Then work back and forth to get both ends of the door to align. 

Yeah, ain't no Swiss watch. 

Thanks. 

[mustangstofear 608]

Michele bought this one owner Mach 1 28 years ago for a Christmas present. This is the way it was put together from  Ford. 

[redmastercraft 10]

Thanks.  Great thread.   Now I don't feel so bad about my gaps...