Fender Alignment help at front door/rear fender

[eagleone1983]

So my paint guy/body guy didn't do the best at aligning the passenger fender so I thought I'd give it a whack. Then I realized I'm 29, every car beside my RR that I've owned has had all panels perfectly aligned with robots and I have no idea what I'm doing. The top of the door/cowl area is perfectly level with the rear of the fender. But as you can see with the pictures my gap pretty much disappears in the center of the rear fender/front door gap. What do I do to correct this.

If anyone lives in Utah that can help me there is full strength beer and my wifes baking abilities in it for you. For those that don't live in Utah, only those that can get on base can get full strength beer I'd ask the body man that did the work but I'll be honest after all I've seen so far I have no more faith in him. But if all else fails I'll try him again and maybe he'll get it done in a few months.

 

[Hemi Rebel]

Oi, not the best time to make sure everything lines up. This should be done in the early stages of the body work so once it is painted you are done. But thats neither here nor there at this point. generally what i would do is have everything loose and forward as much as possible. Starting with the doors, line them up with the quarter panel at the back edge and at the cowl. It is much easier ro get to the hinge bolts with the fenders out of the way. There are bolts from the inside as well so the kick panels need to come out. Once the doors are lined up, its fender time and the hood. Mask all your edges with tape so as to minimize paint damage. This is not a half hour job. Keep that in mind and good luck. I would help, but Utah is a little bit farther than im willing to go.

 

[eagleone1983]

Yeah tell me about it. I told the dumbass that painted my car to make sure everything was good to go BEFORE paint. I think I'm going to make him fix this cause if I F something up it's on me.

 

[moparmarks]

That sucks but I've had to deal with the same. Alot easier to do before paint. I, myself, would remove the fender and get the door lined up like Hemi Rebel says. Then install and line up the fender. Don't let that door hit the fender or you'll be patching the paint too. I know I'm not much help.

 

[67 coronet]

Yeah tell me about it. I told the dumbass that painted my car to make sure everything was good to go BEFORE paint. I think I'm going to make him fix this cause if I F something up it's on me.

ya,talk with him first.no decent body man should have shot paint on that alignment.

 

[eagleone1983]

You said it correctly 67, "no decent body man". This guys been a pain in my butt since the get go and has more excuses than my toddler.

 

[Jasoncoronet]

It is really easy to chip the paint now if you get the seams to close. Its not really difficult he just should have done it. My car was the same and I alligned it myself becasue I figured if he did not do it the first time maybe he does not know how or he thinks it is fine. If you do it just use tape on the edges that will help protect but use easy release tape and dont press it on tight. Oh Ya get a helper for a extra set of eyes when opening the doors.

 

[Propwash]

You said it correctly 67, "no decent body man". This guys been a pain in my butt since the get go and has more excuses than my toddler.

LOL!!

I agree...Fit up door to quarter/rocker and move forward from there. Couple layers of painters tape on all leading edges. Buy a box of body shims..may need them.

 

[Cranky]

Think I'd take it somewhere else and then send the other ahole the bill! If you've never done this sort of stuff before, either find someone who has experience to help or take it to another shop.

 

[wannadrag]

I can for see lots a chipped paint off the bolt heads.

 

[fatecaptured]

That body guy sounds like a real choad! X3 on the doors first w/quarts & rockers. then move forward. hood to cowl . fenders to doors and hood. then grill. It can be done with out a repaint. Just put good masking tape on the edges. One trick I learned from an old timmer is de- tacking the tape( run your fingers over the adhesive). The oils from your skin will make the tape no bite onto the fresh paint. Or like someone said easy release tape. Body shops adjust doors after paint or not even paint (blend). Weather stripping gets worn so they adjust the doors for a good seal. They tape the edges and adjust away. Paint on the bolts.. That might be a problem. Might try tape on them too . Just saying its not impossible. Get some extra hands for sure. Go slow when u do remove the tape!!

 

[WileE]

What Rebel says. It never fails to amaze me what other body shops pass off as "workmanship". Hard to see in the pix... first off, does the back of the door line up with the lock pillar ? Alignment is 3-dimensional. It looks to me like the fender is shimmed out at the bottom, maybe to get the clearance for the door to open ? Is there stress on that lower fender bolt ? Before ANYBODY touches anything, tape off ALL gaps...

 

[eagleone1983]

Wile, the back door seems to line up great. Nice and flush with the top and sides of the quarter panel. I have to slam the door to get it to shut but I do have all new weatherstripping on it so I figure that is the cause. The fender is shimmed out quite a bit at the bottom but I didn't feel too much stress on it when I was loosening it. I'm not going to mess with it any further, I'm just gonna make the body guy fix it.