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Is it just my car or are most MOPARs....

idrivemopar

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not very symmetric?

I have heard some people say that old MOPARs are not very symmetric meaning that stuff does not quite line up the same on the left as it does the right? I have noticed this while putting my 73 RR back together. Now, with that said, I have been able to get stuff in pretty good alignment.

So what's the story here?
 
Panel alignment was an after thought on these things. Most were out of whack on the showroom floor.
 
It's not just you, and it's not just Mopars. I have a '67 Buick with some of the same issues, and I've seen it at the car shows too (not the concourse shows, the "driver get-together" types.)

In fact, IMHO, one of the little things that makes some of the concourse restorations and show cars sometimes looks "not quite right" -- that funny little "something" you can't quite put a finger on, is that panels are too straight, lines are too perfect, and paint is too flawless.

Like Marylin's "beauty mole," it's often the little imperfections that make it right.

70rr-Brian mentioned that panel alignment was an afterthought, and that's not entirely the case, nor is it entirely untrue -- but the fact remains that the cars we so love and covet today, were never intended to be collector's items 40+ years ago when they were made--they were designed to be consumer items....and they were intended to be consumed (i.e. used up). It's actually interesting to me exactly WHICH cars end up being collectable and "interesting" vs. the ones that are just a flash in the pan.

There are and always will be a few cars that start off "special" and will always be such, but to me the truly interesting cars are the run-of-the-mill production cars that just "stick in your mind."

So don't worry too much about the panels that don't quite line up, or the sheet metal that's a little warped in the lines--it came that way, and it's what makes the car "REAL!"
 
Ever heard of "production tolerances"? Nothing is perfect.
 
was just the way they were made. good news is we can make them look better then new.
 
The tolerances on most of the old rides wasn't very critical unless you paid for it by buying a really high dollar car. If you think stuff is out of whack on old Mopars (and it usually is) you should see some of the old Corvettes that I've worked on over the years. Some of them looked like they were assembled by kindergartners. Most newer car have much better fit and finish because of better manufacturing processes. CAD, Robotics, laser alignment, etc. make everything fit better.
 
Tolerances are not much better these days either, don't kid yourself. The variance in panel fit and finish on new cars leaves a lot to be desired, considering most modern cars are welded by robots..

Our old Mopars were HAND welded mostly. That means by guys with gimble guns...Bound to be some tolerance issues.
 
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