Adjusting front fenders/quarter panels?

[Malicious]

Been doing a few things to tweak and finish off my 68 Net and one of them is panel gaps.

The bonnet has never fit right, but I have managed to get it sitting good, but the front of the front quarters are sitting too low, maybe as much as a 1/2”.

I had a look over the fsm and it’s vague. I’ve loosened the top quarter to engine bay bolts, nut under the rad panel support, the two bolts on the top panel above the lights and the two bolts in the engine bay off of the rad support. I can’t see any other bolts but it’s not moving.

Is it a case of forcing it from below? Ie up under the fender behind the lights with wood and a jack as the fsm mentions.

Or am I missing some bolts/nuts?

Appreciate any help!
Cheers

 

[Richard Cranium]

Nothing that a thick layer of bondo won't cure.

 

[69L48Z27]

Need pictures. Quarters on behind the doors and are not bolted on. If your a 1/2" off by bolting factory sheetmetal together then there's a problem somewhere. Is the 'bonnet' the trunk or hood? I think your working on the front fenders but not sure....

And yes, bondo cures all.

 

[Demonic]

So if the bonnet ( hood here in the states ) is high in the front- are the hood bumpers too high? Most cars I've parted out are not shimmed at the front end of the fenders (front of the front quarters, as you say). Maybe the hood (bonnet) latch is too high.

Adjust these down maybe.

 

[PurpleBeeper]

Yes, bonnet = hood. There are actually a lot of possibilities and all of them can be fixed. Can you see anything hitting anywhere? How does the back of the hood line up with the cowel. Pictures would help for sure. There are some body part experts on here that can help (I'm not one of them, but I know "some")

1. Hood bumpers too high
2. Hood hinges too high
3. Fenders themselves too low

The whole front clip (hood & front fenders) and the doors too for that matter need to be adjusted as a group. Here's how I look at it. Get the doors aligned with the body. Align the fender with the doors & cowel. Align the hood with the fenders last.

I "suspect" your hood is straight, but too high (need pictures) or should I say the hinges are too high. You can adjust the hood height in back with the hinges where they bolt to the inner fenders.

For the fenders themselves, I like to loosen ALL the bolts (including the ones underneath) and slide in shims as necessary. You can buy bundles of shims, they come in different thicknesses, they look like a squared off "U", and you can stack them if necessary. I'm sure there are better ways, but I "eyeball" what needs to be shimmed, bolt it up and look. Then I loosen ALL the bolts again and add/subtract shims and bolt it up again. I keep repeating this until each fender looks good. I do both fenders, then I move onto the hood & do basically the same thing except there are some oval holes on the hood hinges which I work with first & I usually don't needs shims on the hood components.

 

[Malicious]

So I may have over estimated the gap. Maybe closer to 1/3” anyway here are some pics:

Sorry I’m an Aussie - bonnet=hood, front quarter=guard, fender etc.

 

[Richard Cranium]

Sorry I’m an Aussie.

You're forgiven.

 

[eldubb440]

fenders look ok...... looks to me like your hood latch is too high, not allowing the hood to sit on the stops

 

[Malicious]

You're forgiven.

Shoulda seen that one coming...

 

[Malicious]

I had adjusted the center latch a couple of times with no success. Always seemed to make no difference but I had another crack again today.

Tried everything, same result. Anyway looked around a bit more and realised the radiator cap had been fouling on the inside of the hood. Removed the cap and bam **** lines up nicely.

Looks like I’ll need to adjust the radiator down. Must be a smidge too high.

Thanks for the help!

 

[kiwigtx]

Before going to too much trouble with panel alignment, have you have the chassis checked on a machine for straightness and squareness etc. If the chassis is bent or twisted, the job gets a whole heap harder.