How do you fix this??Repo body parts.

[rustbucket66]

Next, I got the fenders and header panel on the floor to try and align them, and put the bolts in the backside. Each side takes 5 body bolts, and not one lined up....not one. After a lot of clamping and unclamping, a whole lot of opening holes with a die grinder, and ran a thread chaser through each hole, I finally have it sort of lining up. One of the weldnuts was so far out of place, that I can't use it at all. Will have to grind it off and weld a nut in the right place , I guess. It still isn't great, but at least it is bolted together. The inner lip on the front of each fender is very crooked, but I'm not sure if there is much I can do about it. Also look at the missing metal in the corners of the lip where the previous pics showed the light coming through.................... I've been scratching my head, believe me, as to what I am doing here and why. In a nutshell, I already paid for these things, and threw the boxes away. I have made some alterations, as you can see, and they have some scratches in the primer. I can't really take them back now, after all that, and I can't justify spending more money on parts that I already have. I am slowly running out of patience though, and one day, I might just give up, and try repairing some originals, or find some good used pieces somewhere. LT1 Burb says he has some parts, maybe calling on him soon.

[awbrown]

Well I will have better welding skills after this project is over .. I will just have to use half of the panel for now...That being said , i deal in crankshafts and have a machine shop , I only deal with one supplier because their quality is far above the competitors.. All these body panel suppliers have to do is institute a quality control program ,it shouldnt be rocket science to catch some of the flaws we have seen here lately ... maybe some of the suppliers could chime in ...
If one suppliers quality outshines all the others , it wont be long before they all raise the standard.....

[padresag]

Originally Posted by awbrown

Well I will have better welding skills after this project is over .. I will just have to use half of the panel for now...That being said , i deal in crankshafts and have a machine shop , I only deal with one supplier because their quality is far above the competitors.. All these body panel suppliers have to do is institute a quality control program ,it shouldnt be rocket science to catch some of the flaws we have seen here lately ... maybe some of the suppliers could chime in ...
If one suppliers quality outshines all the others , it wont be long before they all raise the standard.....

but not every one wants to pay for quality and that is where the system breaks down.
ron

[awbrown]

Originally Posted by awbrown

Well I will have better welding skills after this project is over .. I will just have to use half of the panel for now...That being said , i deal in crankshafts and have a machine shop , I only deal with one supplier because their quality is far above the competitors.. All these body panel suppliers have to do is institute a quality control program ,it shouldnt be rocket science to catch some of the flaws we have seen here lately ... maybe some of the suppliers could chime in ...
If one suppliers quality outshines all the others , it wont be long before they all raise the standard.....

Well I guess we both will gain some welding skill....

[rustbucket66]

Got to work on the rear mounts of the inner fenders. The holes didn't line up with the cab mount, as per previous pics. I've drilled out the spotwelds, ground the spotwelds off, and positioned the bracket where it has to be. I'm not sure you can you can see, but Ive welded two of the spotweld holes, and tacked the other two. It is in the right position now. That"s a long way out. Over half an inch. The other side wasn't as bad, but the bracket still had to be relocated, about 3/8 inch. Some more welding and grinding, and a lot of material to die grind out of the hole. I trimmed it as much as I could with sharp tin snips to save some die grinding. The second picture shows it from the other side.

[rustbucket66]

Here is after the welding and grinding, I have both inner fenders showing where the holes are now. The rubber that goes into that hole can move around a lot, but the hole still had to be moved. It will line up with the centre of the hole now. I don't think there is anything left to fix. The body man is going to get all the pieces to prep and paint on the backside. Then I will put it back together and have him paint and bodywork the outside with all the parts mounted on the truck. The second pic shows them from the other side. I'm sure it will need some lovin on the outside before it gets painted. Looking forward to having the front end on and painted. There will have to be some kind of ceremony when that part gets done.

[rmvlt1100]

Originally Posted by rustbucket66

Here is after the welding and grinding, I have both inner fenders showing where the holes are now. The rubber that goes into that hole can move around a lot, but the hole still had to be moved. It will line up with the centre of the hole now. I don't think there is anything left to fix. The body man is going to get all the pieces to prep and paint on the backside. Then I will put it back together and have him paint and bodywork the outside with all the parts mounted on the truck. The second pic shows them from the other side. I'm sure it will need some lovin on the outside before it gets painted. Looking forward to having the front end on and painted. There will have to be some kind of ceremony when that part gets done.

Its looking good. Nice job on them inner mounts. I took some pointer of your earlier post had removed some of the inner fender braces and the spot weld around where the hood hindges bolt a was able to get the inner fenders lined up with the outer fenders and with the core support. I might have missed it but did you have any issues with where the doors and the top fender line up near the fender bolts? The curve on the fender sticks out farther than the door curve? If so any pointers on how you got them to line up? Thanks.

[dthela]

i didn't see any shims in any pictures! also where inner fenders meet rad support they were caulked, they will pull in when bolted. first and foremost is inner fenders and support install, measure and square, them everything else! look in assemble manual for clearances and shim locations. any questions, dthela@verizon.net

[gofastnut]

rustbucket, I can only say that I really admire your stick-to-it-iveness. I hope, for your sake this comes out OK.

[jbgroby]

After reading all of your post and ONLY have to fight the inner fenders, I give up and will put the OEM ones back on after re-painting.

[rustbucket66]

It's been a couple days, but I have some more done. The header panel sat upwards too high across the top, and had to drill out the spotwelds to push it down where it has to be to install the splash pans. Then, upon mounting the splashpans, none of the holes with the weldnuts underneath the header panel, would line up, as per previous pics. Ground the weldnuts off the backside, and welded up all the holes on the top of the header panel. 14 holes in all, 6 weldnut holes, and 8 support brace spotweld holes. Ground fairly smooth, then reinstalled the brackets on the backside that I had removed earlier (4). Lots of welding and grinding there also. I think the thing should be ok to use now, hopefully.

[rustbucket66]

Some of you might think I`m overly fussy and anal about how it fits. Not the case at all. I showed my bodyman some of this and he was rolling his eyes. I have at least 60 hours in these things and there is a ways to go yet. Just getting things to bolt together at all is a challenge. Whew. The inner lips of the front fenders are way out, so I decided to take that panel apart also. I`ve drilled the spotwelds as you can see, and ground the spotwelds on the inside with a die grinder to get it apart. I welded the top and bottom corners that had fresh air where there should be some panel. Some of the previous pics show the triangle shaped holes on each corner. Here it is installed on the truck, and it is in the ballpark to line up with the header panel.

[rustbucket66]

On the other side, which is just as bad, I have taken these pics. First, it is clamped in the position it was in when it came off. You can see where I have drilled the spotwelds out. In the next pic, it is close to the position it should be. Note how much it has had to shift to be in the right position. There has been some lovin with a hammer and folding pliers previous to clamping it in here. The open corners still need welded up also, and ground. I think this picture shows it a little better.

[rustbucket66]

Just when I thought I was getting somewhere. We hung the doors last weekend, there may be some minor adjustments, but it is very close, all the gaps are pretty good. I mount the fender where it will live, and check out how the gap continues to open as it goes to the bottom. Could it be the door, I wonder. Well, the door and front of the rocker line up pretty good, so I am assuming it is the fender. Forward or back, up or down really makes no difference on the gap at the top of the fender, and how it keeps opening at the bottom. In this pic, it is almost touching the door at the top, and look at the space at the bottom. It can`t be tipped up or down with the front of the fender and header panel lined up, and bolted together. Looks like a bunch of welding on the rear edge of the fender. Oh boy...Stay tuned.

[jbgroby]

After reading your posts I decided to NOT use the after market inner fenders and go with OEM one from a dealer.

Jake

[Shooters_7]

I would have bought a southwestern front clip from a parts truck and shipped it. I hate to see you wasting your time on sub-standard parts when you could be doing something else! Good luck to you on your build.

[rustbucket66]

Thanks for that, I wish I would have done that from the start. Maybe a couple patch panels, and I'd be done. Unfortunately, I'm in so far I can't turn around. To order a set from down south somewhere wouldn't be so easy. First, find a set, make arrangements for payment, then ship a couple thousand miles, and over the border. I would have a set here, albeit junk, that I couldn't use. I can't afford to spend money on parts I already have. I think I can make it work, with some more messing around. I started this blog so anyone thinking of buying this stuff would know what they were up against, and have examples of why this stuff is so poor. Hopefully, it will save a lot of folks a bunch of grief, and money. It should make you rethink what parts to buy, and which parts not to buy.

[rustbucket66]

Been a few days, but I think we are getting somewhere. After repositioning the inner panels on the fenders, and filling the corner holes, I reassembled the header panel and fenders on the floor. Most of the bolt holes had to be repositioned, after shifting the inner fender panel. Opened up holes, and weld and grind where the holes used to be so all the bolt holes would line up. I think there is something good enough now for the bodyman to work with. Repositioning the fender inner panels made a big difference. I feel a little better.

[rustbucket66]

After disassembling again, lay the header panel face down on the floor, and set the rad support inside it. Open holes as needed to be sure all holes align, with a little extra for adjustment, and that the brackets have a snug fit to the rad support. Welded areas of holes where they used to be, and grind smooth. Oh, that cardboard on the floor is showing the part number for the left fender, in case someone wants to jot that down, and order one....right. Ready to install back on the truck again. Almost.

[rustbucket66]

Is anyone still reading this? It's a long movie, some might have nodded off by now. It's been a while since my last suprise, and it has been going a bit too good. Upon turning the rad support and header panel upside down, the lid blew off another can of worms. The panel that protects the bottom of the rad is on crooked, look how much rad support shows on the left side compared to the right. Hmmm. I can live with that piece being crooked, as it is underneath, and no one should notice.....will they?? The mount on the centre is way out, maybe a half inch, and the right side is out about half the hole. Next pic, welded extensions on each, weld the fresh air where the hole used to be, grind smooth, and make new holes. Third pic shows the bolts in the holes, and the left and right brackets on. Kind of hard to see in this pic, but they are on there, and bolted down. Oh, there is that part number on the cardboard again in the second picture. I doubt anyone is writing it down, after looking at this blog.

[61K10]

you can't be the only one to use these parts? granted you used a whole front end. is there anybody that used say just the front fenders? who was your manufacture? does anybody know how many manufactures are their? on a driver, are the fenders ok? I know what it takes to make everything perfect. lot's of fitting on anything you buy. just wondering ?

[padresag]

nice rescue. I think that you deserve a beer or 2 after that.
ron

[suzq044]

With all these problems, i would think you would've done better to build ur own parts O_O (of course u need the machinery, but still.. jeez)

[padresag]

if the inner fenders are to short as some appear to be, it will lean back when fastened
ron

[rustbucket66]

The rad support should be upright and not lean inward.The rad support mounting bolts go with the bolt and square washer in from the top, then under the rad support goes the rubber washer, and a steel washer between the rubber washer and the mount on the frame. Under the mount goes a steel washer, rubber washer, steel washer, then the weird shaped big washer, then the nut. You can move it around a little, but not a whole lot. It appears in the picture, that your inner fender may be too short, but check something else first. That big backet at the front inside (takes 2 bolts) near the bottom may be against the rad support already when you start the other bolts. If it is touching the rad support already, you won't be able to tighten the bolts. Those two bolts I talked about didn't line up with the holes in the rad support on mine either. That bracket was no where near where it needed to be on mine, so make sure you check that. This might be a good time to take the stuff back, show the guy the pics you have, and look stateside for some decent ones. That is what I should have done from the start. Your can of worms is just starting to open.