Are these gaps normal?

[Sport/Truck]

I know these trucks aren't built with a lot of detail to fit & finish, and is probably somewhat normal, but this is the type of small stuff that bugs me allot.
I got my front clip on & everything is real close to perfection. Until I got to the hood! Seems if I pull it forward it closes the gap in the front, but the gap at the cowl is huge! I have the difference split now, does this look normal?
Any suggestions on adjustment that I may have overlooked?
s/t

Hood & cowl gap (street side)


Hood & cowl close up. (street side)




hood & cowl (curb side) gap slightly closer than other side.


Front hood & grill gap






I used the blue tape on the fender to transfer the with on the hood with the pen marks. They are very close indicating that the hood is on nearly in its original location. I just don't remember how big these gaps were.


you almost can see the rubber pad between the hood & fender in this shot.

[Sport/Truck]

Here are a few more.
s/t
these marks suggest that it's close to what it was originally.
Here's the picture of the complete front end.

[big_al_71]

I am definetly suscribing to this thread to see what the solution is as your picts almost look identical as to how my hood is on after reassembling the truck.

[Sport/Truck]

Lets hope we can get solution! But since you have the same I'm thinking it normal?
s/t

[Andy4639]

As stated fitting the panels is a art. You need a lot of shims and a lot of pateince. I of which have nether! I hope you the best. Good luck with it, I just finally gave up.

[Sport/Truck]

LOL I hear you!
But I don't think a shim can help with my forward and rear gaps? I don't know. Am I missing something?
s/t

[big_al_71]

I took my truck to two different body shops that my company owns and they both tried and they got it as good as it could be, one guy suggested for me to leave the truck so he could take the fenders,hood and radiator support off so he could reinstall them and hopefully get a better fit. The thing is I dont remember my hood being this misaligned before we took the truck apart.

[rob32472]

Maybe Ebfabman will chime in he can tell you how to fix it. How are the fender gaps by the doors?

[Sport/Truck]

Originally Posted by big_al_71

I took my truck to two different body shops that my company owns and they both tried and they got it as good as it could be, one guy suggested for me to leave the truck so he could take the fenders,hood and radiator support off so he could reinstall them and hopefully get a better fit. The thing is I dont remember my hood being this misaligned before we took the truck apart.

I know where your coming from. I can't remember how it looked before I removed the front clip eigher!

Originally Posted by rob32472

Maybe Ebfabman will chime in he can tell you how to fix it. How are the fender gaps by the doors?

My fender gaps look perfect at the doors, and as tight as i dare to go.
s/t

[Sammy]

You might try shifting the core and cab to get a closer tolerance. But that may be how your truck came originally from the factory. My GMC has about half of that gap. But my cab was reinstalled. So I think it is possible to get closer tolerance. Depends on how much it bothers you.

[Sport/Truck]

Originally Posted by Sammy

You might try shifting the core and cab to get a closer tolerance. But that may be how your truck came originally from the factory. My GMC has about half of that gap. But my cab was reinstalled. So I think it is possible to get closer tolerance. Depends on how much it bothers you.

Is it possible to just loosen all the bolts on the cab & fenders and move the cab .250?
I’m wondering how this will work with the fenders. The gaps on the doors are pretty close. I think I can move them forward as well, just cant remember for sure now.
Anyone?
s/t

[fine69]

That looks normal to me. You guys are too used to looking at new stuff.

Remember, these were meant to be work trucks. Not show trucks.

[Mondo]

I agree, getting it all lined up is more important than the gaps.... these trucks were made for work.

My hood is higher than my cowl and that bugs me way more than the gap... of course I have a stock hood, aftermarket fenders & fiberglass cowl so I should just be happy they fit at all

[truckintexas]

Here's some tips from two board members I got off a thread last month. I have never seen gaps 3/4 Inch wide either.

PANEL ALIGNMENT (FROM “RETRO68” AND “LONGHAIR”)

Re: aligning / squaring fenders & radiator support.
Doors first make sure gaps are to your liking. Loosely install support then fenders then front grill section then lay hood in opening. shim fenders to align with doors. Then adjust front of fenders to square up hood lines so they are close. Install hinges and hood. Tighten support body mounts to insure door fender gap is correct. Do final adjustment on hood lines. Check fit of wiper cowl to hood if all looks well do a final tighten on all your fasteners. Don't forget to pickup some body shims before you start.

Re: aligning / squaring fenders & radiator support.
As Retro68 said, the hood is big, square, and it really can only be aligned one way....with the gap even across the cowl. The fenders then are adjusted to the best fit between the edges of the hood and the front edge of the doors.

Be aware though that the original fit was not great by modern standards. The gaps were not only wider, but many times they were not parallel either. It is very possible to have the curve of the edge of a door not match the fender that it meets. Show quality work requires a lot of time to fix this, on a driver, it's everyday stuff.

[67ChevyRedneck]

What does your cowl look like at the door? You may be able to push the cowl 1/16-1/8 closer to the hood to get it to "look better."

As others have stated the gaps on these trucks blow and they came from the factory like that. 1/8"-1/4" gaps are within the "normal range."

I got my hood to be within 3/16" of the cowl with the nose of the hood aligned with the front fender (obviously 69-72 Chevys are different). When I was aligning my body panels I wasn't looking for a specific gap measurement number in mind, but instead I did my best to "split the difference" in all of my gaps.

IMO when you step back from my truck the gaps all look good and even. I spent HOURS AND HOURS messing with my truck's gaps before paint.

Please ignore the dirt and bird poop, the truck sits outdoors and hasn't been washed in months.

[heymoe]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

What does your cowl look like at the door? You may be able to push the cowl 1/16-1/8 closer to the hood to get it to "look better."

As others have stated the gaps on these trucks blow and they came from the factory like that. 1/8"-1/4" gaps are within the "normal range."

I got my hood to be within 3/16" of the cowl with the nose of the hood aligned with the front fender (obviously 69-72 Chevys are different). When I was aligning my body panels I wasn't looking for a specific gap measurement number in mind, but instead I did my best to "split the difference" in all of my gaps.

IMO when you step back from my truck the gaps all look good and even. I spent HOURS AND HOURS messing with my truck's gaps before paint.

Please ignore the dirt and bird poop, the truck sits outdoors and hasn't been washed in months.

I know this is an old thread but your gaps look very good. I am in the process of installing my fenders on my 68 and I am running into some issues with the fenders night aligning up at all. The gap at the rear of the fender by the door starts off rather wide and the lower portion of the fender is almost a 1/8" over the door. I have the radiator support all loose so I can move it back in forth but it seam like I am bolt bound at the cab and cannot get enough tilt to square the fenders. I thought it might have been my bushings under the radiator support but I am pretty sure they are right. (small bushings not the larger ones used on the 69 up). I will try to get some pictures in the morning to see if anyone can offer me some advise.

Thanks

[PHAT TONY]

heymoe, sounds like you need to shim your rad support up; this will tilt the fenders and tighten the gap @ top, open @ bottom

[Bus Ted Knuckle]

I believe your core support needs some adjustment.

[67ChevyRedneck]

Heymoe, first off, thanks, I really tried my best to get even gaps around the whole truck. It was very time consuming. Are you putting fenders on the black truck in your avatar? It looks like a sharp truck.

Did you use new cab bushings too? Something is funky. The core support definitely needs to be higher, based on your description. I think I had to add a washer or two to mine to shim the nose of my truck up a bit to square off the fenders.

[heymoe]

Originally Posted by 67ChevyRedneck

Heymoe, first off, thanks, I really tried my best to get even gaps around the whole truck. It was very time consuming. Are you putting fenders on the black truck in your avatar? It looks like a sharp truck.

Did you use new cab bushings too? Something is funky. The core support definitely needs to be higher, based on your description. I think I had to add a washer or two to mine to shim the nose of my truck up a bit to square off the fenders.

Yes the fenders are going on the black truck and thank you for the comment. I am also thinking about shimming up the support but it is more than a washer off. If I set the fenders up with the support moved out of the way to make the correct gap at the doors the fender is about an 1" above the support.

Is it possible to have the cab slope incorrect? I installed new bushing all around and I am now wondering if the cab supports are taller than the factory setup. If anyone has any suggestions please let me know.

[greystoke]

Chevyredneck, your gaps look great. This is one thing that really sets off a rebuild. My dad has a 71 and the hood fits horribly, it doesn't sit down right at the cowl. For my 69 I've decided to install the porterbuilt hook hinges, they will center the hood perfectly and then I can adjust the fenders accordingly.

[DustyC10]

You could toss a couple shims under the core support and then a couple under the rear cab, provided it doesnt knock the body lines off with the bed. Just a way of getting more adjustment without a 1" stack of shims under the core.

[heymoe]

Here are some pics. I will go get some shims and see what I can do. Could it be the repop doors? All I know is it doesn't line up at all and is really starting to frustrate the crap out of me.

[Fastfun]

Could it be the repop doors? I think it could be, I have read from others that they had to do a lot of adjusting and that the body lines do not line up very good

[Rack Man]

I spent probably 20 hours trying to get my panels lined up (post paint).....and I finally had to say enough and realized that they were never gonna be perfect.....then I looked back at my original pics I had of the truck and realized that they weren't perfect before I dismantled the truck.....

Btw, my DS hood both front and back look nearly identical to your pics above....



RM