I am replacing shock towers, inner/outer wheelhouses and 80% quarters on my 67 convetible. The shock towers are welded in. I have been adjusting the inner/outer and quarter mock-up with clamps and screws. I can't seem to get the outer edge of the outer wheelhouse perfect with the quarter wheel lip. When looking at the wheel opening I have about a half inch outer wheelhouse sticking out at 9:00 to 11:00 o'clock.(hope that makes sense) Should I just trim the extra outer wheelhouse off or keep trying to get it perfect? Do they normally match perfect or do most of you end up doing some trimming?

I've installed alot of those wheelhouses, and the repro stuff never fits 100%. Take your time, line it up the best you can, the weld and trim. If you were using NOS stuff then I'd say try harder...but I'm guessing you are using repro...

yup, they will not fit perfect. i had to tweek mine quite a bit. just be patient and keep at it. make sure that you have a good fit between them so the spot welder can do it's thing. must have dry-fitted mine hundreds of times. put it all together just so you can take it all apart and tweek a spot 1/16th inch, just so you can put it all back together again and find the next spot to tweek. eventually, with perseverence and patience the pcs. will fit. don't be afraid to let everything sit for a day or so. it does get frustrating at times. there are alignment holes in the i/o wheelwell halves that have to mate up in order for the wheelwell to locate properly to the quarter. i welded my wheelwell halves together and then clamped that assembly to the car, then fit the quarter to it. since my 1/4 was nos i did all tweeking to the repo wheelwells.

just remember that the time spent now on obtaining airtight gaps at all the seams will reflect on the finished project. once you start welding you can't go back. sheetmetal will bend, it will move to where you want it to be, but you have to be very persuasive at times and even more patient.

patience and good luck,

Interesting note on lining up the holes on the inner and outer sections. On my outer wheelhouse , which I'm mating to unmolested inners, I have the front hole lined up with the inner wheelhouse hole but the back one ( visible in trunk) is .75 inch off or so. Not sure if I'll have to cut a section out or what? The back of the repo outer also hangs down about .75 inch below the repo drop down as well.

Thank's for your advise and encouragement. It's amazing how shaving an 1/8th off in one area can make such a difference. My line-up hole in the back of the wheelhouse is about 3/4 inch off, but the seam adjoining the two panels looks right-on.

John

Is your part a repo made overseas or made in USA? I had the same problem when I started on mine for my 69 convertible. I purchased a repo from Classic. I wanted to do the drivers side first just to see how they fit. The part was black edp coated and was less than 60 bucks. It fit like hell. When I aligned to the top alignment hole on the inner wheelhouse, the rear align hole was off by 3/4 inch. If I tried to adjust it to align with the rear hole, then the wheelhouse fit so poorly the full quarter would never slip on. I ended up spending the extra money and getting the USA made outer wheelhouses. They lined up perfect out of the box and the quarters went on just fine. It just shows that you get what you pay for.

I bought the cheapie 69 outers and inners. The inners fit fine but the outers were a disaster. Never again! The better parts cost more for a reason. They will fit! graemlins/angry.gif

-Mark.