I read in a camaro restoration book that the fender should be out about 1/16-1/8 " from the door and same for rear of door to quarter. They say it helps keep wind noise down. Are most people aligning like this or making all gap metal flush ?

I don't know for sure if that was the case but if you're doing body work IMO, I would rather keep everything in the same level. As far as the wind noise, who's gonna hear it over that engine and exhaust?:yes:

That is the factory for late model Caddy's I used to have a plastic guage, for a real car
run 0.020 or flush or use either of your 2 noise reduction units, "stereo, or exhaust"

If you look in the AIM sheetmetal tolerances, the fender should be .06 - .120 outboard of the door at the fender center peak line. Never heard or seen any tolerances on the rear of the door....I'd shoot for flush or maybe a red frog hair outboard now that ya mention it:D

Never heard or seen any tolerances on the rear of the door....I'd shoot for flush or maybe a red frog hair outboard now that ya mention it:D

Fisher Body spec for "F"-body door-to-quarter is flush, +/- 1/16". :thumbsup:

You don't think I'll hear wind noise over this engine?:D How about the burning rubber :noway: Ok...flush it is.

Your not building a Lexus it is what it is,they were not ball bearing cars from the factory.I see alot of cars with tight gaps with chipped paint.I would rather have all my paint with a comfortable gap...JMO...

If you look in the AIM sheetmetal tolerances, the fender should be .06 - .120 outboard of the door at the fender center peak line. Never heard or seen any tolerances on the rear of the door....I'd shoot for flush or maybe a red frog hair outboard now that ya mention it:D


This is not about Wind Noise, it is bout not having the front edge of the Door take he paint off the Fender edge. Remember this is for an Assembly line and they did not have time to "tweak".

If you can make yours flush with an acceptable Gap without fender edge to Door edge contact, go for it.

Ditto here, Larry...I'd think you'd have to be going over the 150 mph mark to create any wind noise.

capt

Isn't it ( the outboard gap at the front ) to allow the door to open without the risk of contact that may chip the paint ?

I was looking at a 69 at a local show a few years ago, and since I was in the middle of prep and paint, I was paying special attention to the gaps. I something was goofy, but I couldn't figure out what....then it hit me. The door to fender gap was too small, and so to prevent the front of the crease at the middle of the door from hitting the fender when the door was opened, the guy banged in the front edge of the crease. He did a neat job, but still....there had to be a better way! I'll bet my painter and I opened the doors 200 times while tweaking the gaps!

For the best look with the doors closed you want the fender to door and the door to the quarter panel level or flush with each other. When looking at the reflection across the gaps you want this reflection appearing undistorted like the fender door and quarter panel were all one piece and then someone came back and sliced in the gaps. If you look at some cars that a person has blocked each part seperately and then after it's assembled and painted the reflection curves inward a tad by the edge where the end of the panel is and then on the adjoining panel it is curved back outward. A way to avoid this is in the bodywork stage and blocking across the gaps from one panel to the next.
The front edge of the doors can hit the back edge of the fender and like anything else you have to make this clearance large enough so the paint doesn't get chipped. The Camaro fenders and door hinges are very close to the Nova design and if you want tight gaps you have to do the work to accomplish this and not have any of the edges contact each other from the door being opened.
Older cars did not have the tolerances like the new cars today but there is no reason you can't work with what you have to make it better. Time, money and some aggrivation are required. It's just how much do you want to invest into it.

Jim

http://i732.photobucket.com/albums/ww327/ttillman/52.jpg

I ended up at 1/4 .I think I am going to leave it here.

From here... looks nice and even.:thumbsup:

capt

This is not about Wind Noise, it is bout not having the front edge of the Door take he paint off the Fender edge. Remember this is for an Assembly line and they did not have time to "tweak".

If you can make yours flush with an acceptable Gap without fender edge to Door edge contact, go for it.

Yes, I realize that and an 1/8" does seem excessive. I spent all kinds of time tweaking on one side and 1/16 was the best I could, w/o much more drastic measures such as a BFH or cut & reweld. NOS fenders & original doors too...perfectly acceptable for what it is, imo:)

Thanks to John Z for your input!

Is the bottom of the fender touching the front of the rocker.If there is a gap at the rocker you shold be able to slide the door back and the fender both if there is a gap at the rocker.A quarter may be a little heavy on the back of the door.