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Front end too FAT! (Wide)

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woolsey69

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
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I’m assembling my 69 and the front end gap from top to bottom where the grill goes in is about an inch too wide!
Everything is bolted up except the latch support holes won’t line up with the lower valence, the valence is sitting too low.

Any thoughts on adjustments here?


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#2 ·
Try loosening both sets of bolts on the fender extension, push the center of the valance up to get the bolt in it. I am guessing that you may have to massage the extensions and the valance to get them to line up properly. It would be a really good time to install the hood and cowl panel to square things up.
 
#3 ·
Reproduction fenders and header panel? Lower valance?
 
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Discussion starter · #4 ·
grampstoyz said:
Try loosening both sets of bolts on the fender extension, push the center of the valance up to get the bolt in it. I am guessing that you may have to massage the extensions and the valance to get them to line up properly. It would be a really good time to install the hood and cowl panel to square things up.
Click to expand...
I actually ended up doing exactly what you said. It then got things closer and I was able to use a little muscle to finally get that center bolt in from the top and bottom of the valence.

I feel like I’m forcing lots of these parts to go in. Nothing is bowing, I’m just guessing the metal needs to be manipulated a little. This is my first restoration so I’m not use to having parts not fit correctly.
Thanks for the quick reply! I appreciate it.
 
#6 ·
Reproduction parts are rarely going to be a perfect fit. I've always found it best to assemble all parts and bolts loosely and then start working on the line-up of the panels.
 
#7 ·
There is a fair bit of droop in those fenders and it’s most likely aggravating the situation.
 
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#9 ·
Well if you are happy with the fit of your grille then no need to worry about the droop. If you’re curious do a search for “fender droop”. Been covered here many times.

Don
 
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#11 ·
Don is correct. Serious fender droop. Fixing it and fitting the grill before paint would have been the best way. Fixing now not so easy and would need to be repainted.

Your car. If you can live with it call it good and move on.
 
#18 ·
While I haven't delt with this on my 69 yet, on my 72 after I replaced the sub-frame and core support bushings I couldn't get the front end sheet metal to fit properly as the core support was sitting 1/2 higher than before. I threw in the towel and took it to a body shop and I believe they shimmed the forward sub-frame bushings essentially dropping the front of the sub-
frame. I'm thinking if your dealing with a similar problem. I'm in now way an expert but it seems logical to me. Perhaps you can temporarily remove the core support bushings and use washers to lower it and see if it helps pull it into alignment.

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#19 ·
It is probably not the subframe or core support. Most aftermarket fenders have the supporting brackets spot welded into the wrong location raising the fenders. It is an easy fix but you will have to respray the paint on the inside of the fender. It has been discussed in this forum many times and is an easy search for "Fender Droop".
 
Discussion starter · #20 ·
Yea, now I know what “fender droop” is and I can definitely see it when holding a straight edge up to it. I’m sending the car back to the body shop for stripes, I will have them fix the support bracket to fix the droop. There is about a 1/4 of an inch gap between the support bracket and the fender.
 
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