Now with the doors on and aligned, my focus turned to the inner and outer front fenders.
As I said earlier, these fenders were also aftermarket parts that I put on and snugged up the bolts at the back against the cab. At the same time, I installed the inner fenders (these were original to the truck). I did not worry about putting the anti-rattle gasket between the two since they would be painted later. I installed the upper gray part of the grille to help hold the dimension across the front of the hood area. I still left most of the bolts loose for realignment purposes.
I had (during spare time) reworked the hood hinges to make sure they were good. My original hood was in pretty bad shape. The stiffener on the inside was rusted thru in a couple of places and the center divider was loose and raised against the hood. I had already purchased a new center piece but in the meantime, decided to buy a new hood because I liked the look of the hood without the divider.
Using the
instructions for hood alignment in Tech Tips on Stovebolt, I mounted the hood and got my side gaps close enough that I thought they would be good to after paint.
I adjusted the two fender braces to the dimensions specified in the Truck Factory Assembly Manual. The back of the new hood against the cab was inconsistent. The sides looked good but the top did not.
I got out my grinder and made it look much better than it did out of the box and followed the lines of the cab. After all the test fitting, it was ready to load up to take to the painter.
I have painted vehicles a long time ago and I wanted a better paint job than I thought I could do, especially since I had never done a base/clear coat finish. The color I wanted the truck to be was a 2010 Camaro Synergy Green color.
