The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop another grill/fender alignment problem

So We finished painting my 48 3600 flatbed and are trying to get the front fenders and grill aligned. I bought it with the front end disassembled, so I am not entirely familiar with how it goes together.

My problem is there is a gap on both sides of the radiator support between the inner fenders and Radiator support, and the gravel pan is tight in between the fenders. Are there supposed to be spacers between the radiator support and inner fenders?

The second question is with the grill, the top bar sticks out and hits the fenders where they start to roll out to the headlight. Is there supposed to be a gasket/ or filler behind the top bar and in front of the fender?

Thanks for the help. Jon

Did you adjust the hood yet? That is where you need to start the front clip adjustment.
That gap that you have will affect how the hood fits the fenders once closed. That gap would also put the tips of the grill bars into the fenders.There isn't supposed to be a gap there. I have had to create a gap there on my '49 due to the Frankenstein nature of my truck parts. I used shims there. It did cause grill bar/fender interference.
My issue stemmed from a splayed out hood which wouldn't fit between the fenders once closed. It was already painted so I couldn't muscle it into a narrower profile.

I do not have the hood on yet. I will get it on first thing in the morning, and try again.

One other thing I noticed was a difference in radiator supports. Some have 2 bolts in the middle, others have 2 mounting locations that are spread out. Was this just a difference in design by year?

Thanks for the insight,

Here is what I came up with to help me adjust the AD front clip. I read the Chevrolet Truck Shop Manual and wrote it down in my language.

AD Front Clip Adjustment Procedure
(This procedure is for when all front clip is on the truck.)
1) Loosen all nuts and bolts associated with the front clip. ALL of them. VERY loose.
a) Completely remove the bolts which attach the rear of the inner fenders to the toe board (right side) and the parking brake bracket (left side). Removing these bolts will make it much easier to move the fenders around. Once the front clip has been adjusted and bolts tightened, these bolts can easily be replaced.
b) Drop the fenders as low as possible at the rear. This will give you room to accurately adjust the hood without interference with the fenders.

c) Adjust Fender Skirt to Dash Brace Rods.
1/2 and 3/4 ton: left 27 ¼”, right 27”.
1, 1 ½, 2 ton: left 27 ½”, right 27 ¼”


2) Hood Adjustment.
a) Prop hood open with an appropriate length of wood.
b) Loosen outer hinge bolts completely (one on each side, outside of cab).
c) Remove hood supports (springs).
d) Loosen inner hood hinge bolts (two each side, inside cab). Leave these bolts just snug so that hinge can just be moved by jarring or exerting pressure on the hood.
e) Remove hood lock plate.
f) Adjust hood fore and aft to obtain 1/8” to ¼” gap between rear edge of hood and cowl edge.
g) If hood gap is not even, or not tight against the cowl rubber seal, add or remove shims between radiator support and frame cross member and tighten radiator support bolts to 5 ft. lbs.
h) Lift front of hood and place a 4” block under hood nose to hold it up.
i) While forcing rear of hood down tightly on hood rubber seal, and ensuring that rear edge of hood-to-cowl is correct and even, tighten inner hood hinge bolts (two each side).
j) Remove wood block, lower hood and check hood fit at cowl.
k) Tighten outer hood hinge bolts (one on each side).
l) Attach hood supports (springs) to hood. With hood supported by hood supports, tighten bolts to dash. This bolt tightening procedure will prevent one hood support from being fully locked in the open position, while the other being in the partially open position.
m) Replace hood lock plate just snug, and push to the rear. Drop hood to closed position. This will center hood lock plate. Raise hood, move lock plate forward 1/32” and tighten lock plate screws.

3) Adjust front clip to fit properly adjusted hood.
a) Make sure that ALL front clip bolts are loose.
b) Raise the rear of the fenders until they contact the rubber bumpers on the underside of the hood along the sides. Tighten fender-to-cowl bolts.
c) Raise hood. Tighten fender-to-inner fender bolts.
d) Carefully lower hood and check for clearance between where the hood nose meets the fenders. The fender/inner fender assembly can be moved inboard or outboard to gain proper gap by adjusting the Fender Skirt to Dash Brace Rods.
e) Tighten remaining loose bolts.

If you run into any snags, let me know and I may be able to help through them.
Carl

As far as the different radiator supports, I believe Chevy used two bots on either side of center, while GM used a U-bolt in the center. At least that's how my radiators are.

Tim

Carl

Excellent interpretation from the manual! Looking forward to my assembly in the near future.

Thank you

Jeff

So I got the hood adjusted, and now it doesn't seem like it wants to close all the way. I have about 1 3/4" of shim under the radiator support, which seems a little excessive. Should I back up and adjust the hood again so it closes a little further? Just looking for some sanity on the amount of shims under the radiator support...

Thanks
Jon

I do not know about amount of shims on a 2600, but on a 3100 1 3/4" of shims sounds like around 1 1/2" too much.

That is kind of what I thought...back to step 2, to adjust the hood. In short, I may have it too tight on the cowl gasket, limiting how far closed it will go.

Thanks
Jon

Before you adjust the hood, check the alignment of the cab. There are specs in the Truck Shop Manual for the correct gaps between the bottom of the cab and the frame at the front and at the rear. Having these gaps out of whack will alter the amount of shims needed under the radiator support.
As far as the hood adjustment, all that you are looking for is a tight fit on the hood seal, a 1/8 to 1/4" gap at the back of the hood, and that gap needs to be parallel to the cowl.
After you accomplish that, then you can put the lower hood latch on to determine how much shimming needs to go under the radiator support.
You will know that you have it right when the hood latch is in the closed position and the hood lines are still parallel at the cowl.
Carl

So the saga continues...I did check the cab alignment, and everything was within 1/8" of the book measurements. What I did find was I had to add spacers in between the radiator support and the inner fenders. The opening for the grill was too narrow, and it was also throwing off the fender to hood alignment. So my question is, Is it normal to add about 1/2" of shim on both sides of the radiator support to get the grill opening , hood and fender alignment and general front end alignment correct?

Jon

No.