The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area General Truck Talk '53 front fender alignment tips? - out of touch but back now.

Hey, I have been out of touch a while. I am back and on vacation this week. I will be finishing the sheet metal work on the front fenders of the 53. I hope to mount them this week.

Any words of wisdom on how to ensure proper alignment. With all the cab and fender work I've done most of the original bolt holes are gone. I plan to mock up with clamps and re drill.

Any words of wisdom or moral support would be great!

Rich

I found it useful to have the hood attached for a centre reference. Also I used the long fender to firewall braces to pull the clip into place, once it was loosely mounted. At that point I decided on the proper shim depth under the rad support.

Just wanted to add something else you need to check. The cab itself needs to be square and level on the frame. Note: the cab will shift when you set the emergency brake, if the cab mounts are loose. The hood is the starting point for center reference, use tape measure to "X" measure the support and fender location.

Thanks Guys

Seeing as the fenders/hood all have to work together for the alignment, I'd follow the instructions here:

http://www.chevytrucks.org/tech/AD_hood_alignment.htm

Thanks robin58,

I have done all the metal work on the fenders. I just need to do prime them and then do a little hinge work on the hood hinges and I will be ready to start fitting (and hopefully not having a fit!).
Rich

rust bucket 53
I remember quite a few posts on this subject. Do a search at the archives and see what information you can dig up.

will do

Wow. This is actually useful information. I asked nearly the same question recently and got answers such as "you should really fit everything up before you paint everything." That'd be helpful if I had asked that but doesn't really help align my front end.

This weekend I'm heading out to the garage to use some of this newly found information. Thanks for asking the question correctly Rust Bucket. :/

RedGreen,

Gotta love this site. I hope to get some primer on my fenders this weekend. (too cold to paint here now, 3 degrees, but should be able to keep my garage temp high enough this weekend, 50 degrees)Once primed I will test fit all the parts.

An old body guy taught me a trick about the test fit. He drilled 3/16 inch hole near a few of the existing bolts before disassembly. When you put it back together you line up the small holes and are usually very close to correct. I did this when I removed my doors. I drilled holes where the hinges were in the door. Makes test fits more efficient.

Since this truck has a lot of new metal and the front clip was in pieces when I got it I can't do that but once I have it fitted correctly I can drill and then if I remove parts for paint, etc I will not spend the day refitting.

Rich