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Issues Fitting New Front End...


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#1 NuFab

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Posted 27 September 2016 - 07:45 PM

Hey guys,

I'm getting near the end of the bodywork stage on my mk1 restoration, just the front end to do now. I've welded on the outer A-panels, lining them up with the doors, getting the gaps right and lining the hinges up. The car has had new inner wings on both sides.

I've bolted up my subframe, which is second hand but seems straight. The passenger side wing seems to fit nicely...

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And it all looks pretty good from the front, but on the drivers side it just won't quite go together. I'm either left with a gap between the wing and the front panel, which starts under the headlight and grows to about a 10mm gap by the wheelarch, or a huge alignment problem between the wing and A-panel...

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If I try and pull the wing up, it just opens up a huge gap..

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Any ideas where I'm going wrong here? I've tried loosening off the bolts holding the front panel to the subframe, and that didn't work. I've played about with the seam between the wing and the inner wing, and that got things a bit closer, but it's still not right.

#2 Cooperman

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Posted 27 September 2016 - 08:23 PM

You need to establish the wing to the A-panel flange first and clamp it firmly in place. a critical area is the back edge of the new wing to the screen scuttle panel. Get that wrong and it will never look good.

Then you work on the wing to front panel flanges. Normally it comes right in the end without too much hitting with hammers. Don't forget to check the bonnet alignment before welding inner, outer & front panel joins. It is so easy to find that after welding the bonnet does not have an even gap on both sides.

Make sure you use proper body panel clamps



#3 Joshwaaa

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Posted 01 November 2016 - 09:47 PM

NuFab - How did you get on ?
I have a similar problem 



#4 NuFab

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Posted 19 February 2017 - 03:53 PM

To bring this back from the dead... seems I haven't got on too well!

Getting the A-panels in right was a nightmare, but they're now on the car, and the doors line up with them pretty well.

I've still got this issue with the wing fitting... I've clamped my new scuttle panel in place, and the passenger wing fits really well, a bit more fettling and I'll have it perfect. The drivers side is another story.

Basically, it either sits well against the scuttle, or against the line of the wheelarch. If i line it up properly with the scuttle, the lower edge of the wing is about 10mm below the line of the a-panel, so there's a step in the line of the wheelarch. If I line it up so the wheelarch looks right, then the wing is above the line of the scuttle and it looks awful.

Measuring both A pillars has shown that the drivers side is 10mm shorter than the passenger side. I have no idea why; both doors line up nicely height-wise so I don't think the shell has deformed. Also I think the drivers side wing panel is slightly longer.

Has anyone had this problem and how can it be fixed? At the moment I'm thinking of cutting a long, narrow 'v' in the lower edge of the wing to move the line of the wheelarch upwards... anyone with any better ideas?

All panels are Heritage, by the way.

#5 NuFab

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Posted 20 February 2017 - 08:39 PM

Hey guys,

Had the day off work today and I've been working on the car for most of the day. I've got both wings fitting well, but I've still got this issue.

The top of the wing seems to fit well against the scuttle


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But the bottom still doesn't line up. It's not far out, but I'm not planning on running arches, so I need this to look good...

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At the moment I'm thinking of tracing the opposite wheelarch onto some card, and using that as a template to alter this one, by cutting metal out of the wing just above the wheelarch and welding it back together...

#6 Shifty

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Posted 20 February 2017 - 08:48 PM

It's worth considering modifying the a-panel rather than the wing, less chance of distortion.

#7 NuFab

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Posted 21 February 2017 - 06:45 PM

Yeah I had thought that, but it's a mk1 so I'd have to cut and let metal into the inner and outer a-panel....




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