Body out of square???? [Archive]

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kamaroman68

07-21-2009, 05:33 AM

Okay I am going to try and not make a long post about this but hopefully someone can help... 68 Camaro... Braced the interior for floor pan and both side inner and outer rocker panel removal. This body will now reside on a Morrison Max G full frame chassis. Anyways on to the fun. Removed the passenger side rocker (inner and outer). While working on a different part the bracing which was basically being held with a tack weld broke. The doors are off of the body also. Anyways the body moved. I used a ratcheting tie down strap to get the body back where I think it needs to be before welding in the new outer rocker. There are no fenders on this either. So can I/should I put the door back on an line it up with the quarter panel the best I can before welding in the rear section of the rocker panel? My guess would be yes. The other problem is the quarter had to be cut away (spot welds) from the old rocker panel to remove it. This car will receive new quarter panels down the road so I am thinking I can hopefully make minor adjustments to that when it gets done. Thanks for looking. Chris

200horse

07-21-2009, 08:48 PM

wow sorry about you bad luck yes I would put the doors back on it. Is there anyway you can get some facotry measurements and try to align it that way?

LateNight72

07-21-2009, 09:26 PM

You need to get the car on a frame or a jig. Afterwards assemble it as best you can before welding anything.

My $0.02

kamaroman68

07-22-2009, 09:11 AM

Thanks for the replies guys. To answer one of the questions... there is nothing left stock that could be used for alignment purposes. Unfortunately with the full frame it requires full removal of the floor pan and fabricating up a new one. What sucks is my rockers also needed to be replaced. Thankfully I only removed one side at this point. I think at this point I will re-install the door and line it up with the quarter panel the best I can. When I pull the body back with the ratchet strap i can get the temporary structure that I created inside the car back to where it was. I say this because I lined up the original welding points that ended up breaking. I dont know however if that will be good enough. Again thanks for looking. Chris

Smitty_67

07-22-2009, 09:45 AM

I'm going through the same thing. You can purchase or build a jig to align the panels. I'm currently building a jig.Mike's has some amazing resto pictures and sells the plans for the jig.

http://www.mikescustomcars.com/projects/projects.asp?proj=Catalog1stgenJig

silver69camaro

07-22-2009, 10:16 AM

silver69camaro

07-22-2009, 10:18 AM

Chris, if I were you, I would do a mock-up install with doors and fenders to make sure they'll look OK - that's the only thing to worry about. The outer 2x4 frame rails will keep the thrust line of the body parallel with the rear suspension, so it will travel down the road straight as an arrow.

Doing this will take some time, but well worth it.

BRIAN

07-22-2009, 11:31 AM

Use the chassis as a bench. Level the chassis front to rear, side to side and corner to corner on jack stands. Level the body where you want it to sit on the frame. Hang your doors to then verify if all is ok. A bit more work moving around body but doable. I wouldn't weld anything as that will lock in the movement.

When done on a bench you would have braced the car at ride height before cutting but you should be fine. Next time make a quick jig out of 2x3 and add some feet that can be leveled. Then mount the car at the pinch welds close to the cowl and again near the rear trq box area.

Good luck

justasquid

07-22-2009, 08:52 PM

I have a 68 on the ground without any damage ever. Its never been modified in any way either. If it turns out you need some dimensions, outside or what ever, Let me know. The cars interior is out, so I should be able to provide interior dimensions too.

kamaroman68

07-23-2009, 05:28 AM

Again Thank you everyone for replying!!! My original idea was to try and make/buy a jig. But as Matt has said it probably won't work with the full frame. The other problem is the front fenders I do have for the car are in very sad shape. i do believe this is the way to go. The driver side is not cut out yet so I am hoping to take a measurement of that side and try my best to duplicate it on the passenger side. Then I was thinking I would take diagonal measurments from the front of the passenger rocker to the rear of the driver rocker and vice versa to get the car squared up again. i'm sure it won't be a 100% perfect but in reality was it perfect from the factory? Once that is accomplished I can set it on the frame rails and hopefully (cross my fingers) the body will sit level. I honestly cant believe all the troubles I have been having ie broken weld. I must say my biggest problem has been analysis paralysis. i really just need to get my a_ _ in gear! Thanks again guys!

kamaroman68

07-23-2009, 05:33 AM

Squid thank you for the offer!!! i may take you up on that.

Brian I get what you are saying about putting the body on the frame to use it as a bench after leveling it but with no floor pan there is nothing to support the body over the frame- remember I removed the entire floorpan.

I will get it! It will just take a bit more time. Chris

Jim Nilsen

07-24-2009, 05:48 AM

get a laser level for doing ceilings and set it up to be in the same plane as the rockers. When you get it lined up you can measure from the laser line to center body line on sides. When these lines are all level you will be ok.

You must set the laser to be above the roof line to be able to measure down to the body line.

You can put hooks in the ceiling or use a cherry picker to help raise any panel you want.

I know this works because I did it and my car is more straight than it was from the factory.

If you do the right measurements you can build square to itself but you need to have it all in the same plane and that is what the laser does for you.

Since you don't have the panels on yet you can still fix it all.