Daniel

Casual User
Feb 5, 2020
13
4
VetteCoins
193
Car
Corvette 1971 Stingr
Province
ON
Hi, my name is Daniel, Last summer i bought a 71 stingray 350 4spds, a project that was started but far from completed. Body was removed, frame was sand blast, prime & peint. they installed new Gas tank, new gas line, new Complete Brakes & Brake Booster, Rebuilt the engine & Transmission & Reinstalled, Reinstalled the Body on new aluminium bushing Mounts and shims ( From Corvette Depot or America ) But the Doors where not on Car when i pick up the Car ! New Skins on Booth Doors, The Body was completly sanded dawn to Fiberglass and had primer at some places. Had new exhaust & support & Headers in Boxes witch i installed, The engine was never started since it's overall, so i completed the job, and now it's running good. I started fixing some crackes on the fiberglass, painted the Calipers & Roters, Re check the front wheel bering, installed new seals and grease, reassemble with new cutter pins and new dust caps. the car had new Brake lines, brake hose & gas line. Etc.…. My question is that i am looking for the very best book to get to help me Step by step how to aligne the body correctly, do i need to remove the front clips assy because the doors where never installed ? They dont fit to Good, very large gaps on left side and to tight on other side ! Is there any Videos out there to help me with this ? Right now i'm stalled. Thanks. Daniel
 
Daniel, you took on a very challenging car to restore. I purchased mine 9 years ago and performed a complete frame on restoration. My body fit was okay but not perfect. I have since got it quite a bit better but still not 100%. These cars were all hand built and they had the worst workmanship for several years on the chrome C3's. You may want to do some comparison measurements to an original car. The best reference you can have is a AIM manual, assembly instruction manual, which can be purchased from Corvette Central. Out of all of the Corvette parts stores, Corvette Cental and Volunteer Vette have some of the best aftermarket parts. I have tried every one and these two are quite decent for most parts. You say you put new door skins on, who made them? There are alot of very poorly made replacement parts for these cars. I spent alot of time and money trying to replace what I needed with oem NOS GM parts. So many of the aftermarket parts fit very poorly. I hunted on eBay for some stuff for years and paid the big bucks. Nothing fits quite like NOS.

As far as your fit issue, take a ton of measurements and compare L to R and see if the openings and door panels are all symmetrical in size. That would be a good starting point to try and troubleshoot where the real issue is. Once the body is removed and re-installed, there are so many variables on aligment. I spent days of trial and error getting my front nose, hood, headlamp doors and bumper to have a satisfactory fit. Worst case you may need to add fiberglass/resin and build up slowly several times to "lengthen" the door panel or fender edge. Again, you need to be sure of where the "root" issue is. Have fun and have lots of patience.
 
Daniel, you took on a very challenging car to restore. I purchased mine 9 years ago and performed a complete frame on restoration. My body fit was okay but not perfect. I have since got it quite a bit better but still not 100%. These cars were all hand built and they had the worst workmanship for several years on the chrome C3's. You may want to do some comparison measurements to an original car. The best reference you can have is a AIM manual, assembly instruction manual, which can be purchased from Corvette Central. Out of all of the Corvette parts stores, Corvette Cental and Volunteer Vette have some of the best aftermarket parts. I have tried every one and these two are quite decent for most parts. You say you put new door skins on, who made them? There are alot of very poorly made replacement parts for these cars. I spent alot of time and money trying to replace what I needed with oem NOS GM parts. So many of the aftermarket parts fit very poorly. I hunted on eBay for some stuff for years and paid the big bucks. Nothing fits quite like NOS.

As far as your fit issue, take a ton of measurements and compare L to R and see if the openings and door panels are all symmetrical in size. That would be a good starting point to try and troubleshoot where the real issue is. Once the body is removed and re-installed, there are so many variables on aligment. I spent days of trial and error getting my front nose, hood, headlamp doors and bumper to have a satisfactory fit. Worst case you may need to add fiberglass/resin and build up slowly several times to "lengthen" the door panel or fender edge. Again, you need to be sure of where the "root" issue is. Have fun and have lots of patience.
 
Thanks these infos will Help a lot. The reson i bought this car So many thigs where alredy done and i have tons of brand new parts in Boxes, seets completly redonne & new carpets and insulator for the inside.
The Doors skins where replace by Previus owner, i will ask from who they come from.
Can you tell me about the 6 new Aluminium Mouts, No Rubber that is weird for me ?
And to fit the front i will need to install the Front Bumper ? Right now with out the bumper, the front end is sitting on the front center Braket where are the 2 holes to bolt the Bumper.
i will try to sent some pictures, Thanks for your time
 

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Yes they are solid aluminum body mounts for the early C3's. That is why these C3's ride like a chuck wagon. 😉 The front bumper does mount the body solid so that is necessary to do now. I assume your rad support is already installed and holding up the nose. There are adjustments on body, nose and front bumper that aligns everything. You may need to keep all bolts very loose and move front, back or side to side or slightly diagonally to come up with a happy medium. If you purchase a AIM, there is a lot of assembly and gap information in there along with dimensions.
 
Yes they are solid aluminum body mounts for the early C3's. That is why these C3's ride like a chuck wagon. 😉 The front bumper does mount the body solid so that is necessary to do now. I assume your rad support is already installed and holding up the nose. There are adjustments on body, nose and front bumper that aligns everything. You may need to keep all bolts very loose and move front, back or side to side or slightly diagonally to come up with a happy medium. If you purchase a AIM, there is a lot of assembly and gap information in there along with dimensions.
 
Yes they are solid aluminum body mounts for the early C3's. That is why these C3's ride like a chuck wagon. 😉 The front bumper does mount the body solid so that is necessary to do now. I assume your rad support is already installed and holding up the nose. There are adjustments on body, nose and front bumper that aligns everything. You may need to keep all bolts very loose and move front, back or side to side or slightly diagonally to come up with a happy medium. If you purchase a AIM, there is a lot of assembly and gap information in there along with dimensions.
I will get that Book this Week, Thanks
 
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I couldn’t align mine , I struggled and did everything possible to get decent fits.
Then I checked the body mounts and found one was out.
I added a 3/16 washer/shim (Powdercoated) the same diameter as the mount to the front right and it finally went together and aligned pretty nice. It’s still was a challenge though.
My doors are not fitting the best with gaps inconsistent and my paint is original.
If I were stripped down the the fibreglass like yours I would rework the fibreglass as required for nice fits.
 
Is it possible to replace Aluminium Mounts for Rubbers and do you suggest ? May be i should replace begore i start strugling with Shims & Gaps alignments ?
 
Is it possible to replace Aluminium Mounts for Rubbers and do you suggest ? May be i should replace begore i start strugling with Shims & Gaps alignments ?
I would stick to how it was designed. the additional flex may crack the fiberglass due to the front nose and rear tail being mounted solid to the frame.
 
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