working on my 28 RPU and having a time getting the doors to line up with the quarter panels. i remember i had to put shims under the cowl section on the sedan i had. on this im not sure what to do to be correct. the door seems to be running up hill and the quarter sitting straight. i do have a few shims under the front of the cowl which helped a little. the gap on the inside of the door isnt to bad any thoughts or suggestions?? when i first took this thing apart there were aprox 1/2" pieces or rubber under the cowl section.
hey, Doors running ''uphill'' as in towards the quarter? Replace the 1/2''+ of shim thickness @ the cowl, with some plywood spacers, and work on your alignment issue from there.
As I look at the picture you posted from a front quarter view it seems to me you need to raise the back of the body. I looks to me that your door and cowl belt line do line up, but your body tilts downward in the rear. Just my thought.
I have a 29 roadster here, to fix the fit. (not my car) The car here had rubber spacers randomly placed all over. The hood did not fit at the cowl, and nothing else lines up. The chassis is bent off to one side at the cowl, and the frame is bent down at the firewall.... AND the body subrails are not holding the rear quarters at the correct angles. One side seems to bow out more than the other quarter. I will be starting the fixes next week. I can't justify taking the body off and redoing the whole car, but in your case, I'd want to check your frame to see if it is correct in both planes, and then check the subrails for problems. If you have a new repro chassis frame that is good and flat, then I would think the cab subrails are out of shape and need some rebending. On those cowl shims; if they get too thick, a hood won't fit right, and the hood hooks won't reach enough to hook.
the rubber shims are gone. today is when i stuck the maybe 1/4" of shim under the very front of the cowl to see how much it changed it. uphill sounded good to me as i have the rear panels sitting flush with the bottom of the subrails thats what i had thought also but when i lift the back panel to make the belt line match it almost makes the gap at the bottom of the door to quarter to large to the point of almost being able to see through it yeah thats what i am worried about i dont want to have a huge stack of shims up front and the hood not fit. this is a stock from that i have boxed that i took a lot of time doing trying to keep it from moving. seemed good and level after i was done. it has all new subrails and subrail extensions from brookville as well as quarters and cowl post..which took some working to get to even fit close to the top of the gas tank. Thanks for all the input!! thing is driving me nuts! but it came apart so it has to go back together
You start at the front and work back....the cowl is supposed to be at exactlly 90 degrees to the frame....
That's odd it should be so far out. I remember on my rpu i didn't have much trouble at all. Some minor shimming at the rear of door opening. But that was 35 yrs ago. The other thing to consider is the box gap to cab which is fairly close. They where never a swiss watch. What did you use for wooden blocks. I used a repo set which was decent fit.
there is only supposed to be one rubber washer at the front of the cowl. looks as if u need to lower back of body and adjust shims under rear of cowl for alignment.
Any shims in area of rear of door opening? It looks too high there,lower the "center or raise the rear.....only way to change things without raising the whole cowle a bunch.....
Is the interior wood in place (the cross piece on the quarter panel) ? My body was aligned - but when I took that piece out for paint the body sagged, causing the body to spread out and the door angle drop like yours. I was surprised at how much alignment change was caused by removing that piece - the doors will no longer close.
A Vette rear end makes it not "HAMB friendly"? Vette rear ends were used under street rods in the late 60's. Seems the traditional police need to loosen the draw string a bit.
Thanks! i will put a square on the frame to the cowl and see what i have there. Currently i have about 2 washers under the sub rail in the furthest front bolt hole to make it sit the same height off the frame as the sub rails by the door opening but i dont think i measured it clear at the back.. will check on that. Only shims are the two washers in front as of right now I remember getting pics from you of your RPU...traditional or not it is one nice rpu!!! as of right now none of the wood is in place. i am planning on using metal inside to support it..which i know what ya mean without it in there it moves around like its made of cardboard! Thanks again for all the input will do some checking and see where i am at the end of it.
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