Door, trunk lid, hood gaps how much

What is the best happy medium for gap in doors, trunk lid & hoods in the bare metal stage. 1/8 is to tight 3/16 seams almost tight by the time you paint when doing a high quality clear job but 1/4 seams to wide I would like to know what. Oz, Gambino, Jessy James & some of the other top builders use so group please what is an appropriate gape.

 

1/8 is the theorectal diminsion, but remember about paint buildup during painting, if you are working in bare metal

1/16 is the smallest gap and 3/16 is the largest,

many old cars you can get from 1/16 to 3/16 around the same door but this is a extreme.

 

I think making them uniform is more important than the actual width of the gap...within reaSON

 

paint stick...... lets see 3 or 4 coats of high build primer basecoat clear..... thats gonna fill an 1/8 inch gap real fast i think a paint stick is around 3/16ths

 

Paint stick always a decent guide.

 

yep,a paint paddle, that paint don't get as thick as you might think!

 

Paint stick X4

 

3/16 looks pretty good......Or a paint stick LOL

 

3/16 here also or paint stick.That's how I check them in primer ............

 

Keep the primer to a minumum on the edges

 

all my cars i weld up the door edges and file them to a uniform 3/16 gap in bare metal.

 

Uniform gap is more important than actual distance as far as not to thin or thick of gap. As long as gap is comfortable safe clearance, Same gap is important front to back of car on all panels. NOT 1/4 on hood 1/8 on deck lid. A really nice fit car will be uniform. If this means grinding off or adding to the metal.

 

Yes, done that quite afew times myself. Lots of work but worth it in the end. I'm abit of a gap freak.

 

Id say uniform gap. Same gap all the way around. I dont think there is a standard size. More of a preference.

 

Rodder's Journal issue #1 had a feature on Dave Simard. If I lived closer, I would gladly sweep his floors for free indefinitely in hopes of gleening some of his metal fab knowledge. If my aging memory isn't failing, he likes to run a 9/64ths drill bit around all the gaps as a gauge. If it's good enough for Mr. Simard, it's good enough for me.

 

Thanks the paint stick or 3/16 is what I thought was a happy medium but just wanted to refresh the old brain.

 

That sounds familiar... I think you might be on to something there.

 

I've always used a paint stick.

 

I have 48 coe in the shop trying to finish up in the next few weeks & wanted to get them even but its been a long time since I have done a full major body redo & to a high quality finish. Plus my up coming 36 Roadster project thanks every one.

 

Are the new paint sticks thinner than the old ones, like 2X4s?

 

What car are you building? Three of four piece hood? 3/16" works for me on most gaps. If you are building a fendered 32 allow an extra 1/16" to 3/32" clearance on the bottom of the hood side to the top of the fender and try to keep the build up to a minimum on the top of the frame rail and bottom of the fender. If you are using a three piece hood allow the same extra between the hood top and hood sides. On a fendered 32 with a three piece hood you have eight surfaces that will grow with primer and paint. I had a friend who always built his own cars at home and had done several 32's with stock hoods. He built a car with a 3 piece hood and gapped it 3/16" and the hood sides wouldn't go on the car after paint. Had to remove 1/4" from one hood side and 1/8" from the other.

 

Alan have a couple of projects in the shop 1 48 Ford Coe full tilt cab rod. 68 camaro & a couple of 36 ford roadsters 1 restoring the other my full custom. The paint sticks I have are less then 3/16 so i just made a 3 1/6 gap gage.