I have had the body off and now it's back on the frame.
Then when I mounted the outer front fenders on the inner fenders (trial
fit), the "hole" for the hood (bonnet) was not square. It was out by quite
a bit, maybe 3/4"!! - where the hood meets the apron.
I cannot figure out what happened, but anyway how to deal with it is my
question. The firewall, or scuttle, is the reference point, and from there
both inner fenders ended up offset to the right by about the same amount.
Now with some gentle persuasion from a ten pound sledge hammer I have moved
the inner fenders over to where the hood sits nicely with even gaps on each
side between it and the fenders, and it is lined up just right with the apron.
Great, I walk around the car admiring my handiwork and now the one fender
hangs over the tire more than the other (quite noticeably). So I come to
grips with that and realize "nobody can look at both sides at once", so I
will carry on.
OK, so much of yesterday afternoon I fiddled with getting the right fender
mounted just so, and it came together pretty well. Then I moved over to the
left fender, which was really just sitting there, and the holes in the
flange are way way off from lining up with the captive nuts. Closest to the
firewall itis possible to put in a bolt, but the farther forward you go the
farther off they are.
The solution I have in mind is to cut off the whole strip of inner fender
metal containing the captive nuts, and insert a strip of new metal (there's
that 3/4" again), and reinstall the strip with the captive nuts, so that
they move outboard the right amount to line up with the outer fender.
(Sorry for the length of the saga here; part of it is necessary for me to
vent my frustration .)
Before I go any further, am I digging myself deeper and deeper into a hole?
Will I regret what I am about to do? What am I missing here? How is it
possible that this has happened anyway? I've been scratching my head so
much I'm going bald.
Any advice appreciated.
TIA,
Jim Wallace
TS81417L
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