VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 32 Special Question

I'm in the process of putting the wood together on the frame so I can install and align the doors. The sills are tightened down on the frame (with the pads installed). Should the running board splash aprons (and anti-squeak) be installed before the sills? I'm only doing a test fit and door adjustment.

When I do wood work I don't have any rubber pads or shims of any kind nor do I tighten the bolts real tight. Measurements are your friend more than anything. One of the best things I've learned is the body sheet metal has nail holes where it's nailed to the pillars and there are holes where the pillar covers get nailed through the body skin metal. The pillar covers will align you on the pillars correctly as they pretty much can only go one way. You must then align the holes in the pillar covers with the holes on the corner edge of the body metal so the nail can go through. If those holes are aligned, the body skin and the pillar should be aligned. With the body metal up to the nail board of the bottom of the sill, the height of the pillar will then be correct. It is very easy to have the pillars mounted too low on the sills when using new wood. I never screw the pillar into the sill or the pillar angle metal into the pillar until I know I have the height correct, again using the nail holes to check. Another important way to measure the door opening width is the metal rocker panel covers. The ends of the panels should be up against, or within a 1/16" with one end touching the pillars. Anymore than that and your door gap is too wide. Door openings should be square but of course it's hard to check the rear door on a 4dr.

I can tell you that I duplicated my wood on my Olds DCR from pretty decent patterns and thought all was good until I went to fit the body skins and latch pillar covers. The latch pillar covers on the Olds (basically a cabriolet model) have many detailed areas that must fit exactly in the wood pillar. When I got the pillar cover fit well over the body skin I realized the nail holes on the body metal were 3/16" too low. This meant that the pillar was 3/16" too low and the cover was too high. I couldn't raise the body metal on the pillar or belt rail, the pillar and belt rail needed to go up. When I put the pillar up, the pillar cover easily came down the 3/16 and all the nail holes aligned properly. The doors also aligned properly when I closed them. Sorry for the long post and hope you understand my post.

Thanks for the info and input. I'm in very unfamiliar territory here. Might be over cautious but don't want to screw it up. Thanks again.

Since this is just a test fit, then I'd agree about NOT using any shims or webbing. Try metal-to-metal for your fit of the sill plates and major body panels.

Now, having said that, if any of the sheet metal is from different cars, such as the splash panels or fenders, then I would also do a "fit-check" of all of them lightly bolted together. When doing this I would also add the shims to ALL mounting locations (8).

Some of my toughest alignments have been mating sheet metal from different cars together. It is MUCH easier (less stressful) when doing it in primer. Use a long punch (12" or greater) to align the holes and then finger-tight a bolt and nut. For ease, use bolts that are LONGER than the ones that you'll use for your final assembly.

Bill

Thanks Bill. Most of the sheet metal is original, a few pieces are re-pop with no holes. At this point, I am just trying to align the doors.