I’m about ready to weld in the main floor I made for the 39 Poncho. The floor is looking good, and the outer perimeter is already welded in. Now ( maybe a tad late) my light bulb comes on and I’m thinking I want to ensure the doors align properly before I weld in the floor. Drivers side looks close but the passenger side is pretty wonky. So I’m reading up on this issue in my handy dandy 1939 shop manual. I’m surprised to see that some conditions are remedied my shimming the body to the frame. Who knew? The RR fender well area was pretty rotted away where it sits on the frame (at the top of the frame arch) and the body had sagged somewhat. I’m pretty sure I have it back where it belongs. The two body mounts (L&R) forward of that area were also pretty much gone. Again, I’m pretty sure I recaptured their original location….but I can only measure so many times before committing to pull the MIG trigger. My frame still has to be jigged, boxed and a new cross member installed. so now I’m thinking I should hold short on finishing the floor until I have a known squared frame to set it on. I’m thinking I may waste time squaring my door only to have the body flex when mounted to the frame. The body is off the frame now, so I’ll have to figure out where and how to stash it… Sorry for the long dissertation . I’m not sure if I’m looking for advice, encouragement, or a swift kick in the ass to get my head wrapped around this..
Looks like you have a handle on it. Frame first, then body on frame, align all doors, weld braces to hold the gaps even, then weld in the new floor.
quite a few of us knew. Pretty common to have to get the chassis straight, then get the body set on it so the cowl is straight so the doors will point where they're supposed to. Welcome to the wonderful world of bodywork. There's a little bit of science, mixed in with the art.
Here's a head scratcher... As I mentioned earlier; the passenger door was pretty wonky, in that every time I close it, the door striker wedge forces the door up where the body line rides too high. The door wedge is adjusted as high as it can go. The B pillar catch mechanism is not adjustable. Hmmmmm... so I pull the catch mechanism apart and see that the retaining bracket is spot welded from the factory at a cattywampus angle. Too high and rotated clockwise. So this thing has been wanked for 83 years? I'm still gonna back away and divert to frame stiffening, but now thinking my measurements so far are much closer than that door made it seem.
You are on the right path. Square and level your frame, then fit the body. When you get it bolted down then fit you doors. Pull the latches and strikers of when fitting them. Once you get good gaps, fit your front end sheet metal(again pull the latch off the hood). Strikers/latches can and will throw things out of alignment, so leave them out of the equation until everything fits, then add and adjust as needed once your know your gaps are good.
You are doing these repairs with THE BODY OFF THE FRAME? Is that what you posted? The process is square frame, brace body, brace body some more, then some more THEN do floor and sheetmetal repairs
The problem with that is all the body mounts on the entire ass end are roached with no way to mount it to the frame. I've had to rework 6 out of 12 body mounts. Lots of measuring, special made templates, and triple checking involved. Now I can set the body down and she looks good. Just the passenger door was not adjustable, but without the striker plate, shes damn near perfect. As I said, the factory B pillar plate is mounted wrong... curious, but true.
weld a finish nail to the outer edge of a flat washer... makes a handle that you can use to steer it...
I learned this lesson the hard way, 39 Chev 2 dr sedan entire bottom of the car had to be fabricated and I did all that great but forgot to hang the doors before welding up the floor and it's structure, and sure enough couldn't close the passenger side without lifting the rear ps. rear and using a porta ram to push the opening to square... hard learned lesson. That body went on to save another sedan that had been hit and needed a complete side replacement (a poorly planned move out of the shop ended up twisting the body too badly and I didn't want to start over again. Always a surprise with any build.
I learn to do that on a old bronco that we could never get the passenger door to line up. An old friend loosened the body bolt on that side and bam, the door gaps lined up.
These old GM cars can be a nightmare to shim with 14 or 15 body bolts total! Raising just one usually means raising the one on either side of it a little less. And if the first shim is very thick, it might mean shimming several in each direction. Plus all the bolts need to be loose to begin with prior to starting the shimming process.
Try using notes to track goals and achievements . Diagram points of interests. Then avoid going back and forth remembering or forgetting where attention is needed.
All good information I’ve seen so many projects sold before finished because nothing would line up after welding in new parts. Also seen many good useable parts ruined from poor sandblasting. Like said above start building with new body mounts on a true and square frame. Tack or screw sheet metal hang doors trunk lid and front clip.
Spent my rainy day just pondering the Poncho..and sitting and thinking and laying underneath and sitting some more and opening and closing doors and staring at it some more and sitting some more… In conclusion, I’ve decided I need to drink more.
The Jalopy Journal
