1952-59 Ford Front fender / door alignment.

I put the front clip back on my 58 and I cannot get the right door/fender gap right. The door strikes the fender when I open the door.. Is there a guide somewhere as to make the proper adjustments?

 

It took me weeks to get the front sheetmetal aligned to an acceptable point. No exaggeration! . I align the door first as close as posible, then the fenders to the door and cowl. When you say the door is hitting the fender.....do you have the center bolt that goes thru the side panel tightened down, or at least snugged? If not, the fender may be pooched out in that area more than it is suppose to. Don't forget the single front bolt that goes thru the core support. That's for adjusting the up and down height of the front clip.
I'm ***uming the '58 setup is same as '57. Everyone I know who's posted about ***embling the front end fought and fought it.

 

Also......When we're ***embling, I think we tend to notice uneven gaps more than we did before we took it apart. The only way you're ever going to get perfect gaps is a panel by panel reconstruction like welding door edges to close in a too-big gap. When they built these cars, they were far from perfect. Not like today's cars. Fit and finish was not that big a deal back then, takes hundreds of hours labor to make gaps as perfect as we like to think they were, but weren't. jmho.

 

My 56 shop manual has a whole section devoted to body alignment I would think the 58 would as well.

 

This photo and instruction in the '56 manual always makes me smile at the low tech approach they used to take. Now is this a regular 2x4 or a special factory steel pry bar and towel?

 

I got it close enough for cruising. Not a show car. Thanks for the help gents.