Hello. I was told that before any body work is done that the body should be shimmed correctly and the door gaps should be correct. I have major issues with my p***enger side cowl. I feel like, if I can do this than I can accept the rest of the body as is, and just paint it and drive it. My other option is to sell my 30 ford roadster body and pay someone else to do it. i really don't want to do that. So here are my questions: 1. The only place i saw that shims will fit is the mount at the very front of the cowl. unless shims go between the subrails and frame. so do shims go between the frame and subrails? 2. Where do i purchase said shims? 3. Is there a tutorial somewhere? I have googled it and have searched here. Most of the info is about model a's. Any and all info would be appreciated. Thanks in advance.
Yes, shims will go under any or all subrail-to-frame bolts, if needed. Shims should be able to be purchased from any auto parts store that deals in bodywork supplies. I don't know of any tutorials, but the most common way to begin is at the front. Try to get the cowl aligned with the hood and the front edge of the doors. Then work your way back. This WILL take many tries and lots of re-do, since moving one spot will effect the others. Just putting the shim in the crack doesn't do it. You need to tighten the bolt down to see what is really gonna happen. Another pointer is to have your COMPLETED (all crossmembers welded in and solid) ch***is sitting on it's wheels. If you place it on blocks in weird spots, it may actually make the frame bend in a way that won't be the same as the finished car. If you can't wait til it rolls, at least block it up at the front and rear crossmember.
You can place a shim anywhere the body bolts to the frame. The most common reason to reshim a body is to eliminate door sag. I was able to eliminate the door sag on my '39 by placing a couple of shims under the body mount closest to where the door hinges are and the tighten down the bolts at the very front of the cowl. For a shim, I took a large flat washerand cut a slot in it so it could be slid into place.
I just added to my blog page this morning: http://hotrodconfidential.blogspot.com/2012/06/shimming-and-aligning-your-body.html
I'll add my two cents if possible have the frame sitting on it suspension even a boxed 32 frame will move or at least jack stands in the right area. on the 32 body the rear most body mount by the gas tank there is a 3/8 shim there. firewall and cowl seal installed and cowl mounted to the fire wall. mount the doors and adjust the front gap on the a pillar and door might take some bending of the hinges to get it to line up right. i know your cowl side is messed up a bit so you might have to fudge that area for now. from here it is just a matter of adding shims where the are needed to bring everything in to place, and each time a shim is changed all the body bolts need to be re-tightened. each car is different you might need to shim the fire wall as well. it takes time could take a few hours to a couple of days depends on how far out the subframe is. and every once and a while when you have tried everything else pull all the shims out and start from scratch. shim stock can be made of just about any thing buy shims from a parts house or make your own from flat stock. a more involved would be to cut the pillars loose from the sub frame and go that route but i would try to get everything done with shims if i could. I don't know if this was any help at all just a lot of rambling, post some photos of the gaps and i can see if i cant help you out some. Are you missing the draw down foot on the cowl edge on the 32 this is a important point to have installed when you fitting the doors. Rex Rogers
I just got through shimming a 1931 Ford Four Door Phaeton at work, feel lucky your Coupe only has two doors. We have boxes of front end shimms that we used, but big washesr would work the same. All cars will differ, you just have to play around with things, they all interact with one another. Tighten the left rear and the right front will be effected, plan on lots of time and coffee. You din't mention if the car will have fenders or not, if so getting the rear fenders right is as important as the cowl/hood alignment. Bob Thanks Zombie! Those are the shims I used, they work great.
" Always bolt the body down snug. Then go to the cowl area and get the doors fitting. The deck lid ( rumble lid ) can be adjusted side to side and up and down no matter much how the cowl is adjusted. Then I mount the radiator and the shell. The hood goes on next. LOTS of shimming and adjusting to get the shell in the right place so the hood fits properly. LAST usually have to shim the fuel tank up a little to get a good fit between it and the body. "
"Are you missing the draw down foot on the cowl edge on the 32 this is..." Note this, the thing referred to is low and beside the firewall. It allows a certain amount of adjusting tilt to the cowl and can be very useful! Somebody must be able to show a picture. A reasonable sub could be fabricated. As you work, look out for indications that your cowl side there is not the correct length front-to-rear...it has obviously had a lot of life-altering experiences from violence and welding. I have no idea if a Brookville roadster panel would be suitable for replacing between door jamb and cowl edge or not, but have the wherewithall to measure. Marco's Model A site has good tutorials on closed http://www.abarnyard.com/workshop/door-1.htm and open Model A's. The '32 differs in having a cowl adjuster as mentioned above.
This old thread has good picture: http://www.jalopyjournal.com/forum/showthread.php?t=409846&highlight=1932+firewalls Firewall is white, the pullerdowners are dark. I think part of their function was to tighten body against firewall seal, buy you can see how they allow adjusting cowl angle to benefit door fit.
washers are better than open ended shims, if there is any cushioning used. i have seen shims work their way out due to ch***is/body flex.
pretty much any car be it an early coupe or a 70 Chevelle, you should have it all sized up and when shimming, fitting all parts have the car as it will sit with wheels on it, in the approximate height, if you need to take wheels off to do your shim work, have the car sitting as if the wheels are on it... dont have the car jacked up in one corner or one end when you are doing shimming... as when you put it down could have major problems with door and other body panel alignment
I use shims while mocking up, it's just easier to slip them in an out while you're working. Taking the bolt in and out while trying to get it through the washer is a pain. Once the car's ready to go back together I replace the shims with washers of the correct thickness.
That's a loaded question. You should not shim the body-to-frame to compensate for other problems like: -worn hinges -bent hinges -door not adjusted correctly. Place to start is to get the beltlines to match across, from cowl, across the door to the quarter. Once that is lined up, you need to look for an even verticle gaps at front and rear of the door. Then figure out where to shim, to get it right.
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