Shimming Material

I am mounting a '32 fibergl*** body onto '32 framerails and the front and rear of the body needs to be shimmed to sit properly. What material should I use for this?

 

A good parts house will have body shims in different thicknesses. 1/8" is popular. When you have it in good shape, make a chart so you know where to replace them after body work and finish paint.

 

I really didn't want to use just body shims. What about the longevity of these and the fact that its just the spacer the body is now being tightened down to and not the framerail. I was thinking about using some type of plastic or wood that I could plane to go along underneath the body, so the whole length is being supported. Not sure.

 

do like barney navarro did on his lakes car, cut up old timing tags!

 

One thing to keep in mind. I also have a gl*** body and realized that the bodies have a mind of thier own if left alone for awhile. If you have a perfectly straight and square frame the body should bolt down with just a webbing for insulation purposes. If the body doesn't sit right I would pull it down with the body mounting bolts,( within reason ) then fit the doors and trunk and gap everything. That's the way I did mine and it's all good. When I first mounted mine it rocked from corner to corner, not much, but a little.

 

I don't think your idea is very practical. You would end up with a varying thickness shim and I don't see how you would make it without much difficulty. even a gl*** car would be OK with shims at just the bolt locations.

Frank

 

However it sits, put wood wedges in at the mount bolt locations, tweak it where you want it. Measure the gap and make a Wood spacer to fit each gap, minus any rubber or webbing cushion you plan to use.

 

I used large fender washer on the gl*** roadster I had 20 years ago. Worked out just fine