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Saturday, July 23, 2011

Drivers Side Door Alignment - 1963 Corvette

As was the case for the passenger door, the drivers side upper hinge had to be ground and the lower hinge had to be shimmed.  Once we were satisfied with the alignment all 20 hinge bolts were torqued down. 

Now it's time to work on the door to body fitment.  Instead of using Bondo my preference is to build up low areas using fiberglass.  I removed the primer from all the areas that were either mismatched or too low.  Duct tape was placed to channel excess fiberglass resin away from the rest of the car.  


Duct tape works great because fiberglass resin won't stick to it. 


Door gaps were stuffed with strips of foam rubber to prevent resin from going inside the door jamb. 


Fiberglass was then applied and allowed to cure.

Some areas actually bridged the door gap.


The duct tape was removed after the fiberglass cured.


The fiberglass was cut at all the door gaps using our Fein Multimaster tool.  Door gaps were then sanded open to the proper width using a small piece of sheet metal wrapped with sandpaper.



The 2 inch square fiberglass patch in this picture was done over a year ago when we reinstalled the B-pillar.  I ground this area paper thin then used it as a form for the fiberglass we applied today.  Remember, the fiberglass we use is clear which means the patch you see is on the backside.


With today's effort we will only have to use a small amount of Bondo when we prep for paint. 


That's it!  Both doors are done.

3 comments:

  1. Hi John
    just leaving you a link to look at. My friend has just finished his 63 hybrid please have a look
    you won't be disappointed www.prodigy-z06.com
    6 years and 7000 hours. We love vettes in Aus!

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  2. Pete,
    That is an amazing build! The pictures brought back old memories of what we have done to our car. Oh my goodness, oh my goodness. I only have one observation and I am trying not to be critical, however, I think your buddy installed the steering wheel on the wrong side. Check it out, I am serious. Great hearing from you!
    John

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  3. John!! gosh your right , I'll bet its an assembly issue I'll let him know .
    Cheers as always love your site

    ReplyDelete