We are so far off the subject at hand its not even funny. All the poor guy that started this thread wanted to know was how to fit his gaps.

Step 1. align the best you can with hinges, latches, bolts
Step 2. decide if thats good enough
Step 3. weld and metal finsh gaps to your liking
Step 4. skim coat with filler

you can beat, pry, pick, move, pull structure tell your blue in the face..... you wont get oem style gaps 1/8-3/16 with out some filler and a welder.... thats it the end I will argue that point forever. I dont know how to say have a good night in Deutsch or russian .... but good night:thumbsup:

AMD is the closest thing to OEM,in some cases thicker gauge metal with nice crisp lines ,give it try next time ,AMD has alot of metal for 1st gen.even complete aluminum front and deck lids

Thanks, I'll have to check them out.

Glad to see this thread worked out so well for the OP.

well, i actually got my answer in the first few posts, so it actually worked out. hopefully it will get cleaned up some since i know im not the only one looking for answers and id rather it not get locked.

so some new questions since everyone is now looking at this thread....

any more pictures of gapping?
any videos of you guys blocking over the gaps?
any good videos of blocking in general? especially lines????

everyone says to block up to a line but not over it. but then theres no way to get it crisp. do you just mean not to roll it once you get to it? hard to explain, but i sharpen the edge of wood by running a sander or plane partially over the edge, but i keep it parallel to the surface im working. if you dont, you will round it over. is this how you guys block, or are you seriously stopping say 1/4" from any body line?

thanks again, Tim

and please mods, clean up but do not lock.

tim, i like to put a piece of tape on one side of the line, and work one side, then tape side i just worked and work other side, i do this on the 69 camaro fender and door line and rear quarter line, its helps a ton in keeping the lines as straight as possible.
you can block over them, however like you mentioned do not roll over them.
I like to use a sponge block to dull line to what i want, you can get them too sharp.


guys, I would be very surprised if amds metal came from anywhere different then goodmarks.

if amd's metal was so far superior, we all would have heard of it and been using it by now.
aftermarket panels fit how they fit.

OP, use good masking tape to mark the lines and block up to it,when done blocking, lay another strip of masking tape right up against the old tape and block the other side,when done blocking,you shoud end up with very sharp and crisp line,if it's too crisp,roll over it few time to your liking

use straight edge wherever you can to make sure you have no dips in the panel.That can happen if you use short blocks, so try using long blocks where possible, I recommend 2x1/4x24 aluminum stock wrapped in masking tape few times,or stop by Home Depot and pick a paint mixing paddle. I never trust foam blocks,even if they cost $50 a piece ,when blocking, do not push,let the sandpaper do the work and after few strokes,change direction

Without a tig welder, should I stay away from silicon bronze? How do you use silicon bronze to seal / fill the joints between the tulip panel / qtrs and qtrs to rear body panel? Can I use a mig? if so size wire?

use .023 mig wire.er70s
we use silicon bronze as it requires alittle less heat then er70s filler, we use .035 tig filler rod but thats as small as i can get it. It metal finishes as nice or better then steel.

Not sure I follow you on the sealing of tulip panel etc. we usually use fusor metal glue(108 or 110b) for the tulip panel to quarter panel seams, you can clamp them underneath fairly easy. provides a very nice seam for seam sealing before paint. we then plug weld the window seam and the trunk weather strip seam, if leaving trunk weather strip piece in place we will glue that seam and use 3 kleckos to hold it together

There are directions on how to post pics up on this site - but basically - you have to load your pics up on Photobucket first - then copy and paste the pic address from there into your post here.

It's a MAJOR nuisance... but it is what it is.

Your cabinet/desk is killer!!:hail: :hail:

Problems with gaps is it doesn't matter if the panels are NOS, early cars were never designed with the gaps of todays show cars. You can pull or align all day long it isn't going to happen. Then add aftermarket parts and it only gets worse.

Not into the pie cutting of a panel on a a stock bodied car as it creates other metal issues within the panel besides the edge you are trying to fix. Guys can swear they metal work everything to perfection but due to the design of a doors edge it is just about impossible to so. How do you hammer and dolly a double walled rolled over edge? Yes you can work to lessen the filler but filler will be needed if you want that type of panel to panel fit. Putting heat into the edge by welding causes warping that is very difficult to work in that area. Go slow and build up only as needed. You will be surprised how far into the panel the heat gets.

As far as tig or mig?? Use what you have as they both have downsides. Tig welding puts in more heat but is easier to finish. Problem is as described above you aren't able to work the back edge. Mig is brittle but will build quicker and if done right put in less heat. Take a piece of copper and clamp to edge. It will only require minor filling on the rear.

The main thing is to make sure your edge is made out of metal and not built up out of plastic filler. You can swipe lead on both panels giving the ultimate finish and less initial metal work as lead hides more and is somewhat stronger.

Go slow with the filler and sanding as you don't want to take the lines out of a car. Dry sand and you can see a line as you are going. Hard type blocks are great but to finish last pass of sanding you will need a block with some give otherwise you will have witness lines in your paint. At that point you are taking out sanding imperfections not highs and lows.


Good luck

I guess you live under a rock and blindsided by Goodmark's dirt cheap prices,but there is a reason why their parts are cheap,

Why don't you do some research,maybe you'll find countless threads praising AMD, there are plenty of photos showing both, AMD and Goodmark side by side for comparison,

Whenever you're ready to buy some AMD metal,I'll still hook you up with 25% off retail prices,and freight cost is more than reasonable,

I've sold close to $50k worth of AMD parts since last February,no shipping damage or any fitment issues :thumbsup:

check autometaldirect.com,

elite, sounds good I will be the first to praise the stuff if it is that good. And no no rocks in maine just lots of snow .now I have a camaro waiting for all the panels but we have goodmark in the trailer for them. figures

I noticed on there site, they were out of stock on 69 fenders, roofs, a bunch of stuff, how often does this occur and how long does it take them to stock back up?

I hate to contribute any further to the derailment of this thread, but can you offer specifics on what makes the AMD parts so great.

Where are they stamped? Are they thicker. Just curious, as I don't mind paying a little extra if they are that much better.

Thanks

Call Alan or Kelley, most of the time if the site shows that parts are out of stock,either they are still working on them or already on the way,I can't say much on GM parts, but Mopar guys love AMD ,ask Frank from Prodigy,I know he uses AMD

Where they are stamped? Somewhere in China/Taiwan, but don't let that fool you, AMD guys invested alot in their tooling, so the fitment is much better than Goodmark, as well as the bodylines,flanges are much more crisp and clean, most of the time metal is the same gauge as OEM, sometimes it's even thicker, don't take my word for it, buy one part to see for yourself.

I will add, that there are some people expecting for the parts to fall right in with absolutely no shifting or spending few extra minutes to fit the part,just like any OEM replacement part,it will take a few minutes to set up gaps,but for the most part,they fit like a glove

A bit off topic, but I was wondering if anyone has had any experience with the first gen camaro cowl hoods from AMD (autometaldirect)...

Specifically, the problem with Goodmark hoods (well-known problem) is that they are about 1/4" too narrow (overall, so about 1/8" per side)...

I am wondering if anyone has one of the AMD hoods and if they are any better in this regard.

Ditto, I hate the hood on my car and dont want to waste the time working it if I can start with a better fit.

greg, i found that thread and thats what ive been doing. all my pics are on photobucket, and my build thread on pt.com uses the same code and doesnt have any issues???????

####edit#### picture problem solved. my links had a bunch more text after the .jpg, and it wasnt cooperating with this forum. extra was deleted and the issue solved.

Tim

Okay - then that's weird then!!

You'll have to get with Scott or one of the "mods" to see what's up.

guys, thanks for the tips on taping the lines. ive read that before, but still am unclear on how close you guys try and get to the tape. it seems if you touch it you will start to fold an edge (probably not a big deal).

do you do the same for all of your blockings? rough? high build? final fine or wet sand prior to base?

and, is this normal? straight edge from one end of the door to the other. its a gradual dip, and about the same on both sides.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1685.jpg

Thanks, Tim