Lateral-g Forums - Project WidowMaker

i still havent researched the headlights yet, and i probably wont touch the chevelle much in the next couple weeks. life is getting in the way of my hobby again. oh well.

here is a brief "how to" on gapping. it probably isnt perfect, and the experts can feel free to chime in. i must have 200 hours into the doors, fenders and hood so far. i learned that every little change changes something else. and when youre trying to work with .005, you dont need much.

before you start, you will need to make sure that the front end is square since any movement of the front of the fender will either open or close the gap. you also need to make sure that you have the door edges pulled out where you want them and also the contour already needs to match.

this is how it all started. i got the other side done after squaring the front end based on the hood. the other fender was tight to the door in some areas <150, but this one was about .190 at its closest. it was actually over .300 at the bottom.
http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1670.jpg

this shows how i add to the door. i took some copper tubing, slit it down the middle and beat it flat. i rough contour it to the back of the door and attach it with the vice grips. the vice grips suck it in the rest of the way and leave no gap. this helps greatly in the cleanup of the weld on the back. also, if you look at the top fender bolt you'll see two little pieces of sheetmetal welded to the cowl. the fender mount rests up against these to position the fender quickly. its simple to grind the back of the door since you can open it, not so much with the fenders. youll also see my impact wrech laying there. i just picked it up prior to the sheetmetal project and it has saved me hours. i cant imagine having to use a socket wrench like i used to. 65 bucks brand new on ebay since it didnt have a battery or a case.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1679.jpg

this is how it looks when im done with all the tacks. i would do a series of 5 tacks in a row and then skip to another area. since i had two pieces of copper going, i would do one set up top and then move to the other piece. i usually had two areas per piece of copper (between vice grips) and would do all 4 areas and then let it cool really good. if it was warm when resting my hand on an area before starting it would get cooled before starting. no reason to push too fast and make more work for myself.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1684.jpg

this is what it looks like when all the the tacks are knocked down. i use three tools that work really well for me; an 80 grit flap disc, fiber wheel and a sander conversion with 50 grit. all of this goes on my variable speed grinder which is key. im not sure any of this would work at 15000 rpm. i would knock down the gap with the 50 grit until all the peaks and valleys were gone and i would use the flap disc and fiber wheel to knock down the outside. i used to use just grinding wheels until i found the flap disc. then i used the flap wheels until i found the fiber discs. i dont think im going to find anything else that amazes me like this combo. the flap discs do a good job of quickly knocking down the high spots and they dont gouge like a grinding wheel. then when its close, the fiber disc finishes it off and leave a nice hatch pattern.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1691.jpg

another picture after the first knock down. you can see its no where near perfect, but the major stuff is flat. this is also the time to check how flat the end of the panel is. i had most areas pull in slightly with the heat, so a hammer and dolly knocks the whole edge back out in less than 10 minutes.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1695.jpg

now comes the time consuming part. my ideal spec was .175. my acceptable spec was +/- .005 as long as that wasnt right next to each other. my eyes can easily pick up .010, but not when they are 2 feet apart and the countour of the panel is in play. so i start by using the 50 grit paper on the grinder to get everything to .150. there are some high spots that need more love. then it all goes to .160 the same way. i used two points just to keep from going too far. for the .150 youre working small areas. once at .150 youre most likely running the entire edge to get to .160. youll see some .175 markings, but that was before i found a metal shaving in between my stop at the fender bolt. i used a reference point every time after to make sure the stop was working.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1696.jpg

and done. it looks much better in person. the camera has a way of ruining the depth of the panel and making it look tight down at the bottom where it curves back in.

it will also now get coated with gibbs to keep the rust off until it gets painted. before final paint the whole gap will get a coat of filler. its REALLY close, but blocking will make it perfect.

also, the rocker isnt as tight to the door as it looks. its ~.160 but this pic makes it look more like .100.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1703.jpg

another profile pic. i wish i would have taken more in the beginning. i cant believe how far its come. i hope somebody knows of a better way to fix the profile than all the work i did to the back. but its the only way i knew how.

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1709.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1712.jpg

http://i858.photobucket.com/albums/a...i/IMG_1716.jpg