FYI, I actually owned a few pre 73 cars,few of them were 64 Impala SS,71 AMC AMX Javelin,both were original cars and all fenders,doors,e.t.c. were fitting nice, with nice gaps, I have unrestored 71 Cuda with pretty good fitting panels,doors open and shut like on a late model import. Hood hinges need some oil ,but for a car that sat for few years,it's no biggie.

if you need good fitting parts, let me know, I can get you a good deal on AMD metal:thumbsup:

I wasn't going to chime in but this thread is going south fast.

These cars with or without aftermarket parts do not fit like a Lexus, the tolorences are not +/- 1mm, more like +/- 1/2"
With most of these cars the parts are from several cars put together to make one good one.
Now take in the fact that these cars are made at different factories, different suppliers, different workers, your gaps and panels will be comprimissed.

I have worked on one or two cars in my time....lol and have yet to find a car that did not need the gaps fixed.
Now once you have fixed any damage IE: frame, body damage and you have the car on a level ground with the supension in, and the motor in, the car with weight added to the car you can set the panels. First adjust with the factory adjustments (sloted holes in the parts, these old cars have these, not like the new cars) sometimes you even need to make these slots a bit bigger. Once there is no more adjustment left now what ??? Get out your hammer and dollies and massage the sheet metal into place, and if necessary cut the jams, door edges and weld them so that they are straight.
Shape, weld, grind, ect over and over till the gaps are what you want.
Prime, fill, sand, fill, sand some more till the panel is right.

If there was a way to make all these panels fit with out these steps I would love to learn how. Go out side and look at your brand new car and tell me if all of those gaps are right. I can tell you they are not. If you see those gaps as perfect then I guess we have a different level of perfect.

Elite why don't you tell us all how do you make a hood on a 50's or 60's car fit or how to fix any off these problems if you are not able to cut and weld a seem or edge.

Just my 2 cents


Aaron

LMAO! :rofl: Just because you have 1000+ posts make you a true craftsman? I have better things to do ithan throw some pointless comments/posts just to bump up the post count,Pat yourself on the back, you've done well,master! :woot:

I know I irritate some people with truth,but I don't lie

aaron, I for two would love to know how to do this without splitting panels and adding to panels.

why dont you show us all your perfect fit pre 73 car build pics. I guess your perfect is us car builders 75% fit.

I dont post much actually do a search I have been a member for quite awhile.... Now I just lurk and call BS when I see a someone running there keyboard.... typical arm chair quarter back coming on here with no real back ground or history (3 cars) you have 3 cars with nice fitting panels congrats there metal mastermind.... maybe you should pat yourself on the back....

I'm sorry, I didn't know LG was the only boards on the internet ,where post count and register date is more important than truth. Just because I have 280 posts doesn't mean I don't know jack. READ closer, I've owned dosens of cars,3 cars that come to mind ,which had good fitting panels.

I guess I'm doing everything backwards,spending time shifting panels for better fit,maybe slot a bolt hole or add a shim or two before cutting or welding and adding metal just because there is fitting issues,

Oh ,and somehow slapping bondo is far more superior than using PDR tools :rolleyes:

dozens

did anyone ever say we did not shift panels, elongate mounting holes etc? No we said get as good as possible, then be a true craftsmen and make better, by slicing, splitting etc.
guess you just want an excuse why panels are not perfect" its the way they were made"
be a craftsmen and metal work,

I'm sorry that my English is second language which I learned besides Deutsch and Russian,I can tell you more than half Americans that were born and raised in USA can't spell to save their life, but what does spelling have to do on subject at hand?

Is AMD's sheet metal that good?
I worked in a restoration shop for 6 years and never seen repo panels that good.