TR2/3/3A 60 TR3A FRONT CLIP ORDER OF ASSEMBLY ?

[Tinkerman]

I'll be ready to assemble the front clip soon and I was kind of curious which way to go. Fenders then apron or apron then fenders?
Your thoughts and comments always apreciated.

Thanks,
Tinkerman

 

[luke44]

Dick - you continue to be a few weeks ahead of me - you have great questions.

I had planned the fenders first.

But, I'll wait to see the replies....

 

[tinman58]

Dick & Luke
Do the fenders first. I pop riveted the beading to the fenders before I installed them. That makes it easier to install the apron. Otherwise the beading can flop around and could scratch the paint or kink the beading.

 

[Banjo]

I agree with tinman. Start with the fenders. get the door gaps good, then bolt the bonnet in place and get the rear edge good along with the fender gaps close, leave all but the very back of the fenders loose to adjust for the apron width. lastly put on the apron and line it up to the the bonnet and bring the fenders in to meet and line up the sides and front of the bonnet. Pop-riveting the beading is a good trick as well, personally I like to get everything lined up, then tape off the edges and install the beading last, but that's just my way of doing it.

 

[PatGalvin]

Has anyone had difficulty getting hood square with Apron and fenders? My gaps are pretty non-uniform around hood. Was thinking I may need to loosen up the front of the tub, where it rests on diagonal (front suspension tower) supports and where it bolts next to radiator and try and adjust tub to frame to make hood more square to fenders. What a pain!

Pat

 

[M_Pied_Lourd]

Pat,

My Gaps are horrible along the hood/fender edges. My front apron seems to be wider than the front of the hood by about a 1/2 inch....

Cheers,
David

 

[PatGalvin]

Well, misery loves company! Thanks David.

I think I have about a half inch gap between hood sides and fenders too, which I'm planning on splitting between the two sides, if I can. But the hood/fender gaps aren't uniform in width, for a given side. Basically shows that body isn't square on the frame, I think. The wheel arches are like two penninsulas extending out from the firewall. They are spaced by the apron tie bar that creates the distance between the two wheel arches at the top. At the bottom of the penninsulas, they bolt to the frame on the diagonal suspension support and in the front, adjacent to the radiator (each side). But if the penninsulas aren't square to the body, then the hood to fender gaps may be non-uniform (for a given side - ignoring the fact that the gaps just seem too big, too).

Hoping that someone might confirm that unbolting (or loosening) the front of the tub from the frame and giving the two fender well penninsulas a good tug may give me a little adjustment and help square up the hood to fender gaps.

My car was in a collision (I thought it was fairly minor) on one side (apron and wing) and I'm hoping it didn't tweak this alignment too much.

I'll post a few photos to pique the community's interest.

pat

 

[M_Pied_Lourd]

Hi Pat,

Why don't you start a different topic and post some photos there and I will join in there. Don't want to steal Dick's thread

Cheers,
David

 

[martx-5]

Dick & Luke
Do the fenders first. I pop riveted the beading to the fenders before I installed them. That makes it easier to install the apron. Otherwise the beading can flop around and could scratch the paint or kink the beading.

+1 on pop riveting the beading to the fender. Leave the upper bolts on the fender (where it attaches to the inner fender) loose and spread the fenders out a bit to get the apron on, as you will need some clearance for the beading.

 

[sp53]

Hi Pat if you do not have the chrome bead in yet, part of the ½ inch gap will be taken up and be less noticeable when the bead is installed. Moreover the hoods seem often be smaller on the sides, and often a fuss too long, perhaps from prior collisions. My experience with riveting was not good. I needed to replace a front chrome bead once and it was riveted, so I had to pull the apron to drill out the rivets. Before I was finished, I had to remove the door to loosen the fender to pull the apron to remove the bead because it was kinked by the bumper that some clown backed into. With manipulating the front end my experience was that there are so many bolts between the inner and outer fenders that I made sure everything bolted up and after that those two in the front and the 4 in the engine bay that hold the tub down kinda came along for the ride.
Steve

 

[Tinkerman]

Afternoon, thanks for all the good info! It always helps to hear from someone that has alresdy "done it".
Luke no offence, but I hope I can stay a few weeks ahead of you. Glad my questions help you. I'm ready to get some of this sheet medal mounted!

Cheers, Tinkerman