Need to vent a little - Panel Gaps, arghh - pics

[milemarker60]

Sorry for this rant but I just need to vent a little as my wife just doesn't understand. I have just spent the past two days finally bolting on all the body panels to my TR6 down at the body shop and I've got to say, what a pain in the arse.

I've taken apart an embarrassingly large amount of cars over the years but never was involved with the final panel alignment as I always left it for the professionals. Well, this go around I had the guy who paints my planes paint the 6, he does do a few muscle cars now and again but never something assembled with a hammer so he made me come and “help”. Needless to say, he was amazed at the assembly and alignment procedures and just laughed and laughed as I tirelessly put it all together. I took pics when I took it apart of all the gaps so I would have a good reference point for what they could look like and I am pleased to report that the door gaps are better than original. With that said, it took hours of shimming, un-shimming, jacking, adjusting and cussing. Just when I thought I had a fender aligned perfectly something else was off. It's almost like you need to hang all the panels with a friction fit and put the car on an agitator table for twenty minutes while they find their natural home then snug them down.

Anyway, he's now painting the black on the tail of the trunk to match the fender lines and touching up my assembly boo-boos so I'll have it back in my garage mid-next week to start bolting all the little pieces back on. My least favorite part of the resto is coming up - door guts assembly.

On a side note, I ordered the real "DumDum" from a Rover supplier in the UK to put between the panels and tub and I must say it is way easier to work with than the 3M strip caulk I've used in the past. It has a thinner consistency and squeezes much easier out of the gaps as you are snugging them tight without the worry of stretching the metal and wipes right off the paint with 3M adhesive remover. It’s also easier to work with in all those hard to reach areas that need a little extra waterproofing.

I’m done and feel much better, thanks for listening.

Here's a couple of pics from my iPhone - sorry about the poor quality:

 

[Mickey Richaud]

Nice, Dave!

Don't worry - after the requisite amount of time, you'll look at it with satisfaction of a job well done.

And just think how much easier it'll be "next" time! :laugh:

Mickey

 

[Tinkerman]

Looks great Dave! Just think, with all of that experience, NOW you can hire out, heh,heh.

Good Job, Tinkerman

 

[angelfj1]

I wanna see airplanes!

 

[vagt6]

Looks very nice, Dave.

Yes, possibly the most difficult thing to do on many LBCs, final panel alignment after painting.

I've helped on such jobs on a couple of TR-6s, it's a royal pain in the neck, especially if one doesn't have experience. I spent the better part of a WEEK (yes, about 40+ man-hours X 2) doing this, so I know how you feel.

The best part: you only have to do it ONCE! :thumbsup:

Now, GO DRIVE THE CAR LIKE YOU STOLE IT!

 

[Tomster]

That sure looks like a great test drive area beyond a very nice looking car
Tempted????

 

[jjbunn]

Looks smashing!

What sort of wheels are those? They look excellent.

 

[milemarker60]

The guy painting it does my aircraft painting and he is located at a small airport south of KC. I won't say that I have hammered it down that runway but I won't say that I haven't, at least with the panels on.

The wheels are BMW "Style 5" 17x8 3-piece made by BBS that were offered on 5-Series sport models. I sent them to a shop in CA that took them apart, filled the original lug holes, re-drilled them and adjusted the hub bores for the TR6 (I don't like adapters). They also sent out the centers for poweder coat and polished the rims while apart. They've always been one of my favorite wheels and I think they "fit" on my TR.

 

[Brosky]

Now you can understand why I was so upset when I saw that my perfect hood, doors and trunk alignment are no longer looking that way.

 

[Jorgen]

So I guess it isn't only me that has a problem with this. I bought home my spit just over a week ago and the first thing I noticed was the horrible job the PO did on the gaps. I starter trying to work them over a little and realized I am going to need a team of trapeze artists hanging from the rafters in my garage to help align these things suitably.

Car looks great.

 

[Brosky]

BTW, the car looks great and nice dashboard.

I'd like to see a few closeups of that too.

 

[hondo402000]

Great job on the alignment, paint job is awsome too, I looked at my doors and figure if I start mucking with them they will get worse than better, so I have learned to leave things alone, and just enjoy the fact its a 71 vintage car with lots of body flex, I wonder what the procedure in the factory was for putting the pannels and doors together? and what the tolerances were? they probably had a full door shim they shoved around the gaps and then tightened them down.


still.... looking really good

Hondo

 

[Scott_Hower]

The wheels are BMW "Style 5" 17x8 3-piece made by BBS that were offered on 5-Series sport models.

Looks like an engine transplant from an E36 as well. S52 from an M3?