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Triumph TR6 - Body Alignment - hood and fenders

I've recently acquired a '75 car in good shape except the previous owner seems to have re-assembled the car with some huge gaps in the body work. He claims the car was straight as an arrow until he took it apart, did the suspension, motor, and paint. He says he could not get it all to line up when he finished. Now the gaps are my problem. There are a couple of pictures in the attached Webshots album showing the fender and door gaps. Where should I start to get this right, and what else should I check? (the frame looks good, and I can't find any visible body damage repair.) Thanks.

http://community.webshots.com/album/379706326nlAsdo
Kent Bracken

Kent
I had the same problem with door gaps after I did my frame off restoration. I had to go back and undo all the rear body to frame attachments from behind the seats back. Then take a floor jack and jack slowly at the rear on the body only. Use wood in between the jack and the body to spread the weight. You need to add shims at the mounting points. Thicker the further back you go. It may take a lot of fiddling to get it right. Remember though, TRs weren't perfect even from the factory.
Doug
Doug Campbell

Kent
Yup..not any easy task. When I put my body back on the frame I had the paint shop align the body to frame. It took him over 2 days to get it right. I agree with Doug. Most of the body alignment is done with where the body attaches to frame and final tweak with hinged joints (bonnet, doors, and boot).
Have fun!
PS you kinda got me one your pic of the front bonnet and fender alignment. You must have been standing on your head when you took the pic:)
Rick C
Rick Crawford


Kent,

On mine, one door had a large gap at the top (like yours) and the other door had a small gap at the top. I don't know if both of your doors have the same large gap or not. But if like mine, I fixed it by playing with the body shims at the rear most frame attachment by the tail panel. It actually twists the body slightly, by lowering or raising one side, and in my case evened out the gaps on both doors. If both your doors have gaps that are large at top and narrow at the bottom then see if there are any shims at all in those rear most mounts. Raising both may help...along with the other suggestions.

I spent about a week aligning everything. Foor my doors I did some "fine tuning" with a block of wood and some careful bending to get the edges flush with the body. I learned that from a well seasoned body man with many years of experience.

As far as your hood to front fender alignment...there is so much play in the hood and fender tops that you will eventually get it right. There is a bracket at the front of the fenders around by the headlight that has to be loosened to get full movement. Be carfull when closing the hood after adjustment. If the clearance is too close you could scrape away paint or dammang something.

Good luck
Henry
HP Henry Patterson

Kent, I grew up with my father owning a body shop. The TR6 has and is my favorite sports car, with the one I own now being my 14th. These guys are correct. Correct body alignment begins at the rear. Once you have the gaps right by shimming the rear of the body, you can "tweak" the alignment of the doors via the hinges. AFTER you have the doors and rear tub correct, NOT BEFORE, you then align the front end via the front body mounts. A good hood will NEVER align in an out of square front end no matter how much you try to adjust the hood. A TR6 can be made VERY correct with much time and effort.
Gene Holtzclaw

Thanks to all! great feedback.
I'll just add the body realignment to my list of projects (seat rebuild, suspension rebuild, steering rebuild, bank account rebuild), you get the picture. I checked the Moss catalog for universal shims for the body and didn't find them. Could someone direct me?
Kent Bracken

Kent
The body mounting components come as a kit. Not sure if you can buy the pieces separately. You need rubber "rings" at each mounting point for squeal elimination and then there are the "C" shaped pieces of aluminium used as the shim. The open "C" shape allows the shim to be installed without having to full remove a mounting bolt.....jack the body up, slide the shim in. I suppose some large washers available from Home Depot with a slot cut into them to form a C shape could be used. You would need about 3 washers to make up the thickness of one of the original C washers. As far as the rubber pads, not sure. Maybe someone else has a suggestion on them.
Rick C
Rick Crawford

Kent,
Try TRF. Kit Number 574224, $79.95. Complete body mounting kit with all hardware included. If you do not need all the parts, call John Swauger and negotiate. He may sell just the parts you need/want.
db
Doug Baker

Great. Thanks. K
Kent Bracken

This thread was discussed between 27/06/2005 and 01/07/2005

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