Getting the clearances right
Tags: bodywork clearances coachbuilding doors restoration
I've been down at Romance of Rust quite a bit over the past week or so, as we enter the final stretch.
Mark's pretty much done on the body, I've been running around between the various suppliers and machine shops, and Lance is on the clearancing, making sure the gaps between the panels are consistant, and good.
In theory, of course, all the panels should fit perfectly. In practise, however, even if the parts were all made at the same time, manufacturing variations would prevent that. Add in NOS panels, secondhand panels, and remanufactured panels, and you begin to see why it's such a tricky job.
By the time I got there yesterday, Lance had finished the back end, and was onto the doors. These fit (and shut) beautifully, with the exception of the rear window-frame posts, which were not quite aligned with the door-frame. That's quite normal for Volvos and other similar era mass-market cars, but I wanted it to be a bit tighter than that.
So what Lance did was to extend the door a touch with weld, then file it back till the lines were perfect. I think the pics explain it well enough.
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