67 Cyclone Bodel Panel Fitment - Opinions/Advice

[mlcraven]

Getting to grips with pre-paint panel alignment and final fitment.  Have installed the doors and aligned the trailing edge with the leading edge of the quarter panel and the door bottom with the upper edge of the rocker panel, using the old paint stick alignment gauge.   So far so good.

But beggared if I can get a nice alignment along the trailing edge of the front fenders and the leading edge of the doors.  It's at the point where I'm really stumped.

It has dawned on me, maybe I shouldn't be attempting this on a uni-body car with the drivetrain out and perhaps this is part of the current issue.  Is it possible the combined weight of the 390 and C6 would impart a sag to the front of the car that would correct the front fender alignment issue.  Or that if I do get the fender alignment sorted without the power train in, that when the engine/trans are installed it's going to throw things out of wack again?

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.

   

[ScotiaFE]

I would have the weight in.
It's pretty much light by about 1000 lbs.

[BruceS]

I'll throw in with Scotia... When my 66 Fairlane came back from the painters it was stripped to a shell. I put the engine and trans in while the front clip was off, it was just easier to get at everything.  I then started with aligning the doors, etc. like you have done.

One thing I do remember about the fenders is to make sure they go back on the same way they came off. In the case of my car it has a main fastener that holds the bottom of the fender in place, and also has a Z-shaped bracket with some smaller sheet metal screws that seem to do the same thing. But without the Z-bracket that fender won't stay close to being aligned!  Must've been something they did at the factory when they aligned the body.  My car has a little larger gap between fenders and doors than I would like, but any closer and the door rubs the fender...

Hope that helps!

[BruceS]

PS - my Fairlane's front end sags quite a bit when I put it on jack stands behind the front wheels. I do that when I'm working on something under the engine or steering...

[Heo]

One thing...adjust the doors and fenders so
the door is just a tad outside  the rear
fender and the front fender is just a tad
outside the door. That way the leading edge
is protected from wear from sand and other
road debri that can wear the paint fast

I had a 66 fairlane that was a bit soft in front.
I found out that the Torque boxes that go from
the frame rails out to the rockers was rusted
thin from the inside without visible from outside.
So i made new ones from 1mm thicker material
and painted the inside. There was no rust protection
at all from the factory

[mlcraven]

OK, thanks everyone for your feedback.  I've decided I'm not going to sweat the front fenders for the time being...they're going to be off the car for paint anyway and they're pretty darn close now.
Thanks again.

[TimeWarpF100]

Getting to grips with pre-paint panel alignment and final fitment.  Have installed the doors and aligned the trailing edge with the leading edge of the quarter panel and the door bottom with the upper edge of the rocker panel, using the old paint stick alignment gauge.   So far so good.

But beggared if I can get a nice alignment along the trailing edge of the front fenders and the leading edge of the doors.  It's at the point where I'm really stumped.

It has dawned on me, maybe I shouldn't be attempting this on a uni-body car with the drivetrain out and perhaps this is part of the current issue.  Is it possible the combined weight of the 390 and C6 would impart a sag to the front of the car that would correct the front fender alignment issue.  Or that if I do get the fender alignment sorted without the power train in, that when the engine/trans are installed it's going to throw things out of wack again?

Any thoughts would be very much appreciated.

   

I would say the 66-67 Comets/Cyclone has the best body panel fit of any old car. Usually very easy to get perfect body panel fit.  Just align back of door so its perfect gap to quarter with proper fairly tight gap and the fenders should fall into place.

[TimeWarpF100]

[mlcraven]

I'll take those two photos as inspiration and the standard to shoot for.

[66FAIRLANE]

Make sure you have the glass and hardware in the doors before you align.

[mlcraven]

All removed for painting...which I want to do with doors on.  So I'm laying an equivalent weight of bricks inside the door to account for the fully assembled weight.

[BruceS]

Timewarp,
That black 67 Comet 427 is a rare one!  Do you have a Marti report for it?  From what I remember reading in the Fairlaner magazine, a little under 300 Ford intermediates were built with 427s in 1967.  That includes all Comet and Fairlane body styles with both the W code (4V) and R code (8V) versions.  So yours may be rare indeed!

[TimeWarpF100]

Timewarp,
That black 67 Comet 427 is a rare one!  Do you have a Marti report for it?  From what I remember reading in the Fairlaner magazine, a little under 300 Ford intermediates were built with 427s in 1967.  That includes all Comet and Fairlane body styles with both the W code (4V) and R code (8V) versions.  So yours may be rare indeed!

There were only 6 427 "R" Capri's built

Total number of 427 Comet's was 60 Cars

I have all 427 Fairlane & Comet VIN's along with all invoice info for the 60 427 Comets

1 W code Capri

15 Cyclone R codes

22 202 R Codes

4 Caliente R codes

8 Cyclone W Codes

6 R Code Capri's

These are the numbers I remember but something is off as that is only 56 cars. Will have to look at my spread sheet to see what is missing.
I know there were some Cyclone GT's too but do not remember the breakdown.

[mlcraven]

Notwithstanding my new-found obsession with 63-64 Galaxies, I continue to work away at the Cyclone.  Have the powertrain back in and am working away at aligning the front fenders, bumper, etc.  Has a bit of a nose-high vibe happening, to be expected I suppose with glass hood, headers replacing cast iron manifolds, alum intake, plus AC and PS delete.

Anticipating first firing in the second half of Nov.

[jayb]

Car looks great!