Fender fore and aft alignment

[rfarmelo]

Hi All,

I'm trying to adjust gaps on my 73 barracuda and I see that the front fenders are unable to be moved forward or aft because the bucket sheet metal that is spot welded to the fender bolts to the core support. See image to see what I'm talking about...
It's possible to remove the spot welds to separate the portion that attaches to the core support so that the main portion of the fender can move fore and aft. Is that recommended? Is there some other way to move the fender fore or aft?

Thanks!
Rob

 

[pschlosser]

Is there some other way to move the fender fore or aft?

How much are you looking to move it? And why? I mean, what other point of alignment reference are you shooting for?

For a factory used fender, I seem to recall on the 1970 Barracuda, I could get almost 1/4-inch (6mm) movement fore and aft. In those cases, my primary goal was to have a consistent gap/reveal between the rear of the fender to the door. But there, the door can be adjusted a little for correct this, too.

Movement up and down was more about aligning with the hood. And there, the hood can be tweaked a little. too. The same can be said for the front upper and lower valences.

If you can find the actual point blocking movement on the inner fender and headlight backing, you may be able to tweak it some with a big rubber mallet, since it doesn't really show.

Even a newly stamped aftermarket fender (example AMD) will likely need some tweaking here and there to achieve a perfect fit.

 

[rfarmelo]

Thanks very much for the response.

I'm trying to tighten up the gaps between the door and the rear quarter and the door in the front fender.

I have the door to quarter panel gap at 3/16" but that's leaving about a 5/16" gap between the fender and the door. I'm only trying to get an 1/8" aft movement of the fender but it's not budging with mild persuasion. I do still have a couple of the fender mounting studs in place and those are also probably keeping things from moving as they are still somewhat held in place by old seam sealer and undercoat.

My main concern was not knowing if I should use the factory fender location and fix the gaps by adding material to the edges of the door or if it's acceptable to tweak the fender position a little bit. Sounds like the ladder is okay.

Thanks again!
Rob

 

[BSG]

Hi All,

I'm trying to adjust gaps on my 73 barracuda and I see that the front fenders are unable to be moved forward or aft because the bucket sheet metal that is spot welded to the fender bolts to the core support. See image to see what I'm talking about...
It's possible to remove the spot welds to separate the portion that attaches to the core support so that the main portion of the fender can move fore and aft. Is that recommended? Is there some other way to move the fender fore or aft?

Thanks!
Rob

View attachment 145929

Ebodies are a long days work nto nget the gaps to todyas standards I've had to cut and weld to get the gaps to my satisfaction on the top. the back and forth and up and down should be easy getting them all where you wantnthem at the same time is the hard part line nup the back as best as possible before even nputting the mount bolts to the core support make nsure all the rear bolts are tight before cranking down nthe front.

 

[rfarmelo]

Ebodies are a long days work nto nget the gaps to todyas standards I've had to cut and weld to get the gaps to my satisfaction on the top. the back and forth and up and down should be easy getting them all where you wantnthem at the same time is the hard part line nup the back as best as possible before even nputting the mount bolts to the core support make nsure all the rear bolts are tight before cranking down nthe front.

Thanks for the tips BSG & love the green and black!