[burningsquirrels]

okay, i got the fenders lined up good, took note of the shims, and removed them... but perhaps i was a bit hasty. after removing the driver side fender, i went over to the passenger side fender and found that the fender to door gap was much tighter - almost like a new car. the driver side fender to door gap was pretty big. i never removed the doors on the car before, so the door to 1/4panel gaps were perfect.

now, i know that the fender bolt inside the engine compartment facing the front of the car adjusts the fender to door gap... however, i am using no shims there. do you guys have any suggestions other than a BFH on how to close that gap? it's definitely around 1/4" gap. thanks

 

[new2novas]

man there are a few ways, but i will tell ya mine is the same way, passenger side is perfect, driver is far from it....if you have gone as far as you can with the fender adjustment and the door adjustment, adding metal to either the fender or the door may be your next step if you want it perfect...before you go drastic use as much shims as ya need within reason

 

[burningsquirrels]

adding metal... or subtracting?

i was kinda lookin' fer an excuse to go 'glass lol j/k... steel is real

 

[elkenova]

Is the gap equal all the way down or tighter on top with the big gap at the bottom. A friend of mine cured his large bottom gap with a new set of sub frame bushings. Hope yours is that easy. Jerry

 

[burningsquirrels]

roughly 6mm top to bottom evenly. i should also mention that the driver side fender is not original... but it is all perfect except that one gap. straight but too wide.

 

[Schonyenko2]

It's not unusual for original cars to have uneven gaps from side, to side.
That said, a qtr is a little more than you'd like. Is your fender a repop, original, or NOS. Some or the late produced NOS fit poorly. Some of the repop's need to be reworked before they fit correctly. Maybe post a picture. Seeing is a good thing.

 

[72GreenRally]

6mm??? What is that??? You gotta give us AMU!! American Measuring Units! A 1/4 inch gap is not that wide really. I think when Johnny flyboy was getting the shop to fix the gaps on the flyer, he was trying to get them to factory specs, which as I recall was 3/16 inch. Just 1/16 tighter. IMO, to tighten the gap, I would apply precise BFH persuasion to the forward/backward mounting tab on the fender. It won't take much to move the fender back 1/16 to 1/8.

Randy (don't try telling me its Asian Measuring Units!!)

 

[Fast72buick]

roughly 6mm top to bottom evenly. i should also mention that the driver side fender is not original... but it is all perfect except that one gap. straight but too wide.

If it's a aftermarket Fender thats Your Problem,
Changed Nothing but the Grille on a True 70SS Nova (The original was Fading Badly),
The aftermarket Grille fit Like Shyt,
Had to get the drill out to get it to Bolt Back in place of the original.

You Gotta remeber the aftermarket Goodmark Fenders along with All the Other "Knock-off's" ARE Made in Taiwan/China.

 

[burningsquirrels]

no, i don't think it's aftermarket... it fit perfectly on the '69 nova we pulled it off of at memory lane in sun valley, CA...

updates and pics later, g/f is out for the weekend. i'll have plenty of time to either be in the garage or the pr0n vault lol j/k.

 

[69NovaSS]

Is the mounting tab that bolts to the firewall up tight against the fire wall? If it is I would bend it a bit towards the front of the car so the fender will be able to move farther towards the back of the car......DONT BEND IT TOO MUCH......

 

[Custom Jim]

Have you assembled the car with the hood on also ?. I'm thinking possibly if the front end is racked over to one side this could open up the fender to door gap on one side and be tighter on the other side. With the hood on it might have the fenders more square to the firewall face.
I had to beat in the firewall face some on one side on the 74 Nova I'm working on to close up the door to fender gap and the amount I pushed it in was slight and is not noticeable and you could do like 69NovaSS said with bending the fender bracket forward with a few hits of the hammer.

Jim