55.2-59 fender and hood gap?

[56 3100]

my body guy and i have been discussing the fender to hood wide side gaps. this is probably the last big hurdle in getting my truck finished . i have seen a few fixes can some members post how they fixed theirs? is slicing the fenders along edge one of the only solutions as seen in these pics by another form member?

[62 Barnfind]

That’s my truck you have posted. Cutting the fenders and moving the gap is the only way I could get the lines close to being right. When I looked down the gaps it wasn’t straight and the height was off. You probably could also add rod to the wide areas if you wanted to. These gaps have been holding me up for a long time.

[56 3100]

Originally Posted by 62 Barnfind

That’s my truck you have posted. Cutting the fenders and moving the gap is the only way I could get the lines close to being right. When I looked down the gaps it wasn’t straight and the height was off. You probably could also add rod to the wide areas if you wanted to. These gaps have been holding me up for a long time.

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[56 3100]

Hey barn find hope it’s ok I used your pics? For reference. My body guy teaches at a school and is retiring after school year it’s at the school and with COVID slowing things down.
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[dsraven]

hey dartmouth. post up some pics so we know what you're dealing with. maybe your buddy can get the janitor to snap a few and send them along or something.
is the contour of the fender not the same as the contour of the hood? too high or low? is the rad support original and can it be trimmed on each side to be narrower to close the gap at the front? can the fender mount hole be trimmed to allow the fenders to be tighter at the rear?
would this help?
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RgUwd9PdWiA

[56 3100]

hey raven body guy is suppose to send some pics shortly hard for me to go phyically look where as school is off limits right now. rad support is replacement piece but i have the original but top fender holes were fixed on it. i sent him that video thanks.

[dsraven]

are your fenders original or aftermarket?
is your rad support original or aftermarket?
is your hood original or aftermarket?
what repairs were done on the cab close to the affected areas. like cowls, hinge pillars, door skins, firewall mods, cab mounts, if any?
do you have all the clearance bumpers installed along the hood edge?
how have you started your adjustment procedure?

-usually start by ensuring there is a good set of cab mounts and rad support mounts, not squashed out original ones. the cab mounts and floor/hinge pillars/cowls are solid, the doors are solid and don't flex if the door is opened and some twisting tension is applied by hand (these doors have some integrity issues around the hinge mounting braces inside the door. lower is the worst). the door hinges are good with no play noticed if the door is slightly opened and some up and down pressure is applied by hand from the latch end of the door. hang the doors in the openings and get them to close properly without the latch strikers doing the final height "draw in". doors need to fit the cab first as good as possible with care taken to ensure the door seal gaps will allow the seals to contact properly. some door trimming or material added to the edges can be normal to get the door to cab gaps uniform all the way around. welding some gas welding rod to an edge isn't unheard of, or grinding an edge to fit and then welding the area so it isn't a thin spot. the video link shows how to adjust the hinges to get the doors to fit
-check the cab to frame levelling to get the cab spaced from the frame correctly and in the same plane. spacers under the forward cab mount is normal. it is a metal on metal affair at that spot

watch the video on how this fella adjusts parts to fit, he has a pretty good procedure and explanation of what affects what. it is important to fit the doors to the cab BEFORE you go forward. with that in mind you can see it is important to have solid doors and hinges/latches. adjust the doors to fit WITHOUT a latch striker so you know the door is adjusted to close into the opening by itself without the latch drawing it into the final spot. this will ensure your latches don't wear out prematurely as well. this is done best without the front clip installed so you don't subconsciously try to blend a door adjustment into a door/fender fitment as well. don't forget the hinges have 3 bolts, 2 you can see easily and the third is hidden in the pocket of the hinge but easily seen from the front side of the pillar when the fender is off.
like the guy in the video says, check the hood to fender fitment at the very front. if the hood is moved rearward then it gets tighter on the sides because it is wedge shaped. pushing the wedge into the V makes it get tighter on the sides. if the problem is the contour of the fender doesn't match the hood then you gotta ask yourself which part is the new, possibly not correct, part. maybe another set of fenders would fit better and not be a whole nightmare of slicing/ welding/grinding/warping/hammer dolly work etc etc. just a thought.

[dsraven]

factory assembly manual with dimensions for cab to frame etc
https://www.trifive.com/d1/55-59Assy.pdf

pics shows the third hinge bolt pretty well as well as how the hinge fits in the pillar

[56 3100]

had bottom hinge pockets done he took measurement of hole locations before cutting out old. fenders original with lower back bottom repair panels put on hood original. news cab and rad mounts from bills truck shop. i passed along lots of videos and pics to him will see how it pans out.

[_Ogre]

imo (in my opinion) (don't wanna start anything just my opinion)
these trucks move a lot, any body gap that isn't bolted that tight will chip paint
i didn't change any gaps, some of my gaps are biggish and still i get chipped paint
michigan roads can jar your teeth and flex your truck in ways it was meant to
by closing all those gaps you risk chipping paint
you want proof, just jack up one side of your truck like a tire change
if your building a trailer queen, go for it.
a driver might need those gaps

[dsraven]

assembly manual sect 1 sheet 83.02 says task force door gap should be .16" plus/minus .09". that's about 3/16" to 1/4" I think. lots of guys use a wooden paint stick as a gap checker. they are usually about 1/8" thick.
a place that sells plastic sheet could come up with some scrap ABS or something that is the dimension you want for your gaps. this really helps set the gaps on assembly by having the gap checker in the gap when the door is being adjusted but also helps to check the gaps after initial bolt up of the parts. like Ogre says, gap widths sorta depend on your intended use for the truck. rough roads maybe means a bigger gap than a trailer queen. 1/8" could be a little small if you plan to pull trailers or drive on uneven areas that would cause the truck frame to flex.
you can easily build a non marring gap checker by starting with a piece of wood or plastic that is the thickness of the gap you want and then laminate a thicker piece on one end of that. it works like a go-no go gauge. say you want a 3/16 gap but will allow up to 1/4. you start with a piece of 3/16 flat plastic sheet about the same width as an office ruler and a few inches long so you can get a grip on it. slightly taper the end that will slip into the gap and this will be your 1/16 gap checker. then laminate another piece of (end tapered) 1/16 back from the end of the tool just a bit, like 1/2" back. let that run back towards the rear about 1/2" and this becomes your 1/4 inch check area. then take a third piece (tapered end) and laminate it on top of that second part back about 1/2" and this becomes your sight gauge to tell how much bigger than 1/4 your gap may be . when you want to check gaps insert the tool into the gap. if it goes in and butts against the first laminated part then the gap is 3/16 gap. If it goes in up to the second laminated part then the gap is 1/4". if it goes past the 1/4 gap area of the second step but then also goes up the taper on the third laminated part then the gap is larger than you want. it is basically a graduated stepped wedge that you could also simply make by starting with a thicker piece and removing material from the stepped areas until you get the thickness you want
or buy/build one of these already made tools

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bJ2JoXeL0lE
https://www.ebay.com/itm/233610099279
https://www.purpledimension.com/gap-gauges.html
https://vw.snapon.com/SpecialToolsDe...itemId=5000121

assembly manual for task force
https://www.trifive.com/d1/55-59Assy.pdf

[62 Barnfind]

Originally Posted by 56 3100

Hey barn find hope it’s ok I used your pics? For reference. My body guy teaches at a school and is retiring after school year it’s at the school and with COVID slowing things down.
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Perfectly fine! Glad I could help you in some way. I had to move mine because it was touching in some areas and over 1/4 in others. I just recut my door lines also to just under 1/4 to give it an even look. I know the body does move a little but I couldn’t leave it as it was. The aftermarket parts are not consistent so you have to modify them to fit and look right.

[56 3100]

hey ogre no worries not starting anything. i need some body gap as big block will have some torque and flex body some. getting other members ideas is always good on the forums . i used some of you pics to make my lower dash skirt so thanks.dsraven lots of good info there.i am famliar with go no go gages. barnfind i just recieved some door to fender gaps pics looking pretty good. he is on to hood and fenders next week. fingers crossed.

[1project2many]

These trucks were far from perfect.

Here's a story. When I bought my truck it was well used. There was a 20" long dent in the passenger door that I wanted to fix. After a bunch of attempts to pull it I finally gave up and removed the skin. During this time the guy who promised to help me skipped town so I ended up seeking help and advice from folks who had done this work for years. They all told me I wouldn't have good luck trying to re-use the old door skin. Well I worked my butt off and got it as straight and fixed as I could then I carefully reinstalled it. I thought it came out ok until I bolted it on the cab and realized the lower rear corner of the door stuck out over 1/4." Disappointed in all the wasted work I found an unmolested door. Imagine how it felt to see that door sticking out the same amount. Turns out the cab was built incorrectly. The door could never have fit properly.

You'll find a ton of issues on a stock vehicle. Hood gaps are usually off by a bunch. The centerline of my hood was over 1/8" off center. The hinge nuts were welded in so the hood didn't install straight. Maybe because they put the hood centerline in the center of the hood opening. And the fenders were offset slightly to make the hood gap look right. When you get back to the doors the square corners on the front of the doors was below flush when the rest of the door was flush. The body lines that surround the door glass didn't match the lines on the cab. One of the rear fenders was angled slightly in the bed as well.

Most of these issues were fixed although at 24ish years old I ran out of patience with the hood. I wish I'd worked to get the hood gaps better. Cutting, welding, filling were all part of the process. And it took a bunch of help from really good body guys to fix what GM never bothered to make right.

These pictures are from a truck that sold at auction a few years ago. It's a very nice restoration that looks very original. I can't see the actual sale price but they expected upwards of $75k. Look at the panel mismatches and decide for yourself what you'll accept in your own truck.

[56 3100]

hey 2 many the body gaps take some time and creativity to get decent my body guy seems to be on right track.