Body panel alignment help, specifically fenders/doors.

[76k5blazerr]

Hi all, I picked up some fenders and inner fenders for my k10 this weekend, original GM. I installed them but haven't aligned them yet. I am reading about different ways to align panels. I know I need to pick up a shim kit. I have never done this before. I am wondering what they correct process is to get the body lines lined up and even. My doors shut very well right now so I would assume they are aligned correctly. The old fenders lined up well enough with them and the cab. So what is the order of events to do this right. Im probably going to unbolt everything and start over. Do I want to align the fenders with them unbolted from the inners or do the inners play a role in the adjustment? Where are the adjustments made? From my understanding the only "shim-able" places are the bolt down by the rockers, the bolt to the cowl and the bolt behind the door on the A-pillar, but correct me if Im wrong.

 

[Fastereddie]

I wouldn't mess with the doors if they work and look good.

 

[rampage]

Leave the doors as they are - you align the fender to the door. Run a strip of blue painters tape (or two layers) along the door seam so you don't chip the paint. You are correct about the shimming locations. Leave the inner fender off until everything is assembled. Bolt both fender on and get the shims and body kind correct but keep the front bolts loose that connect to the radiator support. Put the hood on keeping the bolt just snug but not loose. Lower the hood slowly so you don't chip the paint. Adjust fender gaps as needed and tighten fender/rad support bolts. When hood is in place tighten hood bolts. Test hood again slowly to make sure all is lined up. Install inner fenders.

 

[tRustyK5]

It's easier to dick with the door when the fenders are off, however it's more accurate if the fender is there as a guide. Just because your door closes good doesn't mean it's adjusted perfectly. As I mentioned in your other thread the rocker is a fixed part you need to adjust to, it's not like you can adjust the rocker.

Ideally you would set the door as perfectly in the door opening as possible with the fender removed. I like to adjust the door with the striker bolt removed until it's perfectly centered. Again, use the rocker as a guide for the bottom of the door. That body line should be equal and parallel. Use the 'A' pillar and the cab as guides as well until you have as perfect a fit as you can get. You're working towards best case for your truck, not perfect. I don't think perfect is attainable on a square body...but you can 90% there pretty easy. Once the door is as good as you can get it within the opening, install the striker bolt eye balling height as best as you can. Gently latch the door, and fine tune height until the striker bolt doesn't induce any door lift. Now fully latch the door and check the depth. set the depth and give the striker bolt a final snug.

Now fit your fender...

 

[76k5blazerr]

Thanks for the replys guys. I feel like I'm getting a better grasp on what I need to do. Looks like fenders are coming back off.

 

[dyeager535]

Not that I'm adding much, but I have been learning the adjustments a bit at a time myself.

The doors are "adjustable" in three places: the striker bolt, the door side of the hinge, and the body side of the hinge. This means you can adjust the "depth" of the door inside the door frame, cant the door in or out top or bottom, and raise/lower the door to match the body line.

I haven't seen anyone say it's not right, but I saw a youtube video of a guy adjusting a GM door (on an older GM car) and he used paint stirring sticks taped inside the door jambs to space the door properly in the body. On mine, with the paint sticks on the lower edge, it did align the door to the body line (without a fender in place).

One thing to be cognizant of is that if the hinges are not "phased", when opening/closing, they will put a lot more force on the hinge pins. Pretty sure that is why my hinges wore out relatively quickly this last time, since I swapped doors and just threw them on there. Just make sure it opens and closes smoothly and you don't hear/feel binding as the door moves throughout it's travel. Also, the striker should not pick the door up as it hits.