Body Issues

[jackboeker83]

ok I am trying to fit the body on my car before I deploy next week and I am having some issues.

First I cant get the back of the body to line up with the bumper holes... I can get one on each side (either top or bottom) but the other two holes are too much of an angle. is it that I would have to cut new holes? I don't think so because they obviously came with those bolts in the holes during shipment. I read from someone to put couplers to make it easier to take off the body without taking off the gas tank, I don't believe that would make a difference because they are flat of both sides. (pictures below)

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Second I am having trouble with the front bolts. it came with 4 bolts obviously but the spacers are all different so I am playing the guessing game on which one they go in (I read after that I should have numbered them). I am hoping that someone has some insight or pictures to help me out on this one. One side of the body is close to the frame and the other side is a bit farther away... I am wondering if this is because of flex (it has been on a body buck) or this is how it is supposed to be. I have looked at the body as a whole and it seems to be on the car straight and even. just cant get these holes lined up. pictures are below and if you want to see more to help me just let me know.

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[FMJ]

I did the same thing and received help from Jeff Kleiner.

Here's how they lay out (note that RH= passenger side and LH=driver's side):

RH upper=2 5/8" inside; 3 1/8" outside
RH lower=2 1/8" inside; 3 1/4" outside

LH upper=2 5/8" inside; 3 1/8" outside
LH lower=2 1/16" inside; 3 5/8" outside

[jackboeker83]

Thanks ill try that

[jackboeker83]

ok mine aren't exactly that and I have provided a picture... I will still try to do the best I can... what do you think?

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[edwardb]

Regarding the rear mounting with the couplers, just went through this same thing on my Mk4 build a week or two ago. I also added the couplers before installing the gas tank, and found that the pre-drilled holes no longer lined up quite right. Looked pretty similar to your pictures actually. The bolts that were installed during shipping likely also were slightly misaligned. But they only had to match up with the slightly oversized holes in the chassis, so could have been at an angle and still bolted up. Plus the couplers magnify any misalignment by being even closer to the body at a right angle to the mounting bracket.

You really only have two choices IMO. I guess you could take everything back apart (e.g. drop the tank) and move the couplers around to line up the holes in the body. May even require clearancing the mounting bracket to get to line up. But I would not recommend that. Way too much work and not needed IMO. I made sure the body was exactly where I wanted it, e.g. centered side-to-side and sitting down firmly on the trunk side bulb seal. Then just opened the holes in the body one at a time until all four lined up. Generally the differences were spread across all four holes. Plus I only clearanced in the direction needed (e.g. round holes become ovals) so once all done, the body was still captured firmly. The washers on the threaded rods easily covers the oversized holes. Not pretty, but completely hidden when done. Total time to fix for me was less than an hour, and I took it real slow and easy.

I'm no help for you on the front. I'm going a different directly with ********** grommets and a one-piece 1/2 inch tube. Discussed quite extensively over on the other forum, and I like the approach.

[Norm B]

I can help with the fronts. I had the same problem because I didn't label the front bolts when I removed them. Jeff's measurements helped and through trial and error I got them to fit. Just measured mine as installed on the car. Measurements are to the longest point on the spacers:

RH Upper 2 3/4 inside, 2 15/16 outside
RH Lower 2 3/8 inside, 3 outside

LH Upper 3 inside, 3 outside
LH Lower 2 inside 3 1/2 outside.

The inside ones are the most important and the outside measurements may differ from yours because my outside spacers were trimmed to make the over riders parallel to the nose. After going through the process once, I was very careful to instal the spacers back on the bolt as they were removed and I labelled the bolt with its location. I also wasn't thrilled about the spacer end being in direct contact with the fiberglass so I angle drilled washers to go between. You will also notice that the angled ends are cut different. To sort the spacers that were the same length for location I used the spacer with the angle that was closest to the body shape.

Good Luck
Norm