Body fit/ride height

[R8er]

Hi folks, I just got my body on and have some fitment issues. The holes for the sidepipes are off and small but I think they are meant to be trimmed. The slots for the windshield sanchons are off by about 1/4" but I think those can be widened. My big issue is the ride height on the drivers side rear. It is almost rubbing the tire. The quick jacks line up nicely with their respective holes, so the body cannot be lifted. Should I try to adjust the rear spring to increase ride height? Picture included. 51720

[edwardb]

Emphatic no. Do not adjust the suspension (e.g. ride height) to adjust the body fit. You could easily create a dangerous condition with how your car drives. First things first. What is your ride height, e.g. distance of the main 4 inch chassis tubes from the ground, front and rear? That needs to be adjusted first. If the body fitment still isn't right, then something has to change with the body. Not the suspension.

Yes, totally normal to adjust your sidepipe openings. Like you said, they're purposely made undersized. What's in your picture looks pretty good actually. Open them up carefully. You will find the final opening is slightly behind the actual header flange due to the curve of the pipes. Also not unusual to have to adjust the windshield openings.

[Norm B]

A couple of suggestions
1. Set the ride height by measuring from the floor to the frame. 4 1/2 inches is a good starting point. Don't try to compensate for body fitment with the suspension. It is very easy to set up a dangerous unbalanced condition for the car. As an example, I set the the suspension to be balanced with me and my wife in the car, half a tank of gas, and 50lbs of baggage in the trunk. It brakes straight and true with both of us in the car but, with just me, the right front locks first under very hard braking.
2. Don't enlarge any cut outs in the body until you get the body in the best position for door fitment. My driver's door was the most difficult.

Good Luck
Norm

PS Edward types faster than me

[CraigS]

To elaborate on what Norm and Edward said about the exhaust openings. It is normal to make the holes in the body where it is bolted underneath the outer frame rails into slots. That way you can move the body in and out to help the doors end up flush to the body surface. This will move the body at the exhaust opening in or out. Since the headers come out at an angle, the needed opening can change quite a bit as the body is moved.

[wallace18]

Like others have said make sure frame to floor is 4.5". Also do not try to fit doors without windshield bolted in place.

[R8er]

Thanks for all the good info

[chopthebass]

I have discovered the wheel size makes a difference too. I am using 15's and billboards so my overall wheel diameter is a little more that 17's. My body has been roughly fit, and with the front secured with the QJ mount bracket I have 5", and it is still very snug to the tire. The back will be about 5.5".

[skullandbones]

I have discovered the wheel size makes a difference too. I am using 15's and billboards so my overall wheel diameter is a little more that 17's. My body has been roughly fit, and with the front secured with the QJ mount bracket I have 5", and it is still very snug to the tire. The back will be about 5.5".

There is some wiggle room. I just have 9 inch rims on the rear but I have 275/40/17s. It fits well but there is room for more. My plan is to go to a 10.5 inch rim and try a 285/50/17. My Corvette uses the 275s so I have a place for them. I'm sneaking up on the ideal set up. I have the wider width live axle 98 Cobra. Point is the ride height in the rear will change with these mods (tire profile). You're trying to fill the wheel well with the more modern tire profile and you want rubber on the road but not rubbing on the chassis. It's a balancing act. BTW: I don't know how many cars I've seen with too much tire crammed in under the fender. I started with 4.5 in the front and 5.5 in the rear. That eventually settled to close to the magic numbers. It will definitely change. I like mine slightly raked down in front.

I would be ultra careful on the body cuts. Some builders are good at adding glass back in but some would rather not do that. I think I shaved a little more off of the side pipe hole after my body was mounted for a while. So when the side pipe was off and I had marked it carefully a little work with the dremel tool took off the necessary material for it not to touch.

Good luck,

WEK.

[Mark Reynolds]

Adjusting the pinion angle via the top link will affect the fore/aft position of the tire in the wheel well. Looks like yours is aft of center.
Also Recommend checking axle square-ness to frame since you mention having the issue on driver side but not passenger side.