Initial body fitment help needed....

[FF33rod]

So if all goes well, the rain will stop and I will go-cart #1104 sometime this weekend. Last night I was powder coating and installing the door hinge mounts and so it's time to start the next phase, body work.

So the first order of business, how the heck can you possibly level and center an object that is notoriously asymmetrical? I have a gen 1 body but I don't think gen 2 is much different in this regard. In any case, how did you approach this?

Here's what I was thinking but it may be flawed and may not be thorough enough....

When installing the firewall I ensured that it is centered and level relative to the chassis.
First item I think is to place the body on the chassis and adjust, tweak, coerce, and curse the body/firewall interface to be symmetrical side to side and hopefully minimize gaps
Put a level on the cowl (it's curved so will need some spacers equal distance from center) and adjust side to side for level. Clamp body to firewall.
Per instruction book, adjust rear of body to set the gap from the dash to the back of the passenger compartment
Put level on rear deck between trunk opening and passenger compartment and adjust sides to get deck level
Now how do I center the rear part of the body? I seem to recall in build school that there were different sized spacers used on each side. My inclination is to measure the distance of the body to the rear wheel and make each side is the same. Then drill and attach for the spacers.


The last thing that I want is to do all this and find out while fitting doors, trunks, hoods, that I got the basics wrong and have to go back to square one - which will likely mean something will be cut too short, will have holes in the fiberglass to fill, etc...

Thanks for your help guys.
Steve

[AJT '33]

Hope this helps as this is the way I should have done it based on everything I learned and have done. Refer to the attached picture.
1. Level your frame laterally at your firewall, left/right between the passenger seat and the rear crossmember where the gas tank is located
2. Level your frame front to back which will make your firewall vertical and the sides horizontal
3. Set your body on and bring the front of the body, where your firewall is, completely to the firewall and fit and clamp that location. Make sure that it is even on either side and that its level laterally (driver to passenger side) from the front of the door sills. Clamp the body at the firewall so it cannot move!
4. Following the instructions in the book raise the rear of the fiberglass body slowly to achieve the measurement in the manual. make sure that the body is even laterally over the frame regardless if it does not completely sit on it. Clamp it in place.
5. Measure and re-measure until it's even while adjust to the frame. Once done, drill the two holes at the wheel wells and place a bolt through with spacers between the body and the fiberglass so it does not move the body laterally when you tighten them. I have three on one side and one on the other as the wheel well depths are not even to the body.
115029 115033
I included some pica as well so you can understand what I did to align it best.
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[FF33rod]

Thanks Andreas
I think steps 1,2 and 3 are straightforward but in step 3 it seems you are suggesting making sure the door sills are level side to side. This is opposed to what I was suggesting in making the front cowl level. Do I understand correctly?

In step 4, when you say "make sure that the body is even laterally over the frame", how do I determine this exactly? where am I measuring?

In step 5 you say " Measure and re-measure until it's even while adjust to the frame." Same question, where are you suggesting to measure?

My problem in thinking this through is this - it is easy to determine level and center for the frame. However, if the body is assymetrical then exactly what on the body do you align to chassis center and what do you try to make level on the body?

Steve

[FF33rod]

Bumping this back up, looking for more input from you guys. A number of you went through this in the past year.....

[AJT '33]

Thanks Andreas
I think steps 1,2 and 3 are straightforward but in step 3 it seems you are suggesting making sure the door sills are level side to side. This is opposed to what I was suggesting in making the front cowl level. Do I understand correctly?

In step 4, when you say "make sure that the body is even laterally over the frame", how do I determine this exactly? You do this with a 4' or 6' levelwhere am I measuring? Top of frame to top of frame

In step 5 you say " Measure and re-measure until it's even while adjust to the frame." Same question, where are you suggesting to measure? I said this as in my case someone had bumped the supports I had on the floor and did not say anything, and I nearly set the body with the frame slightly out of level, which afterwards made me realize that the body could have been of kilter as well, a minor detail but it mattered to me

My problem in thinking this through is this - it is easy to determine level and center for the frame. However, if the body is asymmetrical then exactly what on the body do you align to chassis center and what do you try to make level on the body? It all starts at the firewall, once that's connected/aligned, everything works off of that

Steve

Basically you need to have the firewall vertical and level side to side, this will give you a base starting point. Everyone gets hung up in trying to setting the frame of the car in the stance it will be in when its sitting on the wheels, that's not necessary when setting the body to the car as it makes no difference. The body is set based on the firewall, once it's set up against it, everything else is relative to that. That is why I tell everyone that if you level the frame on the tops where the doors are, front to back and side to side, your firewall will be vertical and you will be able to align the fiberglass body to the frame, and not anything else. Hope this makes more sense. PM me and I will give you my cell and maybe I can facetime with you and explain it better if that helps.