Contours of Bonnet and Cowl

[LateApex]

Here is a photo of my project mid-stride in prepping for paint:

168295

The cowl (area in front of the windshield) from most perspectives is pretty "flat", while the bonnet enjoys the "hips" of the front wheel wells. That interface between bonnet and cowl should IMO be pretty well contoured so that there is a smooth surface at that joint.

I realize I can bump up the bonnet with larger rubber bumpers, and haul the bonnet sides down with the hood clasps to meet a nice gap between bonnet bottom and pontoon and flatten the bonnet a bit. But there is still a "wave" on the bonnet side of the bonnet / cowl interface, and flatter line on the cowl side.

I am wondering how others have looked at this aspect of body fitment. What efforts have you made to make that joint flush? There is only so much I can / should dig into cowl with 40 grit, and only so much filler I would want to install on the bonnet side.

All thoughts muchly appreciated!

p.s.: I am running out of parts to install. I have one box full of carpet and headliner, a second box with edge trim, and a third box with lights and lenses and wiper bits and various aftermarket parts. And then a windshield and hatch cover. I know each of the remaining parts by name :-) Not sure I ever thought I would be at this point - Haha!!

[Jeff Kleiner]

The one I just completed got one of the large rubber bumpers dead center and two others around 10-12 inches out from center where the edge of the hood is low from the cowl. The rest of the cowl flange has the hood “D” seal weatherstrip (from Everson or Breeze). Sorry, I don’t have any pics showing it up close but if you zoom in on this photo you’ll see that with this combination when the hood is buckled down it all comes together pretty flush.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=168296&d=1655575759

Jeff



168296

[LateApex]

Thanks for the inspiration - that looks great!

[edwardb]

Yes, you need a combination of bumpers to set the height and then a pretty strong pull from the latches to make it line up. That was initially and mine lined up quite well. Picture below was before any body work. My latches no longer pull all that hard. Obviously the fiberglass moves some and takes a set. Hopefully getting the hood aligned doesn't mess up your door alignment. One of my regrets, which I mentioned in my build thread, was aligning the doors before the hood. If I ever do another one, the doors will be last to fit and align.

https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/attachment.php?attachmentid=108413&d=1559834959

[Blueblood]

I can attest to what edwardb said as I was in the middle of starting door fitment I posted a question and he responded with good advice to set the body then the hood and then the doors. That info saved me a lot of adjustment and uneeded messing with the hood door interface. Sorry for referring to it as the hood I guess bonnet works too depending on what side of the pond your from. I think the truck is the boot then as well hehe

[LateApex]

Thanx Paul. The bonnet versus door sequence is one of the things that is sucking the air out of the room at the moment - hah!

I have the body and bonnet aligned front to aft within 1/8". My driver's side door bottom is proud of the body by at least 1/8", AFTER shimming the door frame to door along the bottom rail, and moving the door hinges to the extent of their travel inboard. I've come to the conclusion that after I pull all the fiberglass off the chassis, I will elongate the door pillar (horizontal) slots to give me more range of adjustment for the door hinges.

Rubber bumpers applied, with extra shimming washers, to the bonnet / cowl interface was still short. I took the power tools to that interface, then shaped with a long block, and when I take the body off, I'll be adding some layers of fiberglass to the underside of the cowl at the interface, to correct its "thinness" in the hollow of the front "hips" - Hah! I am comfortable with laminates (glass, CF, ..., etc.), and had to do some layup on the DS A-pillar as well, as the weld was just way out of line and something had to give.

And yes, glass is a fluid (technically). Old stained glass windows in cathedrals in Europe are thicker at the bottom than the top, as over time, glass will "flow" :-) I am careful about how much stress I apply to fiberglass structures (to accelerate that flow, if you will). I have already discovered voids in the glass as a result of the pulling and tugging I have done already. A good time to discover this is BEFORE moving to paint methinks :-)

Looking back, I find it funny how I spent so much time thinking about the mechanical bits of the build, and really very little time about body fitment. Here I am racing for the barn (so to speak), thinking that most of the little puzzles are solved, and finding that I need to keep the brain in gear - Hah!!

Thanx for your insights as always!!