View Full Version : Gap between rocker and chassis
Body is installed and everything looks good... doors, hood, trunk, roll bars etc. There's a 3/16" (approx) gap between the rocker lip and the underside of the chassis. I'm inclined to either 1) just snug it up and move on, or 2) insert a hard rubber shim and then tighten it up.
Anyone else run into this?
Mbufford
06-12-2025, 09:39 PM
I didn’t end up with any rocker gaps. But for the sake of eliminating potential future flexing, and the resulting paint cracks, I wouldn’t take either option. I’d do a small buildup of fiber-filler between the frame and the rocker. I have some leftovers from the can Mike gave me, if you want to go that route.
Thanks Matt, I think I figured it out. Once I pulled the body in on the PS side (like I had planned to anyway), the gap closed. Of course, it also means I need to adjust the doors.
I'm not trying to get any of this 100% because all the final gapping and adjustments will be done when Jeff does the body and paint.
Norm B
06-12-2025, 10:15 PM
I didn’t exactly follow the build manual for attaching the rocker panel to the chassis. I drilled and tapped the mounting points and used button head bolts to secure things. The driver’s side required a couple of stacked washers between the body and frame to fill the space. On the body I received it seemed like the driver’s side curl under wasn’t at the same angle as the passenger side.
Norm
I didn’t exactly follow the build manual for attaching the rocker panel to the chassis. I drilled and tapped the mounting points and used button head bolts to secure things. The driver’s side required a couple of stacked washers between the body and frame to fill the space. On the body I received it seemed like the driver’s side curl under wasn’t at the same angle as the passenger side.
Norm
Norm, this is pretty much my situation...i.e the PS is fairly easy to snug up to the frame, but the DS will likely have a gap unless I muscle it up and tighten.
Jeff Kleiner
06-13-2025, 08:37 AM
I slot the body right in line with the front edge of the doors and just ahead of the rear wheels so that the rockers can be moved in or out as necessary for alignment with the doors. Passenger side gets pushed all the way in and fastened. The front will stay all the way in and the rear may ultimately be pulled outward just a bit. Driver's side gets pushed all the way in at the front and will stay there and the rear gets pulled outward 1/2"-3/4" to match with the door. When the rear is pulled out that much it will gap from the chassis and this gets taken up with one or two 1/8" body shims. The body will be tight to the chassis at the other 3 positions.
Jeff
I slot the body right in line with the front edge of the doors and just ahead of the rear wheels so that the rockers can be moved in or out as necessary for alignment with the doors. Passenger side gets pushed all the way in and fastened. The front will stay all the way in and the rear may ultimately be pulled outward just a bit. Driver's side gets pushed all the way in at the front and will stay there and the rear gets pulled outward 1/2"-3/4" to match with the door. When the rear is pulled out that much it will gap from the chassis and this gets taken up with one or two 1/8" body shims. The body will be tight to the chassis at the other 3 positions.
Jeff
Thanks Jeff. Your first point answered another question I had about the preferred screw locations.