Finding Center on Body, Hood, etc

[Broadwaydan]

So, after lots of effort and emulating the contortions under the car described by others in the forum, I was finally able to get the hood hinges mounted and the hood fastened. Thank god I have long arms and skinny fingers! Many (many) hours later I have a pretty well fitted hood. I am fine tuning the hood to body fit all around with the bumpers to get the edges as flush as possible. I want to install the hood handles so I can fasten the hood at the top to see how that will impact the fit. Finding center on the hood will not be too hard, and frankly if I am off a small bit I don't think that will be much noticed. However, I am also beginning to think about getting ready to mark and cut for the hood scoop opening, and also thinking ahead to marking for paint and striping. So, the big question is, how really do I find the center of the body/hood/trunk? There really are no "straight" edges to measure from, all the openings are curved so finding the "same spot" side to side is problematic, and if the hood or trunk gaps relative to the openings are a bit different side to side, the center of the hood or trunk may not actually match center of the body. So, how do I find center in the front and rear so that ultimately the stripes are centered on the body and I get the hood scoop centered on the hood?

Thanks. This is my first time doing this so don't want to screw this up.

[CraigS]

I know yours is a MkIV and those bodies are a lot better but...sometimes you just do your best and concentrate on what looks right. For instance, if the scoop is a little off center, go ahead and center the stripes on the scoop. It's all about what the typical human eye will notice. IE; if the stripes are not centered on the scoop that will stick out big time. But if the stripes are a little off center regarding the whole hood, no one will notice. I just remembered that you get to install the scoop your self, so the above maybe isn't the best example but I expect you will get my point.

[DaleG]

You might run a string through the windscreen slots and mark the center. Find the center of the "oil cooler" opening. Connect the dots . Run a strip of painter's tape ad see how it looks. Do the same with the windscreen string to the center of bottom trunk edge. HTH.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Hi Dan! You are correct; there really aren't many good reference points and to further muddy things the bodies are not truly symmetrical. For the most part like Craig says your eye is a better tool than a measuring tape. There are a couple of landmarks to work around though. Start at the radiator opening and find center based on the widest points then make a reference mark on the near horizontal surface at the top of the opening. Now check from the headlight centers back to your reference mark. To my surprise both the Mk3 & Mk4 were almost dead on (within 1/8"). Moving rearward I extend the long straight hood opening line rearward onto the cowl. Now extend the straight part of the rear hood opening across the body from side to side until it intersects the two side lines then measure for the center between them. This gives you starting points to lay down some 1/4" fineline tape. Now put down the measuring device, stand back, stare at it and make minor adjustments until it appears correct! (By the way, notice that engine offset to the passenger side that we hear about?)

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_2435.jpg

At the rear your primary reference is the license plate lamp. You've got to run to the center of it regardless what a tape tells you. If you have two roll bars it becomes easier as you'll need to split the difference between them. If only one bar do a similar exercise to what I described above by extending the side opening lines forward and the leading edge of the opening side to side until they intersect. You'll probably find that the center of the trunk handle does not line up with the license plate lamp center. You can work around it by letting the center "jump" below the lamp---the misalignment will never be noticed once the plate is installed. Again, put away the tape and make it look right to your eye.

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_2433.jpg

When laying out the stripes it very well may be necessary to fudge the widths a bit from side to side (<1/8"-ish) to make them appear "right".

These look pretty straight and even right?

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_2633.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_3195.jpg

http://i269.photobucket.com/albums/jj43/jkleiner/Mk4%207276/100_3201.jpg

While your eyes say yes a tape measure would say no...trust your eyes!

Jeff

[Broadwaydan]

Craig, Dale, Jeff,

Thanks for the quick responses. This was all very helpful, and more or less what I expected. Always nice to get some confirmation of the proper approach. I will do as suggested.

Jeff - the pictures look great - nice car!!

[cob427sc]

I also find it necessary to latch the hood in place (and the trunk too) before laying out the stripes. The hood especially has a tendency to move a little when button down, and this will alter the stripes lining up with the cowl stripes. Just my $.02 from experience.

[edwardb]

For my Mk3 build, I used a laser level on a tripod. Just a relatively cheap DeWalt unit (as I recall) that projects either a horizontal or vertical line. Put the tripod up pretty high and was able to project a straight line over the nose, oil cooler, hood, scoop, windshield area etc. Did the same thing from the back, and connected the two. You still have to go by eye to kind of balance out the differences, but worked pretty well. BTW, the same laser unit is pretty handy for wheel alignments as well.

[rich grsc]

A carpenters caulk line helps too, tape it at the front and pull it over the top to the rear.