Carl's 20th Anniversary #8690 - Graduated... 15,000 miles

[edwardb]

Your side pipes openings don't look bad at all. Lots of factors to keep in mind: The side pipes don't come straight out from the headers. The actual opening needed is behind and down from what you can see looking directly into the opening. The optical illusion already mentioned. The openings are cut purposely small, and are meant to be trimmed to your build. The openings are also hand cut and often aren't very symmetrical. Yours are quite different. I'm pretty confident those will work out OK. But don't do anything to fit them until (1) body mounting is further along (e.g. bulb seal and you're positive it's in the final position, (2) Doors fitted. It's quite common to need to pull the sides in/out to get the best door fit. (3) Front splash guards installed. Those will pull the corners of the wheel opening in and affect the cutout to some degree. Then see where you're at. Trim a little at a time and I'll bet the side pipes fit OK.

Regarding the body fit, I wouldn't trim too much on that front body roll until you try again with the bulb seal in place. Could make a difference, especially over the firewall. If the body is all the way down on the hood surround tubes, it's too low. It's usually 1/2-inch or so above. The foam filler provided in the kit will fill the opening to make it look better. But won't hold the body up. The front of the body is mainly held by the firewall and then the front quick jack bolts. The radiator surround provides some support as well.