Since I transplanted Alphie’s snoz
from one Alpine to another, I expected the door gaps would be “uneven,” to be
generous. I was right, but they weren’t
as bad as I feared. The gap between the
rocker and the door, good. Between the
rear quarter and the door, good, excepting one place easily fixed. Between the
front quarter and the door, gaping chasm.
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| My target gap size |
How to fix gaping gap? Simply put, add more metal. First, I slapped the door back on and eyeballed the gaps by marking a small drafting compass with a blue marker and shoving it in the gap at different places. I then marked (in red) the sections with a gaping gap on the fender and removed the door.
Where the gap was only a little too wide, I welded little MIG beads and ground them down to fit. But the grand crevasses, I had to add metal.
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| Gaping Gap! |
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| First strip plus some MIG beads |
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| Second strip |
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| Chasms marked in red |
I made a quick file folder template so I could get the shape right and transferred it to the sheet metal strips. I drilled holes in the strips to assure a good bond between the fender lip and new metal and got out the MIG. Along the biggest gap I had to add two strips, one 16- and one 22-gauge.
Next step – grinding. Judicious, careful grinding.
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| Room for improvement |
I replaced the door to check my work, not there yet. (I became quite adept at removing/installing the door by myself.) More MIGing. More judicious grinding. Door back on. After some messaging the hinge placement, the gaps are almost there. You can see in one pic where I over did it and added too much metal (see the blue arrow in the pic). I see at least one place where I’ll need to add a few MIG beads to fine tune the spacing, another where I need more grinding, but I going to wait until closer to final body prep to be sure it isn’t a matter of adjusting the hinges. Perfection postponed? Hmmm, not a bad epitaph.
