Fender adjustment

[68FORDJBM]

Was walking around the truck noting last minute imperfections that need to be addressed before paint and noticed that the gap between the left front fender and the cowl is 0.5 inch. The other side is 1/2 that. How do I adjust the gap to be smaller. I'm hoping I can adjust it up without special equipment.

[HIO Silver]

The same principle that applies to cars applies to trucks.... Aligning gaps is from back to front.

Adjust door gaps.
Adjust front fenders to doors and cowl, but you'll need to leave 'em loose cuz ya still gotta align the hood to the fender width and hood to the cowl
The inner fenders may also need to be adjusted to adjust the outer fenders plus hood hinges to the inner fender, and hinges to the hood.
You'll go bonkers getting them perfect so patience is a must!!! Sometimes you'll have to compromise.

Here's a tip: Once you are satisfied with the body gaps, drill 1/8-inch alignment hole(s) through mating surfaces in discreet locations and then reinsert that drill bit upon reassembly to index the mating surfaces .

Good luck!!!

[68FORDJBM]

How do you adjust the front fender? I couldn't see how to losen it up to allow it to adjust upward. You mentioned the inner fender - does the inside need to be lose to allow the fender to move up?

Thanks

[hazelnut]

Theres a bolt on the backside of the fender about 2" above the bump line and about 2" from the rear. You have to go through the hole in the door jam thats between the hinges to get to it. And theres another bolt on the bottom of the fender that probley has shims.

I don't think i would loosen the inner fender at the cowl at the same time because you would have the weight of the hood pushing down making things hard to ajust. I would loosen the fender to inner fender bolts to give the fender some play room to ajust up. Once you have the fender bolted where you want then you can start ajusting the inner fender to match. If you need to ajust the front of the fender its done with shims added/removed to the 2 radiator support bolts to the frame.

If you need to ajust the rear of the inner fender up a cut off 2 by 4 on a floor jack works great to hold in place/ajust.

[68FORDJBM]

Thanks, that helps a lot

[68FORDJBM]

The same principle that applies to cars applies to trucks.... Aligning gaps is from back to front.

Adjust door gaps.
Adjust front fenders to doors and cowl, but you'll need to leave 'em loose cuz ya still gotta align the hood to the fender width and hood to the cowl
The inner fenders may also need to be adjusted to adjust the outer fenders plus hood hinges to the inner fender, and hinges to the hood.
You'll go bonkers getting them perfect so patience is a must!!! Sometimes you'll have to compromise.

Here's a tip: Once you are satisfied with the body gaps, drill 1/8-inch alignment hole(s) through mating surfaces in discreet locations and then reinsert that drill bit upon reassembly to index the mating surfaces .

Good luck!!!

Is there a minimum specification for the door gap to front fender? Mine are running about 1/8" to 1/16". Looks wide enough and they don't bind when opening but now is the time to adjust before I put on pimer. My gut telss me I sould move the doors back from the fender a bit but I hate to mess with them after all the struggle to get them where they are now