This week I start to adjust the body panel gaps on my old classic Porsche. As it turns out this is not an easy task because my car has had an accident on the front right and then parted out. My job is take this old shell and a bunch of swap meet parts and make them fit like the factory did. As you can probably imagine, things don’t just line up on their own. Brace yourself for the brute force method!
Hinge adjustments and various shims are helpful, but there are times when things still don’t line up right. In my case I found the best average fit and then beat the front tub flanges into the correct position. I did the same for the door as it fit well on the rocker bottom, but the door stood proud near the door handle. While its hard to watch me hammering on this classic car with a 30 pound weight, I feel it’s a necessary evil to bring this car back to its former glory. Porsche build quality is among the best, so I want to do this car justice by at least meeting the factory build standards even though my car will be a hotrod instead of an authentic restoration.
To address the accident damage I previously made some steel fixtures and leveled my garage floor to mimic the purpose of a Cellette bench. I was able to adjust and verify in the comfort of my own garage that the suspension points are in the correct place and the chassis has no twist to it. This was accomplished with precision tram guages and special height guages to check the twist. I don’t have video of this straightening excercise as this was done over a year ago when I first bought the car. I have no concerns about the tub (+/- 2 mm) on this car and now that the windshield opening, trunk hood, passenger door all line up well I’m very happy to say this accident damage rain cloud over my head is gone!
Thanks for checking out the video below, I can’t wait to get started on the painting process.
Adjusting Panel Gaps – Porsche 911