Body shimming

Howard2x4x4 · Mar 29, 2019

Is there a ball park rule of thumb to use when shimming a body for door gaps etc that should cause a red light to go on? Anonymous in beautiful west Michigan

rydog1130 · Mar 29, 2019

This chart might help bud...

Howard2x4x4 · Mar 29, 2019

Thanks Ryan, I have it in the bed and have been using it as I go,,,,,,

bamabaja · Mar 29, 2019

Thanks Gents. Y’all just saved me a lot of grief. I was starting door process while tub on old frame rotisserie. Please feel free to post or suggest other pics or sources. Thanks.

trailerjack · Mar 29, 2019

I can’t see that chart that is attached on my phone but i am in the same bot and can use all the help I can get.

Howard2x4x4 · Mar 30, 2019

I'm glad there is some interest in this. I'll do my best to document and share whutsup. Expurts, don't be shy, even just "warmer, colder" can help. I have two primary concerns at this point. First, I replaced a few floor and front inner fender pieces while the body was on my home-made rotisserie without bracing the body. Two, my front fenders are re-pops and I've read here that often they need to be cut apart and re-aligned in order to fit properly. I am going to start today by undoing my earlier efforts that seemed to require about 1/2" shimming at two positions. When I get to shop, first step will be to level the frame and move on from there...…….

P.S. I have been and will be using the search feature here in order to be as DIY as I can be.

sykanr0ng · Mar 30, 2019

Howard2x4x4 said:
I have been and will be using the search feature here in order to be as DIY as I can be.

Forum search features are rarely very good.
To get better results use a real search engine and add site:classicbroncos.com to your search terms.

DirtDonk · Mar 30, 2019

I guess a rule of thumb Howard would be that if it's all original and you have to use more than 1/4" of shims under any mount, something got tweaked.
I think the most I've ever seen from the factory in either an EB or a seventies pickup was about 1/8" of shims.

With so many new body panels having been welded in however, there is no hard and fast rule that I can think of. Too many variables now.
If you can get the doors to align with the rear tub, and fenders to align with the doors, the windshield frame straight to the window frames, and the hard top (if used) mounted up square to all that, I see no reason there should be a limit on how much shimming needs to be done.
Yes, it could get ugly if you need the equivalent of a whole new body cushion added to your existing one, to gain another 3/4" of space under any mounts, but I've seen it done and it has worked.
Sometimes you just need what you need. Would be nice if everything was perfect and played nice together, but it ain't always so.

Of course, if you're in a position to pull some things apart and start over, more power to ya!
But not everyone has that opportunity or ability.

Good luck!

Paul

Howard2x4x4 · Mar 30, 2019

Thanks Paul, that's exactly the type of helpful information I was hoping for. I have been re-thinking this a bit since yesterday when I began. The doors (but not the fenders) fit quite well yesterday with the three forward most mount positions not shimmed and an estimated 1/2" of shims at the rear mount positions. I think tomorrow I'll try reducing the rear shims to about 1/4" and at the second from front position add about 3/16" and see how close that comes. From the finagling so far, that may help with the fenders also. Fingers crossed....

trailerjack · Mar 30, 2019

See, I am in different problem. Fenders line up great, but Passenger door scrapes the rocker every time I close the door and comes nowhere near to lining up.

bronkenn · Mar 31, 2019

I use one of these between the body mount and frame and raise it until fit looks decent and then measure how thick of a shim is needed. I put a metal plate between the clam shell and body so it won't bend. Ken

Howard2x4x4 · Mar 31, 2019

Good idea, Ken, thanks!

jmhend · Mar 31, 2019

Howard2x4x4 said:
Is there a ball park rule of thumb to use when shimming a body for door gaps etc that should cause a red light to go on? Anonymous in beautiful west Michigan

Howard, have you measured the openings? Compare the measurements from side to side as well. One side could be off more than the other side. I have a similar issue but I am afraid mine is to far off to ever get doors back on.

This may also help if you don't already have it.

https://classicbroncos.com/forums/attachment.php?attachmentid=239964&d=1327098228

Jason

Howard2x4x4 · Mar 31, 2019

No, I don't Jason. Thanks! I'll print that up and take to the barn tomorrow or after todays NCAA regional finals, whichever comes first. Thanks again, that's gonna help!

Howard2x4x4 · Apr 1, 2019

What a difference a day makes! Sometimes you learn by doing, I seem to learn by doing and then re-doing, maybe more than once. At any rate, today was MUCH better. Undid what I had done, leveled the frame, and started with just a washer and a biscuit at each mounting point. Ende up adding only one washer at the passenger foot well. I am satisfied, no, happy with the results. Still have the front fenders to finagle, but I'll get there sooner or later, most likely later.

bronkenn · Apr 2, 2019

And the best part with all this pre-paint fitting is when it's all painted they will fit differently. Just went through all this with mine, thinking I would just slap the parts on after paint and perfect fit. Not so much but did get the fits decent. Who would think paint thickness would factor in that much? Ken

Howard2x4x4 · Apr 2, 2019

Yeah, I'll take decent. I'm thinkin' get her close enough and keep the ball rollin', but now I'm kind of stymied. Appears like both fenders need to be cut at the top and tapered down and re-welded to fit properly, and I'm not very crazy about doing that with my mediocre welding ability. Exspurts, what think you? Tackle it myself? Hire it done? Go to Plan B or C or....? Btw, the horizontal beltline is nice and straight.

trailerjack · Apr 3, 2019

OK so quick question.....

I looked at the diagram yesterday and started over, and was making progress I thought, but everytime I moved to a different pivot point things still were not changing.

Is it possible to use bottle jacks on each of the body mount points to adjust them all a little at a time to get this to door to keep from scraping the rocker? If so I am about to buy 4 bottle jacks on Amazon.

Thanks in advance!

Howard2x4x4 · Apr 3, 2019

Jack, I am a loooong way from an exspurt on anything, but that's never stopped me before, or even slowed me down much. I used a floor jack with a short length of 4x4 at each mounting point, one at a time, with no additional shimming other than one biscuit and one washer at each spot, then adjusted from there.

jmhend · May 6, 2019

Howard, glad things are moving forward for you.

Body shimming

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