Panel alignment

[biffom]

I'm pretty sensitive to body panel gaps (the bmw z8 crowd are in a bit of a tizzy over this one - they can surface as a symptom of a potential frame warping issue - my z8 is warp free).

The GT had misaligned panels around the hood and the panel aft of the clam shell on the rear quarters. So after having read the posts on this board I took the GT down to get the panels aligned. I talked to the dealer and illustrated the panel problems and he agreed that they needed fixing.

When I pulled into the shop there was another GT in the shop for a service and to my amazement the panels were identically misaligned.

I decided not to proceed with the panel alignment as I figured that it was engineered to be like this. I've also read somewhere that Ford developed a special panel fixing screw to ensure that all the panels were correctly aligned.

I've linked in a several photographs to illustrate the panels. I was wondering if they are all like this?

 

[abolfaz]

Don't get me started on the gaps on the clamshell. From certain angles it looks way off, so much so that a friend of mine with a body shop asked me if I wrecked the car!

Even worse bend down at the rear quarters of the car and look at the rocker panels behind the door, doesn't it look like you have a bunch of dents in the rocker?

 

[saber]

Don't get me started on the gaps on the clamshell. From certain angles it looks way off, so much so that a friend of mine with a body shop asked me if I wrecked the car!

Even worse bend down at the rear quarters of the car and look at the rocker panels behind the door, doesn't it look like you have a bunch of dents in the rocker?

There has been many posts on this and I think misaligned panels are common place but I don't think there is any consistency to them. I don't see any flaws in the rocker, paint or otherwise.

 

[dbk]

Damn, those are some gaps. :eek

I'd imagine it wouldn't be that hard for a competent dealer to realign them.

 

[SteveA]

On my drivers side door, the "Ford GT" sticker is 1/4 higher than where the sticker resumes behind the door. The door is off the same way but only about a fat 1/8th. I was thinking of having them both fixed but the paint is so nice in the jam/hinge/bolts area, I'm thinkink of leaving it. Wouldn't they have to scar up the bolts and leave a new paintless footprint as the hinge is moved?
The rocker is a bit warped on mine as well but the rest of the car is very straight.

 

[barondw]

On my drivers side door, the "Ford GT" sticker is 1/4 higher than where the sticker resumes behind the door. The door is off the same way but only about a fat 1/8th. I was thinking of having them both fixed but the paint is so nice in the jam/hinge/bolts area, I'm thinkink of leaving it. Wouldn't they have to scar up the bolts and leave a new paintless footprint as the hinge is moved?
The rocker is a bit warped on mine as well but the rest of the car is very straight.

Unfortuantely its not unusual for stripes and decals not to match on adjacent body panels. Sometimes its off as much as 3/4".

Dave

 

[StuM]

Ahhhh The Gaps

BIFFOM, Congrat's on the cars. I too have a Z8 and after all the recent talk I've looked at mine carefully. No gaps and the shock towers appear fine. Love that car!

I'm very close to picking up a new GT too. As I've surveyed about 8-9 local cars, I've seen all of the types of gaps and misalignments the gang talks about here. It's frustrating on a car of this character and price. Not much to show for the "pace car for a company".
Many, many gaps, especially on the clamshell. Most dealers simply say, "...that's the way they are and we'd hate to fiddle with the panel alignments here..."! Only one dealer had a fairly professional feel for it and his car was straight and he knew it.

I once agreed to buy a Pontiac, yeasr ago and upon delivery I noted the hood and driver door required alignment, in a big, big way. The salesman looked at them, considered the issue for moment and said, "it's an American car, what do you want". He was serious......I didn't take delivery!

I also found one (red/white stripe '05) with apparent overspray all over the area around the passenger side air inlet, just aft of the door. Nobody knew what that was all about. When I pointed it out, the dealer nearly fainted. He brought out his top paint, body and detail man to look it over. Yet, two weeks later, when I returned, they had done nothing about it!

Will that cause me not to buy? No! I'll just carefully look at my final choices and get comfortable with my selection.

 

[1418]

For those that are considering this fine car....

There are many that have fairly good builds. Take your time and look at 4-5 or more, you will begin to see the difference from one to another. It took me 4 months to finally find the one for me. Trust me I saw some that had horrendous gaps, overspray, and poorly fitted moldings. Heck there was a red one I saw that looked like it had a third stripe growing. I realize that many of us will have to buy our cars long distance. Try to either inspect personnaly, or have a trusted person look for you. ( I bought mine through e-bay- and had a friend go look at it) If you do not go yourself and are sending someone, your previous inspections will have revealed many of the common flaws and you can relate them to your "inspector". Futhermore, tell the dealer that you expect them to check for any abnormal gaps- tell them where you have seen them. Also, make sure all the tsbs are checked on the car. All this being said, remember - your eyes are the best ones.

Then .... Enjoy your ride.

 

[dbtgt]

Not that this is any excuse for poorly aligned panels which many GT's exhibit, but the gap at the rear quarter of the clamshell suffers from the optical issue of perspective of the compound curve in relation to a straight line. When viewed from the "straight-on" perspective from the side, the gap on my car is uniform. When I follow it around the entire seam, keeping my perspective straight on (so to speak) the gap remains constant. However, when viewed at the 3/4 perspective from the rear, the gap "appears" to be too large, which is actually somewhat of an optical illusion because of the compound curve and its relationship to the appearence that the gap has narrowed elsewhere on the "clamshell". I am sorry for the rambling, but try it out on your own cars. Start at the gap on the front of the clamshell at the driver's side and look at it directly on (at 90 degrees) and then walk the seam, holding the same perspective, all the way around to the other side. I think you will find that the actual seam is quite uniform (although on my car the passenger side gap gets slightly larger). This adjustment cannot be done in a manner that the seam looks uniform from all perspectives due to the nature of the compound curve involved. JMHO.

 

[abolfaz]

Not that this is any excuse for poorly aligned panels which many GT's exhibit, but the gap at the rear quarter of the clamshell suffers from the optical issue of perspective of the compound curve in relation to a straight line. When viewed from the "straight-on" perspective from the side, the gap on my car is uniform. When I follow it around the entire seam, keeping my perspective straight on (so to speak) the gap remains constant. However, when viewed at the 3/4 perspective from the rear, the gap "appears" to be too large, which is actually somewhat of an optical illusion because of the compound curve and its relationship to the appearence that the gap has narrowed elsewhere on the "clamshell". I am sorry for the rambling, but try it out on your own cars. Start at the gap on the front of the clamshell at the driver's side and look at it directly on (at 90 degrees) and then walk the seam, holding the same perspective, all the way around to the other side. I think you will find that the actual seam is quite uniform (although on my car the passenger side gap gets slightly larger). This adjustment cannot be done in a manner that the seam looks uniform from all perspectives due to the nature of the compound curve involved. JMHO.

I know that, but try to explain that to my over zealous body shop friend! Am I the only one that sees the problem in the rocker panels? My car has the dimples on both sides just as the rocker starts to flare out as you approach the rear wheels.

 

[Neilda]

My GT has very poor panel alignment - Roushe engineering here in the UK have adjusted where possible. The rear clamshell was way out (and DBTGT, I know exactly what you mean about the curve Vs straightline), I could put my thumb in one panel gap but not even my little finger on the other side in the same spot - this is the bit Roushe successfully adjusted. Interesting that the tolerances when the clamshell opens are minute, so it's a tough engineering angle I imagine.

As posted earlier, I can forgive much of this for a handbuilt car and having owned many handbuilt cars, there are always going to be some rough edges.

As I write this, I am looking across my office at a model of a red GT alongside a model of a GT40. Hell, I could forgive this car half an inch here or there -easily!

 

[biffom]

Oh well, I was going to leave the panels as they were, but the one that really really bugs me is the panel aft of the clamshell and especially the curve down to the rear wheel arch. It's the same deal as yours Neil - thumbs one end and next to nothing on the other. Having read that you've successfully readjusted that one I'm going to have them take a look at mine.

 

[LEMANSZ]

biffom..who you having look it at SM Ford? and BTW you joing us on sunday?

 

[Neilda]

Biff, mine was adjusted just fine and now no longer catches my eye as being odd looking. I was very kindly sent, by someone on this Forum, the official decklid flushness chart. That area - which is Area 3 - should be within .21 - .33 inches.

Because I've read of a few difficulties with dealers here and there, please double check, in the presence of your dealer, that the rear panel behind the clamshell (the panel with the tail lights in) is unscratched BEFORE they do the work.

The tolerence when the clamshell opens (i.e. the gap when opening) is really very small in this area - if they over did it, the clamshell would rub against this panel.

Sorry - don't mean to make you anxious about this adjustment, but I'm still wincing about the dealer who crashed one of our gangs cars..... Oh, and that's another thing - tell them they don't need to test drive the car after the adjustment!

 

[fjpikul]

Fit chart

Neilda, I'm taking my 05 red in Monday to have the clamshell adjusted. The right rear is just catching the tailpiece with a slight rub in the paint. Can I get a copy of the chart from you or wherever you recieved it from? Thanks in advance.

 

[Neilda]

....it's already in your mailbox!

Just as idle curiosity, mine's red one, August 05. Are we close in build dates?

Has the rubbing definitely damaged the paint? I only ask this because I thought my paintwork was damaged in this area, but on very close inspection it turned out to be some sort of (quite hard) pre-delivery type protection paint or wax that I was able to rub out....


N

 

[biffom]

Neil,

Can you also forward me a copy of the chart - it sounds like it might be quite useful. Many thanks,

Carl.

 

[biffom]

biffom..who you having look it at SM Ford? and BTW you joing us on sunday?

Santa Monica Ford - Nice bunch of guys.

Re: Sunday - I'm going to try - I've got an engagment on Saturday night and may be more than a touch delicate on Sunday morning. Be sure to let me know when your baby arrives!

 

[Neilda]

Biff, mail me your private email address and I'll send it out to you....

 

[LEMANSZ]

Biffom...it's on a truck currently past Albeq, NM. Hopefullyh he makes Barstow tonight and BH tomorrow at Noon...