Charles's '33 build Page

[68GT500MAN]

Congratulations on the delivery and the start of your dream build. I live South of you in Fresno so I may have to drive on up and see your build in progress.
Doug

[crspdsk8]

Congratulations on the delivery and the start of your dream build. I live South of you in Fresno so I may have to drive on up and see your build in progress.
Doug

Thanks Doug! Yeah if your ever up this way or passing through town, let me know and swing on by!

[crspdsk8]

I got the main body mounted finally and had to compromise some. These bodies are not built very symmetrical at all. When I leveled the rear of the body, then the gaps from the top of the tires to wheel wells were off from each side. Even though you can't see both sides at he same time, I still wanted it to look as close to even as possible. I split the difference and just went with it. To the eye, you can't really tell it's off any and happy with that.

That is about as far as I got before feeling a little unsure of my ability to trim the doors and panels. The trunk lid seems pretty straight forward and looks like it only needs minor trimming which I plan on sanding until it's close.
The hood is the same way. It appears that I will only need to trim some on the front end of it to fit the shape of the radiator.
Before I do this, is their is recommended angle as to which the front grill is to be at? It is currently at about a 20 degree angle and not sure if it needs to be tilted more to keep the bottom of it higher off the ground? I don't want to trim it only to find out the grill is at he wrong angle and then to find out I took to much off.
The only panel that seems to not even being close is the front bottom piece under the grill. At the currently angle of the grill, I will need trim about 2" off the front to get it even close to fitting.
I am hope if to work on these above panels to get me "feet wet" in doing body work before trying to to do the door or side panels. I am not looking forward to the doors!

Is their an order as to which panels to fit first? For example, do I fit the hood first then the front bottom of the grill and then the sides? I am hoping to get as much input as I can that hopefully will help me get some confidence that I can do the body work and still look OK when I am done. lol. I didn't really budget for outsourcing the body trimming and fit so hoping I can "get er done" on my own otherwise it might push me back some.

Thanks for any input!
Charles

[maczter]

Tried to post the guide as an attachment but it is too large. PM me your email address and I can send you a copy.