Front end alignment

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Hey guy,
Ive gotten to the point to where in ready to bolt up the front end, ive got the side pods bolted to the front fenders and the front bumper to the fenders, but all the lines on the front bumper are off. what have you guys done to get this to fit? more the headlights further back? trim the back of the fender on the inside corner so the hood will sit flat? you can see in these pics that the inside front corner of the fender doesn't line up with the front bumper. Also on an unrelated note, does this look like the right shift boot? it doesn't look like it matches the manual. Another side question, I didn't receive any of the 'c' shaped trip that is used in the manual, the same stuff they used to protect the seat belt pass through. Should i have gotten this?IMG_4289.jpgIMG_4290.jpgIMG_4288.jpgIMG_4287.jpg

[AZPete]

Sean, it has taken me many hours to get the front fenders, bumper, head lights and hood to play together. Keep in mind that in many places FFR made the panels too big so you can cut/shave/sand the edges for an exact fit. Cutting is easier than stretching. Most of the cutting I did with a dremel and I used either flat sandpaper or a 1.5" sanding drum for other edges. I was scared of cutting too much so I usually crept up slowly on my line and tried the fit over and over. Each body and each panel is different so crack a beer and read through build threads to get ideas of what might work for you. These are the ones I found useful for body fitting:
Honolulu - page 7 - 12
RM1SepEx - page 14 - 19
Metalmaker - page 12
VCP thread on mounting the doors

If you or anybody else can list other pages of build threads that show body fittings, please do it.

One other tip: When I clamped my side pods in place I measured the 5/8" on the frame to the front edge of the pod. Later, I discovered that the front of the side pods had an extra flat surface that had to be cut off. See the photo in the manual. This is just one example of how you should cut some edges for an exact fit.