Help!!! Body on chassis problem!

[wallace18]

I went to put the body on the chassis today with the help of 2 friends. I have done everything in the manual up to the body part. In the back the rear hits the fuel tank and will not allow the back to go all the way on. On the rear trunk aluminum I put some weather strip on the top. Was this a mistake? Should I cut the rectangle area on the bottom around the tank so it fits? I do not see how to do it otherwise. also the flaps from the side rear aluminum do I tuck them in or worry about them after the body is on? Any hints from anyone who has done this would be so much appreciated. Thanks. TW.

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[michael everson]

You need to cut out the back a bit to clear the stock tank. No weather stripping on the aluminum. The side and back aluminum should be under the body. In other words the rear window flange is over the panels.
Mike

[wallace18]

Thanks Mike. I will give it a try.

[wallace18]

Thanks again Mike! I cut the rectangle some and finally got the body on. Looks good ! Very tight fit though. I will be sweating bullets after paint putting it back on. LOL.

[Timb]

Thanks again Mike! I cut the rectangle some and finally got the body on. Looks good ! Very tight fit though. I will be sweating bullets after paint putting it back on. LOL.

Precisely the reason I decided to paint body on and spend a little more time on prep

[wallace18]

Well I bolted up the back of the car to the flat plates where the tail lights go as per the manual. Now I have a substantial gap at the windshield bracket. Should I move every thing so the windshield lines up with it's bracket and then shim the rear? To say this body has fitment issues is like saying politicians have credibility issues. LOL. The headers do not come close to lining up with the body cutouts. Looks like fun up ahead for me. I now understand the straight jacket. LOL.

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[loeffler1]

My body was the old black body which was a lot worse than your red body. However, just make a spacer for the windshield. mine was made out of a 1" piece of square tubing. In past threads everybody complained about fit but all shimmed here and there and it all came out ok. I also had to shim the taillight plates with a piece of 1/4" aluminum plate. Also had to shim the rear down bars at the sides with 1/8" x 3/4" flat aluminum bar. Cant see a thing now. Works fine and no rattles.

[CJBergquist]

My body had a gape of about 1" between the body and the mount. I made a spacer out of plastic.

[wallace18]

Thanks guys. Spacer I will make.

[Timb]

They must all fit a little different. I chose to bring the body back further which lined the windshield bracket up and used spacers in the rear. This also allowed me to use the door latch post as a mounting point rather than a large hole around it

[kiki231]

In the "my 2 cents" category, i had the same fuel tank issues, but my windshield was fairly close to the bracket. I ended up putting 3/8" spacers at the back where the rear lights run through. Also, my frame was lower by about 1" on the passenger side, causing the rear corner to droop id it rested directly on the farm and also causing a slight alignment issue on the rear hatch when closed. So i had to shim the rear upper corner where it sits on the hatch frame.
As far as the exhaust openings , mine had to cut much larger to get the pipes out and prevent heat burns.

[wallace18]

In the "my 2 cents" category, i had the same fuel tank issues, but my windshield was fairly close to the bracket. I ended up putting 3/8" spacers at the back where the rear lights run through. Also, my frame was lower by about 1" on the passenger side, causing the rear corner to droop id it rested directly on the farm and also causing a slight alignment issue on the rear hatch when closed. So i had to shim the rear upper corner where it sits on the hatch frame.
As far as the exhaust openings , mine had to cut much larger to get the pipes out and prevent heat burns.

All part of the fun of the Coupe, LOL.

[GThompson]

Sorry, gotta' throw my $0.02 in too...

I raised my tank about 1-1/2", no body fit problems, but had to modify the tube that used to be above the filler neck. Now I'm looking at building a panel to cover the fuel tank.