Deck lid help

[craigfree]

I'm having a lot of churn with the deck lid. The problem I'm having is the deck lid seems too wide at the front to sit in the channel created by the side sail. If I flex it to make the front fit, then the rear is too narrow. Does anyone have any advice?

In this image, the deck lid is approximately square to the chassis and body-overhanging evenly on both sides.
Thanks

[Canadian818]

No picture showing.

[Hindsight]

You have to set the width of the side sails based on the engine cover. So with the engine cover in place, attach the side sails to the body which may require you to stretch them outward a bit or push them inward a bit. The bumper sets the side-sail rear width, so you don't have any room for adjustment there, but elsewhere you do.

[craigfree]

So the side sail isn't supposed to sit flush against the frame? What do you do with the door trim aluminum channels?

[flynntuna]

Some people have found that using the fender brace from zero decibel motorsports http://zerodecibelmotorsports.com/pr...-fender-brace/ to be helpful in fitting the fenders.

[Hindsight]

The side sail sits flush against the frame where it is vertical (where that aluminum channel goes), but behind that (from striker area and back), you can manipulate the body in and out as needed. If you stored the body in a way that caused it to bend a bit, that could be causing it. You may have to make a "spreader" that will spread the side sails open a bit, enough to allow the deck lid to fit. Maybe put a halogen lamp on it a few feat away to get it warm for a day or two, or have it in the sun for a day or two, etc, until the fiberglass learns the new position. Also, you can use the door striker to push out the side sail in that spot.

[craigfree]

Thanks, so the recommendation is to bow the deck lid to fit at the front and pull the side sails together with a turn buckle to fit the rear?

The rear fits so nicely unstressed, my train of thought is going the other way and make the front side sails widen or the deck lid skinnier (without bowing somehow).

Thanks everyone

[Aero STI]

That doesn't look terrible, but widening the side sails up front is not going to account for all of that misalignment. You're going to need to flex the cover a little to get it in to place.

[Hindsight]

You're going to need to flex the cover a little to get it in to place.

Yeah taking a closer look at the pic, it looks like maybe you stored your deck lid flat perhaps? It looks to be sagging a bit. If you look at my build thread, you'll see that I used some balsa and fiberglass to form an arch in the deck lid, which I believe it is supposed to have. Giving it an arch in the back will also transfer to the front and help the front of that cover narrow and sit inside the side sails. To test that, tape the rear sides of the engine cover to the side sails, then use some wood pieces or something to shim the back of the engine cover up until there is a nice bow in it. See if that causes the front to drop down in.