sidepipe/ body fitting issues.

[Usudno]

I have the body mounted on my MK4 roadster. Everything seems fine up until I tried to mount my side pipes. I followed the instructions off of a handful of body work threads and dropped the body on the frame. Got the front mounted up with the body mounts and quick jack bolts. Then I proceeded to put the front elephant ears on. Tomorrow I plan on tackling the windshield when I have help. Today I decided to mount the side pipes to get them out of the way. Here are a few pictures of what I'm up against.


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As you can see the driver side went in, albeit very close to the front fender flair. I'm not sure about trimming the body here as there isn't much room before you get into the roll of the fender. It seems to be sitting a little low on this side as well.

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This is the passenger side. Its a good ways off. The sidepipes would hit both on the top of the cutout as well as the front side similar to the drivers side. I thought about loosening the motor mounts and try to rock the motor more towards the passenger side, kind of shimming it to tilt the motor more to the left and tilt that header down. It would even out my drivers side in the opening height wise and lower the passenger side. My issue is the front to back problem.

I looked at everything once again and saw that my 3/4' tubes for the engine compartment are a little off. The passenger side is about 1/2' under the lip of the engine compartment. The driver side is tucked right up against that lip. Here are a few picutres. I didn't pay much mind to this when setting the body up for the first time mainly because I know there can be some variance in these tubes and their placement.

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Any ideas??? thanks for all of the help guys.

[RickP]

Your side pipe alignment looks a whole lot better than mine. I was advised to trim to fit which I haven't done yet. I have the same concern as you in that my drivers pipe (what I visualize in needing to be cut) will be close too if not into the front fender wheel lip. I'm anxious to see what other recommend you do,

[wallace18]

You do have to trim to fit. Also you can move the engine a little in the mounts to gain some room. On my MK4 I had to purchase some of the angled spacers from Breeze to make my pipes fit the body the same on both sides. On the last 427MK4 I built for a customer everything lined up fine but still had to trim the body some. All part of the build.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Where is the body in relation to the door latch striker tab? A picture speaks 1000 words.

Jeff

[Usudno]

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Driver side


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passenger side


Thanks for the help fellas

[GoDadGo]

Where is the body in relation to the door latch striker tab? A picture speaks 1000 words.

Jeff

Jeff,

What if the body is on straight, could the issue be that the engine and transmission are not?
If the engine were not sitting perfectly straight in the chassis, then wouldn't the pipes be tight on one side in the front of the opening and tight on the rear on the other side?

Steve

[Usudno]

Steve, they are both tight toward the front fender flair. I do believe if I can tilt the engine towards the ground on the passenger side I may be able to get my height issue resolved. Probably a 1/4' of movement in the motor mounts will get me with both headers centered (top to bottom) in the existing openings. My concern is more the front to back issue. Cutting the body more towards that front flair might become an issue. I'm also not sure how much clearance I will need from the actual body. Drivers side has 0 clearance as of now.

[RickP]

You can rock your motor side to side easily enough but before doing that I would measure from the ground up to the bottom of your headers. If they equal both sides your motor is sitting level. Your front to back issue is more involved and your not going to get much movement anyway.

I'm facing the same issue. My engine is level, and my body is as far forward as possible. My choice is to cut which you have to do anyway. What the best method for cutting is I don't know.

My passenger side will just barely bolt up with no modification but the drivers side is way forward. One side is a little trimming but the other is a lot of trimming.

[edwardb]

Probably a 1/4' of movement in the motor mounts will get me with both headers centered (top to bottom) in the existing openings. My concern is more the front to back issue. Cutting the body more towards that front flair might become an issue. I'm also not sure how much clearance I will need from the actual body. Drivers side has 0 clearance as of now.

Assume you mean inches and not feet but I doubt you even need to move it 1/4 inch. That much movement at the motor mount will move it a lot at the end of the headers. But very common to have to tip the engine one way or the other to get the best fit. Front to back I'd be looking at the overall body placement as already mentioned. Also as mentioned you can get wedges and spacers from Mark at Breeze to move the sidepipes out plus get them parallel to the body sides. I've had to use a combination of spacers and wedges on each of my builds. Also, when you put in the front splash guards (elephant ears) did they push the body out or pull it in? I've had to tweak those to get that front corner pulled in a bit and not pushed out, which in this case would be working against you. Something to look at.

[Jeff Kleiner]

Usudno,
What I was looking for was forward and back which isn't obvious in your pics. You want the underside lip of the door opening flange to be fully forward of the frame tab. I'm thinking that your body may need to move forward which usually requires trimming back the underside roll of the cowl at the front of the cockpit (as well as the rear of the trunk aluminum which I think you've already done).

Jeff

[Usudno]

Have almost 1/2" at the cowl near the dash. The trunk area was trimmed in two spots but not much.. I will check clearance there

[edwardb]

Have almost 1/2" at the cowl near the dash. The trunk area was trimmed in two spots but not much.. I will check clearance there

Yea, that seems like a lot. I've seen it more like 1/8 - 1/4". Look at other body placement indications like the door striker as Jeff mentioned, wheel/tire centering in the openings. You may need to get the body forward some.

[Usudno]

Is there any particular way to coax the body forward?? I need about 1/2-3/4. I'm not sure how much clearance the pipes need but 3/4" forward would leave me around 1/4"-3/8" on the passenger side and a bit more on the drivers.

[Jeff Kleiner]

I was on my phone and didn't have access to my photos when I replied in post #10---hopefully this will help:



When the body is in the right place the flange around the door openings will be fully ahead of the striker tab on the chassis. I can now see your photos more clearly and it doesn't look like you are far enough forward. If you aren't there you'll have problems all the way through.

Good luck,
Jeff

[Norm B]

Is your transmission shifter centered in the hole in the tunnel. Mine was toward the drivers side and required some coaxing over to passenger side before I tightened all the bolts. This bought me a little more room on the front side of the drivers side pipe.

HTH
Norm

[Usudno]

Jeff I see what you are referring to now. If the body goes forward any more.. said flange will have a larger gap between it and the striker area... my flange doesn't look as close to the striker tab as yours. I also don't have the bottom of the body attached yet. Hope this makes since. Anyone willing to FaceTime me please drop me a Pm. My father and I will be getting the lights and bezels and all sorted out today. Thanks again for the help.