818C Body Fitment advice or tips

[Mark Eaton]

I'm getting ready to start messing with body fitment, 818C, and welcome any advice. Possibly the most important relationship is the doors to top and sides? At least in build threads I have read people talk about how difficult the door fitment is. I am planning to use fasteners for easy removal and adjustment, probably rivnuts.

Thanks,

Mark

[Dave 53]

My advice... Assume the part fits as designed be it a door, panel, wherever. If it isn't fitting, be very hesitant to start trimming something or cussing out FFR for making a ****ty kit and assume there is a possibility that you just need to fiddle with it a bit longer.

Yes, the doors. The instructions in the build book to hang the door is basically one page. It took me 3 days of trying and retrying and extreme discipline to not start trimming and grinding away "FFR's mistakes". In the end, everything fit as FFR intended except... I did cut a V in the door and pulled the top of the V together to eliminate scrapping when opening / closing the door.door V cut.jpg

[Ajzride]

Buy several cheap decks of playing cards to use a temporary shims. That way you can set a perfect gap all the way around a body panel (example the door may like 7 cards or 15 cards stacked together, with 5-10 stacks all the way around) and it will stay in place while you bolt things down.

[rjp]

Buy several cheap decks of playing cards to use a temporary shims. That way you can set a perfect gap all the way around a body panel (example the door may like 7 cards or 15 cards stacked together, with 5-10 stacks all the way around) and it will stay in place while you bolt things down.

My cheat for this is to work for a company that wants you to have business cards, and also wants to change their name and/or merge a few times over the years. I have so many old business cards.

[lance corsi]

Make sure that the roof b-pillar lines up with the door opening in the side sail.

[aquillen]

I was using popsicle sticks to shim the doors and son-of-a-gun I sank one into a soft spot in the gel-coat just about the width of a stick along the sail's transition from outside surface to between the door. It had been missed during paint prep a couple months earlier: Ooops - a paint spot to fix, etc. Stack of cards much better idea from now on.