Advice on positioning front wings......

[emu]

I want to try and get the wings and front panel lined up on my escort tomorrow so that it kind of looks like a car again.

 

I have fitted the doors and am happy with the gaps on them. I have also fitted the bonnet and have got a sensible size gap along the back, where it runs along side the scuttle panel.

 

I chucked the new wing up on the wing rail earlier just to see how it looked and can see two immediate problems that I dont know how to solve.....

 

If I get the wing so that the A-post mounting panels are together then the gap between the rear of the wing and the door seems huge. I dont see that I can bring the door forwards because ill end up with massive doorgaps instead.

 

Bend the panel and move the wing back I hear you cry

 

I thought of that , but the front edge already sits about right with the leading edge of the bonnet. I cant move the bonnet back because it only just misses touching the scuttle panel when you open it as it is.

 

I dont expect the new wings just to fall into place, but I dont see how to sort it????

Has anyone got any suggestions or advice please?

 

 

Thank you

[antz]

emu thats EXACTLY how my gaps look...the person who fited of them must of done the same thing

 

Id like to know how to do this too

[over_head_cam]

Looks like there are 3 things you can do Rich:

 

1 make the bonnet shorter

2 make the wing (or door) longer

3 fiddle-arse around with it and get it as close as poss

 

Without being there to see it I'd say option 3 is the easiest

[escort greg]

I had a similar problem but i was lucky and bent the front panel headlight surrounds enough to get the gap right between the door and wing.....

 

need to see an overall picture really....

[escort greg]

Can you elongate the bonnet bolt holes to slide further in

[over_head_cam]

Can you elongate the bonnet bolt holes to slide further in

 

 

..... I cant move the bonnet back because it only just misses touching the scuttle panel when you open it

[escort greg]

Can you elongate the bonnet bolt holes to slide further in

 

 

..... I cant move the bonnet back because it only just misses touching the scuttle panel when you open it

 

I will read it properly next time

[over_head_cam]

Can you elongate the bonnet bolt holes to slide further in

 

 

..... I cant move the bonnet back because it only just misses touching the scuttle panel when you open it

 

I will read it properly next time

 

 

If you were a bit closer Richard, I'd pop ove and have a look mate. Can't you move to Surrey?

[emu]

Looks like there are 3 things you can do Rich:

 

1 make the bonnet shorter

2 make the wing (or door) longer

3 fiddle-arse around with it and get it as close as poss

 

Without being there to see it I'd say option 3 is the easiest

 

Thats what I thought too, but I was hoping I might be missing something obvious.

 

I guess if I bring each door forwards a smidgy tiny little bit it would help without giving me huge gaps elsewhere

 

Escort greg....I cant really move the bonnet much. It cant go any closer to the scuttle without catching when it opens, and moving it away from the scuttle would just make things worse (I think)

[over_head_cam]

The normal gaps are quite poo anyway so a bit of fettling should do it

[emu]

 

If you were a bit closer Richard, I'd pop ove and have a look mate. Can't you move to Surrey?

 

Thanks for the offer Ill try shimmying the doors along a touch and see if I can get a result

 

If not then ill stick some draft excluder strip along the door edge, you'll never be able to tell. HONEST!!

[over_head_cam]

....If not then ill stick some draft excluder strip along the door edge, you'll never be able to tell. HONEST!!

 

 

Use the nice nail-on one

[emu]

The normal gaps are quite poo anyway so a bit of fettling should do it

 

Months and months I drove that car around with the panel gaps all over the place and didnt care less. Now you'd think my life depended on it.

 

Part of my problem is I cant imagine what sort of gap im aiming for on the doors and wings So ive just gone for something that I thought looks sensible.

 

I shall have a fiddle in the morning

[over_head_cam]

...I shall have a fiddle in the morning

 

 

 

and adjust the panel gaps Laughing

[Guest Guest]

The normal gaps are quite poo anyway so a bit of fettling should do it

Just out of curiosity mate, wot do you do for a living

[over_head_cam]

The normal gaps are quite poo anyway so a bit of fettling should do it

Just out of curiosity mate, wot do you do for a living

 

At the moment I'm a semi-professional catwalk model (for damart) and by night I'm a crime-fighting super hero by the name of Hair Of Steel

 

I also do a bit of piss-balling about with old fords

[Guest Guest]

The normal gaps are quite poo anyway so a bit of fettling should do it

Just out of curiosity mate, wot do you do for a living

 

At the moment I'm a semi-professional catwalk model (for damart) and by night I'm a crime-fighting super hero by the name of Hair Of Steel

 

I also do a bit of piss-balling about with old fords

Thought so

[over_head_cam]

I was lying about the model bit

 

I do a bit of Chippie work and fit a few windows

[petrolhead]

with 4 doors you need to work from the rear doors forward!

 

I had the same problem, I worked out what the average gap should be for all the door/wing gaps and then adjusted the rear doors for a 6mm gap with the C-Pillar. Then moved forward and adjusted the front doors then the wings.

 

It took me ages and you definitely need a friend to help. As mentioned before, standard panel gaps are pretty poor. I think Ford specified 4-8mm!!

[emu]

I worked from back to front

 

I dont think my door gaps are that big at the moment, I think that must be where my problem lies.

 

I think the wing is right and the doors are wrong (based on where it sits in relation to the bonnet. So im going to try moving the doors. Like you suggest, ill work out the average gap size and try to aim for that

[petrolhead]

even if you manage to 'grab' 1.5mm from the first C and B pilllar gaps it makes a massive visual (3mm) difference by the time you get to the A-pillar.

 

good luck!

[mk2 stu]

My advice for what its worth- whenver aligning panels always start at a fixed point, in this case the rear qtrs. get the gap equal to the door and then follow on to the next door gap, then when aligning the wing get your door gap right, lower the bonnet carefully and check for an equal gap along the length of the wing. do the same on the other dide of the car, its a long process but well worth getting it right before welding on wings.

 

Other option is to slot the wings and run bolts throught to drip rail, allowing movement and adjustment.

 

Or jus get a pro to do it for ya!

[emu]

Thanks for the advice people

 

I had a bit of a measure up and worked out that in total I had 18mm to share out. With the aid of a 6mm drill bit and a 'willing' volunteer I eventually got them how im happy with them.

 

Part of the problem with judging the size of the gaps I found stemmed from having different colour panels next to each other, so a quick coating of primer down each edge helped a lot too

 

Managed to plod my way through positioning the rest of the front end too, so im kind of getting the hang of it now

[over_head_cam]

Looks top draw in the resto thread m8

[emu]

Why thank you

 

Amy was starting to get wound up with it I think, she suggested the best thing to do was drive up and fetch you!!! It certainly would have been quicker