Adjusting Panels Overview

What is being paid attention to during the stages of adjusting all the body panels?  

  • Panel flushness
  • Consistent gaps.
  • Where panel edges are
  • Figuring out where the peak of the crown is in all the panels
  • Lining up body lines
  • Clearance for panels to open
  • Making all of this work together

The stage of adjusting body panels prior to body work is more than just adjusting them and moving on.  This stage of the process is often tedious and requires some patience and the willingness to not cut corners.

The first and most obvious step is to just adjust the panels as close as you can.  Rarely is this close enough.  The list above is all the things that have to be made right, and they mostly have to be done in unison.  

Using the alunimun C-channel or flat stock is required during this process.  With it spanned across multiple panels, it will reveal the crown of the panels, any highs, lows, and reveal where the panel edges are in relation to it all.  

This adjusting stage will likely require some shrinking, moving the panel edges around, and pulling/hammering low areas out. 

All of this adjusting should be done with the weatherstrip in place.  Often times, it's an uphill battle making it fit.  But, it is reality, and removing it will only temporarily make things fit better.  So, leave it installed, and do the hard work of figuring out how to make it work.

The following steps and posts are mostly interchangeable.