need body alignment help.

[oldguy]

Need a little advice. I'm building my 53 coupe from misc parts. 53 tub, 62 frame, 54 front fenders and hood , etc.
Checked the frame before I started. Straight and square, no rust. PO had replaced the floor pans, so i checked the tub, seemed to be straight and square. Rolling chassis is done, so I started mounting the body this weekend. Mounting holes were OK, but the hood doesn't line up with the cowl. Front fenders are closer to the wheel on one side.
I may be able to get it right, but the front of the tub will have to be angled a bit to one side of the frame, while the radiator support will have to be pushed to the opposite side at the front. I was expecting it to line up if I centered everything.
Is this normal, or have I missed something?
Any advice is appreciated.

[Alan]

The last 53K I took apart had a 3/4" shim on the right front fire wall bracket and the drivers side had a 1 3/4" shim.

[63t-cab]

When you say one front wheel is closer to the fender on one side"you mean front to back?" could the car have taken a hit at one time,and maybe the cowl is pushed back on one side ?

Need a little advice. I'm building my 53 coupe from misc parts. 53 tub, 62 frame, 54 front fenders and hood , etc.
Checked the frame before I started. Straight and square, no rust. PO had replaced the floor pans, so i checked the tub, seemed to be straight and square. Rolling chassis is done, so I started mounting the body this weekend. Mounting holes were OK, but the hood doesn't line up with the cowl. Front fenders are closer to the wheel on one side.
I may be able to get it right, but the front of the tub will have to be angled a bit to one side of the frame, while the radiator support will have to be pushed to the opposite side at the front. I was expecting it to line up if I centered everything.
Is this normal, or have I missed something?
Any advice is appreciated.

[Studeman]

http://www.raylinrestoration.com/TechnicalPages/BodyAlign.htm

[Jeff_H]

Some issues there would not suprise me.

My '53 had never been apart or in a severe accident as far as I could tell. Had a door caved in and some damage to the front bumper but neither so bad I would expect the body or frame to be bent. I noticed the rear bumper was not fitting well on one side but attibuted it to the modest dent in the fender near it....

I replaced the floors and did a lot of frame rot repairs before separating the body from the frame. Much later when I went to put the bumpers on I assembled them per my sketches with all the washers and shims as noted. The rear bumper stuck out too far on the left and the front too far on the right. I had to come up with my own shimming to get them to fit to the body. My conclusion was the body was sitting rotated on the frame from the day it was built. It was off about 1/2" on each end in different directions. My only other option other than shimming the bumper mounts would be to pull the body back off the frame and slot all the holes and try to refit that. The replaced floors and body mounts were not slotted and I fitted them in place before body/frame were separated to it went back in the same position is was when built. The original foor and body mounts were slotted.

It doesn't seem like Studebaker used any sort of fixture or the like to get the frame to square with the body and just did it by eye or not at all and let the parts "drift" to whatever limits the slots allowed when they put the bolts in.

My car is also built up from many parts from other cars and I have struggled several times with the driver door and front fender fitment. The driver side fender has much thicker rubber shims to the A post compared to the passenger side to get the gaps even and matched left to right and front and back. I had to make my own from thin rubber sheet for the passenger side and double up the standard one for the driver side.

[oldguy]

Sorry 63Tcab, I wasn't clear. Wheels are centered in the opening, but the "recess" from fender lip to edge of tire is different. Moving the front end to the right, to line up the hood with the cowl, will also fix this, Just seems strange that the radiator support will be up against one frame horn and an inch away from the other.
Alan, Hadn't occurred to me that those front firewall/frame mounts might need different shim thicknesses.
Studeman, very helpful link.
Thanks guys. It looks like variable shims and tweaking are all normal requirements. I see a lot of trial and error in my future. lol.

[kurtruk]

Rear of hood aligned to the cowl must be the first and base adjustment on front-end sheetmetal. Adjust everything else to that.

[JGK 940]

Welcome to Studebakerdom and the Curse of the '53 C/K Bodies. Your car wears the second all-new body and rides on the first (relatively) all-new frame Studebaker produced after the war and the cumulative effect of a series of individually minor miscalculations and engineering mistakes made mating the two a nightmare at the time, delaying the cars' introduction (they were originally planned to be the 1952 Centennial model IIRC; Dick Quinn or Andy Beckman will correct me on this if necessary) so long some people look at the Loewy Coupes as being both the most beautiful production cars ever to come out of any American factory and the beginning of the inexorable end of the oldest American vehicle manufacturing concern because some three-quarters of the product line had essentially to be hand-fitted together. A little reading of history goes a long way... but, in the meantime, your signature line says it all. Of course it will fit: you have a torch. It's 2010 and we're Studenuts. We all have torches, and cars which are quite literally unique.

[Welcome]

Rear of hood aligned to the cowl must be the first and base adjustment on front-end sheetmetal. Adjust everything else to that.

REPEAT: Rear of hood aligned to the cowl must be the first and base adjustment on front-end sheetmetal. Adjust everything else to that.

[warrlaw1]

I used the advice of aligning the rear of the hood first, then all else. Too bad my hood had been chopped out of square and my good ol' boy ruined two nice fenders before he checked the hood for square. Check the hood for square, first, then line it up at the cowl

[Warren Webb]

How did you measure the frame? I always measure the front section from the cowl forward first then the mid section, then the rear and make a final measurement the full length. Cross measure & make sure you are using holes that are in the same position on both sides. Also make sure there isnt anything on one side (muffler as an example) that would throw your measurement off. Studebaker frames arent known for being strong as the thought was at the time for the frames to flex a bit to give a smoother ride. The final measurement is datum, but that is one that should be done on a dedicated frame machine with a perfectly flat platform. A set of centerline guages (preferably 4) could show any twist.

[twoprimo]

Awesome info Ray! Will save many of us some added grey hairs!

[ralt12]

Make sure the cowl gasket is in place before you adjust the hood.

[candbstudebakers]

Remember if all the joints fit real good and close you will lose points in judging because they did not come that way from the factory.

[Welcome]

Remember if all the joints fit real good and close you will lose points in judging because they did not come that way from the factory.

Didn't see any of those "smilely" type things in your (above) statement

I recall a judging point deduction for a basecoat/clearcoat paint finish, but are you kidding about also loosing points for too good of sheet metal fit-up