Body shims

[Kelly Burnside]

I am starting this thread to get everyones opinion. The guy who is restoring my car is going to pull the body off the car. I asked him to keep the shims so that he can replace them (with new one) and i can mark the frame with the number of shims for each mounting location. He looked at me like I was crazy! He stated that he never used the number of shims that are pulled off the car and that he usually shims the car to where the fit and finish of the car is correct.
Now before everyone panics and think this guy is crazy, he has been restoring corvettes since the 60's. He has done body off restoration on corvette from solid axles to the 80's corvettes. Right now he has a 1957 he is doing and a 1967 coupe using a 1963 frame. (He pointed out the the frame was not correct for the bolt hole were smaller (?) and that the frame needed re-aligned as it was bent pretty bad. Both un-noticed by the current owner!)This guy is very, very good and I have no doubt of his quality of work that goes into restoring corvettes.
The reason why he shims the car the way he does, he feels that the body has settled to some extent and needs to be re-aligned. On the 57 he was doing, some of the fiber glass mountings on the body were cracked or broken off. He repaired the fiberglass and re-shimed the car. And of course, it was perfect.
So what is the consensus of re-shiming the car without using the original shims numbers.

[Mike M.]

Re: Body shims

The # of Original shims present at each body mount point is a STARTING point and once the body and frame are reunited, the # of shims pre and post restoration may or may not be the same #. Sounds like your restorer knows his buisness. Just be certain that the crayon slashes at body mount X corresponds with the # of shims actrually used at position X, ie if there were originally 2 slashes and two shims at X and after reuniting there is a need for 4 shims for panel/door alignment, then put 4 slashes at X. What part of country Restorer call home? mike

[Roy B.]

Re: Body shims

I see no problem if he really knows what he's doing. If your having him do your vett you must really trust him, so then trust him

[Kelly Burnside]

Re: Body shims

He is in Lancaster, Ohio. Not too many people know about him but he has stated over and over he has too much work!! The 67 he is doing is from a guy from Tennesee I believe. He gets cars from all over the country. He used to work in California doing vettes and I guess he has done customs as well. Funny thing is, he doesn't care for corvettes. He has been working on them for so long that it is just a job for him and he will state that. But he is very good. Does all the paint and foberglass, does the frames etc. He doesn't do the motors anymore. Not sure why!!!

[John M.]

Re: Body shims

I would agree with his basic concept. I shim the body to fit and have proper gaps, not necessarily to the original shims. Like Mike said, the original shims are nothing but a good starting point. A car will often take an entirely different shim arrangement then what came from the factory.

Regards, John McGraw

[Eric Eade]

Re: Body shims

I would tend to agree as well, I have all my original shims marked and tagged, but to be perfectly honest, there's not enough left of the 40+ year old shims to get a good count. The body is most likely rigid enough that it won't flex as much as it did when new. Eric

[Tom D.]

Re: Body shims - How to select qty.?

Good discussion! I am wondering what is advised for selection of the right quantity, when adjusting the body. In the rear, I would imagine door gaps have a lot to do with this process. What about side to side and other such measurements?

Thanks in advance. /td

http://www.michiganNCRS.org

[Roy B.]

Re: Body shims - How to select qty.?

You first set the front door gap top and bottom to where you are satisfied and then adjust the shims at each rear fenders. One side can have more shims then the other to close the gap at the rear area of the door.But it' a mixture of shiming the front , Radi. shims and rear to close the back door gap.

[Tom D.]

Thanks! *NM* *NM*