1963 Coupe Body Mount Shims

[Scott McKnight]

I am about to remove the body off the frame to my '63 coupe. There are reasons why I know, but the correct number of shims are not on the car and the paint marks are gone. How do I find out how many shims to add or not add when it comes time to reinstall the body? I know that the factory had the shims and marks installed long before the body was dropped on. How did they know how many to use? Anyone with information would be a great help to me. Thank you.
Scott

[Wayne W.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Body Mount Shims

Dont worry about it. Just set the body back on and shim till it suits you. There is no hard and fast rule anymore. Its been almost fourty years and probably lots of body damage, so all bets are off as to whether the number that was originally installed would work well anyway.

[John H.]

Re: 1963 Coupe Body Mount Shims

Scott -

St. Louis used a large shim determination fixture on the frame just prior to body drop; carefully record the shim packs at each location when you lift the body and duplicate it when you re-install the body (assuming you're satisfied with the existing body panel gaps).

[Mike McKown]

Re: 1963 Coupe Body Mount Shims

Scott:

If this were my project, I would set the chassis up with the engine and transmission in place and the chassis resting on blocks on it's four tires. Deck the body on the frame. Look at the body mounts just in front of and just to the rear of the doors. If there appears to be a gap at any of these four points, that would be the first place i would shim to eliminate the gap. If you are satisfied with the door fits, both high and low and margin to the Bpillar at the rear, then proceed to the other points. Shim gaps as required at the other body mount locations. Remember, the radiator support will tend to sag and close up a potential gap so if you can take hand pressure and bounce it off the frame, I would place the necessary shims there to prevent this. The main thing you are trying to accomplish by shimming is to eliminate any mounting point gaps or hard grounding between the body and frame. Not only can this generate squeaks and rattles it can also cause cracking and fracturing of body panels if severe mis-alignment exists. It can also cause your door fit to change between the sawhorse support and the frame. As added note. If you are looking at door fits and are inexperienced on what to look for, remove the latch striker from the b-pillar and fully push the door closed with your hand. Whatch' see is whatcha' got unless you use the striker to pull the door around and that's a huge no no!

L little common sense will go a long way.

Mike

[Mike McKown]

Re: 1963 Coupe Body Mount Shims

I've been rethinking my response. You need to start with some type of "nominal" shim pack at the four places I directed you to. Typically, on brand "X", body variation was allowed to be plus/minus 1.5 mils, so you would need a shim pack of 3 mils. So, start with this at the four points and adjust from there. If the world is perfect, your four body mounts will be supporting the body and there will be 3 mils air under the rest of them. This isn't going to happen.

Now. on the other brand, the plus/minus dimensions were 1.5 mil for body and frame, that was behind the front of the front of the side rail. When you get to the section that is the structure for the front suspension, the plus/minus tolerance goes to 6 mils. That means, your front end FIBERGLASS can be reefed a half inch. And you can imagine what this will do for cracks and fractures on the front end. Plus changing door fits.