Shim attachment for 1963 body to frame
I am just about ready to reassemble the body of a 1963 Coupe to a new frame but have a major dilema. My friend who owns the car and initially lifted the body from the frame, discarded all the original body mount shims. (who said Bubba does not also live in Canada?). My question for help is how do I go about putting the correct number of shims on the body mounts before attaching the body?? Any help is really appreciated. Thanks Doug.
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Re: Shim attachment for 1963 body to frame
Doug, When you say "new frame", do you mean a replacement frame, or a newly restored frame?
In my opinion if it's going on a "new" frame you guys are going to have to reinvent the shim placement anyway. I would suggest you get the body down onto the rubber mounts as close as possible then add shims in the areas that will get proper alignment all around. Lots of trial and error IMO. I cannot recall what the proper clearance measurements are as I'm not in front of my 63 AIM, but that should be an aid in getting the heights correct. Only problem is if engine and other heavy items are missing it won't be much help.
I would however suggest, whichever way you do it that you pay close attention to the front rad support mount area as you don't want too much weight up front hanging in the air. A ratchet strap tied to the rad support and then into a 2x4 into the firewall hole for the w/s wiper is what a friend does on his C2's when I assist with the body drops.
Another suggestion is keep the fuel tank straps somewhat loose as this always seems the be a tight fit area that gives difficulty. Plan on jiggling the tank around a bit to get it clear. Also don't forget the fuel fill area will need some wiggling too.
Rich -
Re: Shim attachment for 1963 body to frame
Doug,
I had the same problem and resolved it by getting some molding clay from the local hobby shop and making 10 each 2" X 2" X .375" thk witness shims from it. I then put a layer of wax paper on the top and bottom of the clay shims and taped them to the body mount locations. Following this, I lowered the body onto the frame and let it settle overnight.
The next day I lifted the body and collected the squashed shims and measured their resulting thicknesses. This gave me a very close starting point to begin adding the shims. I only had to fine tune the stack up at #3 mount location to get the door gaps perfect.
This is the same basic principle used in measuring bearing clearances with plastigage during an engine build-up.
Others will offer dofferent solutions, but this worked for me.
good luck,
tcComment
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Re: Shim attachment for 1963 body to frame
Richard,
No rubber mounts on a '63. Body shimmed directly to frame.Comment
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Re: Shim attachment for 1963 body to frame
The clay method sounds good?
Make sure when fitting the body, that the chassis is sitting on the tires/wheels!!
I tried to do my fitting while the frame was on jack stands, Big Mistake.....
SteveComment
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Re: Shim attachment for 1963 body to frame
Your all making this just too hard. Only thing to worry about is making the doors fit.
Use four shims on the cage at each point. Set it down and see if any of those are loose. If they are add a shim to that point until tight. Put the bolts in and snug it down.
Put the doors on and shim the rear mount until the doors fit nicely and then put the bolts in and snug down.
Put the radiator support in and make sure that you use enough shims to support the weight of the front end. Put the bolts in and snug down.
Walk away and let everything settle for a couple of days.
After you are happy with the work and the doors STILL shut nicely tighten the bolts down and have a Bud.
JRComment
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