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Front edges of doors sit further in than fenders


Taymar

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Sanded down the doors today to see what I'm working with, and found 1/8" of bondo covering large sections.

Visually the doors and fenders lined up ok before the fenders were removed, but now I realize if I were to fit new doors, they'd sit about 1/8" recessed from the fender.

I searched, and it sounds like shimming the doors wasn't really an option, as shimming them only really moves them inwards.

Is this correct, or am I missing something? What kind of gap should I be seeing where the top of the door sheet metal meets the A-pillar rain gutter at the firewall area?

I'm not sure quite how to proceed - I'm working on a ground up restoration and would prefer as little bondo in the car as possible.

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I just installed new BMW doors on my '76 2002 and ran into the same issue. The fenders have a more pronounced curvature than do the doors resulting in the same situation you describe. I'm not a body guy but it would appear there are only two choices. Either build up the contour of doors to match the fenders or "massage" the fenders to match the doors. I choose to just live with the mismatch.

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Hmm, I wonder if mine are replacement doors. I don't see any real signs of the black e-coat type primer but I haven't got all the glass out yet.

I remember reading your post on them actually, did you end up getting all four corners to line up well with the fender & rear quarter?

I wonder what'd be involved in getting the front fenders to match the contour...

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I ended up moving the fender in on one side.

When we did Jenn's car, we got one OE fender and one Mobile Traditions fender.

It was a long time ago- the pair cost less than $200...

The MT fender sat out further, so, since the mounting flange on the car

was a mess anyway, I trimmed it and the fender back a bit to get enough

room to slide the fender in a bit at the top, and adjusted the rest of the fender

sheet metal to match.

see below...

t

"I learn best through painful, expensive experience, so I feel like I've gotten my money's worth." MattL

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I had the same issue on my car with all new metal .. My body guy couldnt get them right and I wasnt going to paint it as is. He told me he could "spoon" the front edge of the door,. I have no idea what that means but he did it and they are perfect. He didnt build it up with filler either. The only reference I have to "spooning" involves Jonny and a vegas hotel room and I dont want to talk about it

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I had the same issue on my car with all new metal .. My body guy couldnt get them right and I wasnt going to paint it as is. He told me he could "spoon" the front edge of the door,. I have no idea what that means but he did it and they are perfect. He didnt build it up with filler either. The only reference I have to "spooning" involves Jonny and a vegas hotel room and I dont want to talk about it

Good ole Vegas!!

I'm not as dumb as I look

74 Verona

06 Audi A3

09 Mercedes C300

06 VW Passat

03 VW Conv Beetle

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Guest Anonymous

Spooning is massaging the metal and moving or reshaping it. Sometimes heat is used and other times not.

shermanmartinez@hotmail.com

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