I have a 66 barracuda that I've been slowly fixing issues on. I currently have the motor pulled to rebuild and I'm cleaning up the engine compartment. I pulled the weatherstrip and there was an almost 1 and a quarter inch gap between the inner and the outer fender at the top that was filled with spacers.
Not my car but It gives you an idea of the structure:
The fenders are bolted to this structure from there through the holes on the top that you can see there. I know it's not right as it sits but should I be concerned with that much of a gap. I don't have the skills to cut the whole from end apart and fix it myself so if I have to get a pro to do that, going further with the car begins to not make economic sense.
Any feedback from the Hive is appreciated.
Sounds about right, actually. Mopar haf a pretty E36 M3ty qc department on the a body line back in the day.
GOOD panel gaps were 3/8 or smaller. Average was about 1/2.
It doesn't really matter how many spacers you have in there. All that matters is that the gaps between the sheet metal line up when you are done.
If the inner fender sheet metal isn't twisted and shows no signs of damage, this mostly seems like a cosmetic issue. The inner fenders are the frame rails and the outer fenders are not structural.
I just checked my '66 Dart; the gap between the inner and outer fenders at the top is something I'd need a feeler gauge to measure. But Plymouth fenders were different stampings, so they may have had very different tolerances.
I'd measure between suspension pick up points to make sure the tub isn't twisted, and if not, don't worry about it.
Thanks for the feedback guys. I didn't think that it was a huge issue as long as everything in the structure was still square but I'm definitely a newbie on classic mopar so I wanted a second opinion.
