Removing and Installing the body

by Ken Bond, kmb2@axe.humboldt.edu

First and foremost, proper body fitting is a relatively simple job and does NOT require knowing the sequence of the original shims to be done properly. In fact, I don't necessarily follow the factory shim pattern even when I know how the original was done. I have re-fit the body on both my '58 and '61 and have helped a couple of other people do their cars ('59 and '62). I have NOT done any cars in the '53-57 grouping, but strongly believe the process to be identical. All are C-1 frame and suspension configurations with changes in things such as sway bars and spring rates, but the core frames are identical.

First, I suggest a bit of reading and study: (NOT required, but always helpful)

  1. There are several good NCRS articles about fitting and related topics such as body-frame removal without stress cracks. The NCRS index is a good tool for finding the individual articles.
  2. An S.A.C.E. article on Body Fitting by Roy Bratz [this is no longer available, if you can't find it, contact me for a copy]
  3. Factory assembly manual - MANDATORY.
  4. BE CAREFUL of the sheet(s) that will come with your kit from the various suppliers. I have a sheet from Corvette Central that shows the shim sets in the proper sequence and I have one from ZIP that shows the shim sets in the wrong sequence.

Getting the body off:

Lots of good articles. I personally like to use nylon wedding and run the material through the rear trunk hinges and under the car at the mounting bolt line just forward of the doors. There are numerous other good locations [e.g. front female hood latches].

Body-fitting once everything is restored:

ONLY necessary assumption: the frame is straight and true.
This should be checked during restoration anyway and corrected if out of spec. Three things need to be accomplished to fit the body properly.

Secure the core body unit to the frame:

  1. A good kit comes with seven rubber shims (#3706913) ['61 numbers] that lay on the frame. Three on each side near the rear joining of the cross rail and side frame members. One shim lays on the frame at the far rear of the car. Place these visually as per factory assembly manual or kit instructions.
  2. Place sets of shims (#366981 and #3751562) with the rubber shim on the frame and the steel shim ON TOP OF THE RUBBER shim around the EIGHT mounting points in the cockpit area. Using masking tape, secure these eight sets of shims in place.
  3. Set body on car, and mount these eight cockpit points with bolts. Torque to specs.
Adjust the front and bottom door seams:
With the core body secure to a trued frame, now we start working on the doors. TWO completely separate ideas are needed for the complete door adjustment process. First, the doors are moved around to adjust the front and bottom gaps and the skin match between the door and the body. After these seams (gaps) are adjusted, then either the whole front or rear of the body will be moved up and down to adjust the gap at the rear of the door (this is step #3, below). Don't worry about the rear gap at this point... just the front and bottom door seems and skin match.
  1. Each door can be moved on three separate planes; namely, up-and-down, back-and-forward, and rotated top-and-bottom. If you release the SIX bolts inside the door (three at the top and three at the bottom), you can now move the door up- and-down, and back-and-forward. Get the seams 'about right' and temporarily secure. Shim under the three locations, forward or backward, as needed.
  2. If you release the FOUR phillips screws (two at the top and two at the bottom) that attach the hinge at the body) you can rotate the door to match the door-skin to the body- skin. Occasionally, I also have to release the FOUR bolts (two at the top and the two at the bottom) that are inside the door hinge and mount the hinge unit to the body.
  3. I typically have to go back-and-forth a couple of times between the six bolts in the door and the four screws and four bolts at the hinges. Judicious use of shims will get the gaps to match up effectively and the door-skin to body- skin surface to line up. This is a job for two people. One inside the car to loosen and tighten bolts and a second on the outside to make the visual adjustments.
Adjust the rear door gap (seam)
By rasing either the rear of the body or the front of the body, you adjust the seam at the rear of the door. There are two body mounting bolts required at the rear of the car and the radiator mounting system also has a set of shims in it. If you raise the entire back of the body, you close down the gap at the rear of the door my moving the rear section of the body closer to the securely mounted body center section. By adding or subtracting shims at the two rear mounting points, you can open or shut-down the gap. One can also bring about the same result by raising or lowering the front of the car [remember, where ever the front goes, the doors will follow, thus if the front moves up just a bit, the doors will move back and reduce the gap between the door and the rear of the car.] I typically do almost all of my adjustment at the rear of the car. I then shim the front mounting point at the radiator simply to secure that mounting point.

I have read about going back-and-forth, shiming just a bit at the front, then going to the back, and then back to the front, etc., etc. If you have a lot of gap to close down, this is the proper way to do it. If there is just a slight amount of gap to correct, I will drop a couple of extra shims in the back and am done with it.

Remaining panels

Finally, the trunk lid, convertible top hatch, and hood are mounted. All of these mounting points allow for effective use of shims. The early corvettes were NOT precision build units and ALL were corrected to proper fit by the use of shims under the various mounting points. Don't be afraid to use shims and have a good selection of widths available before you start on the doors, trunk, hatch, and hood.

That's it!

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