Requesting 2 meaurements

[kcpope]

Can someone help me out with 2 measurements?
 
The panel gap between my hood and headlight buckets appears excessive. Can someone put a tape measure across the dimensions “A” and “B” in the photo below. Please measure the INTERIOR surface dimension, not outer edge. Thanks!
 





 
 
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[CanTechZ]

On my 1970 I measured 1005mm [39.57"] for "A" and 998mm [39.29"] for "B". For reference see the picture below for where the measurements were taken.

[kcpope]

On my 1970 I measured 1005mm [39.57"] for "A" and 998mm [39.29"] for "B". For reference see the picture below for where the measurements were taken.

Thank you! Mine is about 1/4” wider on both measurements, which probably explains the excessive gap.

And if anyone else wants to chime in, a few more measurements for comparison would be helpful.


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[CanTechZ]

You're welcome and welcome to the club as well. What year is you car and what plans do you have for it?

[kcpope]

I’ve been lurking for months now, just learning. It’s a 72 240z.

Bought about a year ago and slowly getting it back in shape.

Did the usual rust repair in the dog legs. Added a mild cage so my chances of dying in a mild accident are lesser [emoji6] And now just trying to get the panels fitted properly before heading off to paint. Just ordered lower fender patch panels from KF vintage because mine are beat to death.

Goal is to just have a good daily driver. Here’s a pic of the car when I first got it and at present. Yes, it looked more complete in the first pic, but there was a lot hiding under that paint…





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[Patcon]

Can you manually fold the buckets back in to close the gap? The problem I see is the sub structure of the fender. I would try to force the bucket and side wall in a little at a time to see if I could close up the gap. Bolt every thing on but leave the bigger bolts in the bucket a little loose so it can flex.

[Namerow]

21 hours ago, kcpope said:

Mine is about 1/4” wider on both measurements, which probably explains the excessive gap.

I can easily see how the 'B' width could be 1/4" over, but having an over-width 'A' measurement is curious.  To have this happen, it seems that the rad bulkhead would need to have been stretched.  Are there any signs of front-end collision damage? If so, the structure might have been over-pulled in this widthwise direction.

Regardless, your gaps at the start of your headlight buckets seem ok, so maybe you shouldn't stress too much about the fact that your 'A' measurement is wider than the one that CanTechZ took from his car.  Instead, just focus on how to reduce the gaps at the leading edge of the hood and buckets.

Here's a thought for others to comment on:  A 'reducing' bar could be rigged to pull the front ends of the two fender extensions together.  Start with two lengths of 3/4" steel pipe, ~ 450mm long.  Weld a 1/4"-thick mounting plate to one end of each pipe (with mounting holes drilled in the plates to match existing hole locations in the fender extensions).  Now weld machine nuts to the inboard end of each pipe and then connect the pipe halves with a (stout) turnbuckle.  Mount the assembly between the fender extensions and then use the turnbuckle to pull the fender extensions together.  You could do this with the headlamp buckets in place and judge the results by eye.