Bodyshell alignment

[FRANTIC FRANC 0]

Another job I've found whilst body preping . . .

The rear end needs shifting over towards the driver's back wheel (i.e. the gap between the rear wheels and rear arches is different on each side), possible 10 - 15mm.

What I want to know is what is the procedure for doing this task (where are the body bolts?) - the interior is completely stripped if this helps any.

[slewthy 130]

Sorry Frank, must have missed something in your posts - is the body currently bolted down to the chassis?

If so, because of the orientation of the body fixing bolts, I cant see how it could be off by so much. the body bolts to the chassis in the tunnel with 4 bolts so that pretty much sets the position. Also, at the rear of the bulkhead there are 2 'tabs', each with 2 bolts. There is scope of up/down adjustment but not, IIRC, sideways. Are you sure its not infact the wheel or suspension thats off?

Check inside the engine bay. Remove the chassis cross member and look at the body-chassis bolts there. If they are symmetrical in their position, its something else.

[silverfrost 1,212]

Hi Franc,

Yes the body can be ajusted had the same problem with mine, when i fitted the really wide rear wheels you noticed it even more, which at that point i had to do something about it, All you do is undo all the mounting bolts on the bodyshell to the chassis and shift it over! The rear end is quite hard to lign up as when you move one side in the other side on the front end move in if you know what i mean.

There was a posting on this forum showing all the mounting bolts as most people ajust the body to the desired measurement as the factory tolerance was something like within 25mm each side which was a hell of a lot,

Regards danny

[FRANTIC FRANC 0]

Thought that would be the case as the holes in the GRP always seem bigger then the bolts that go through it.

Yep, the body is attached to the chasis still and it IS definitely the body as you can see from just looking underneath from the engine bay (10mm at least over to one side). I can imagine what you mean Danny, 5mm shift on the front relates to 20mm on the opposite corner!

If anyone has a picture (searched the forum for ages but couldn't find any) of where the bolts are located I'll have a go at shifting it over slightly.

Cheers, Franc

Edited May 3, 2010 by FRANTIC FRANC

[andydclements 392 2 Vehicles]

I managed to make mine misalign once, had the rear coss-brace out and jacked up under the rear hoop,it must have moved on whichever bolt was less tight, so it moved it a few mm to one side, had to force it back, and tighten both bolts.

[slewthy 130]

Again, I stand corrected, but I still cant see how it could be that much out - the tabs dont allow side to side movement and the holes in the bulkhead are not large. Also, the holes in the rear crossmember bit are oblong in the front to back direction, not the side to side.

I'm not arguing for the sake of it - I have a body to chassis connection to finalise in the coming weeks, so I want to get it right.

Edited May 4, 2010 by slewthy