body lines on my 51 truck

[garyt]

i am new to the forum, been workin on my truck and am now in the process of installing my body parts, i am having a problem with my gaps especially on my doors, is there anyone out there who might be able to give me some pics of their doors and hood side views, i dont have any trucks in my area for a reference so i am kinda wingin the installation. i am concerned about my hood @ the cowl panel, the radius to me is off thanks gary

[N2TRUX]

Welcome to the forum garyt. Sorry, but I am more of a 73-87 guy so my pic file is rather slim on the earlier trucks.

[Detroit3100]

I put a door on yesterday and it did not seem like it was too out of wack. I was worried b/c a garage fell on the cab roof and I was expecting it to be off and it was not.

I keep telling myself these trucks were put together when the big three was babies, so I am not expecting much.

[c6_rob]

The hood is a b*tch on alot of these trucks. you just gotta mess with the hinges and surrounding panels. I know lots have put many hours into lining them up.

As for the doors they are a tad easier. Do you have the all the rubber trim installed? It helps.

Are your hinges good or are they sloppy? if they are sloppy, ditch em or your fighting a losing war.

[garyt]

thanks 4 responding guys, the best thing i hav found is to walk away after making a few adjustments, then some head-scratchin, then go at it again. iam gonna win.... heyanybody ever heard of a 51 5 window stepside with a 9 foot long bed, with thetailgate up ? well i got one. all the old timers tell me they have never seen a bed that long.. onefella told me it is a military truck, dontknow for sure, but was hopin someone could shed somelight on it thanks gary


.one fella told me itmust have been a military truck, anybody know for

[_Ogre]

gary
order of assembly is important. fit doors to cab,
fit fenders to doors, this may entail raising or lowering the front/rear of cab or radiator support.
fit hood, i've heard those hoods can be a bear

[mr48chev]

A few things I've learned since I started with these in 1973.

New cab bushings and spacers and new bed mounting blocks are a necessity to get things right.
On a lot of cabs the best thing to shoot for on the doors is getting the front and rear gaps even . I have had to use a porto-power to push the door opening back in shape
on a cab that had been in an accident before.

If the truck still has the original frame and if the bellhousing crossmember has been cut out to clear an automatic transmission or use a non truck bellhousing the frame rails are very prone to twisting out and having the cab mount brackets drop down letting the cab sag at the front. This is why you see so many AD trucks that have been on the road with V8 engines for a few years look like they are bent at the cowl when you look at them from the side. They sag until the cab brace is laying on the frame rails. That in turn puts the front end sheet metal out of line.

I have to head to work so I can't post more now.

[pgf545]

Hey Garyt welcome, I have looked at lots of these trucks and I am convinced that body gaps were not a concern to GM when they built these trucks originally. Most of them I have looked at might look good at the front of the door but the rear of the door is crooked or the vise versa. My plan is to get them as close as possible and maybe do some massaging on the door or gap to get them to the final fitting that I like. That might entailing welding some or grinding some. It all depends on how close is good enough for you. I am not doing a show car but want the thing to look presentable if that makes sense.

Bernie

[Atommik]

If you are talking about the side of the hood, where it meets the cowl panel, (that radius), if it is off, you could try raising or lowering the radiator support at the frame. If the radius is to large, lower the support or raise the front cab mounts, if the radius is to tight, do the opposite.

[oldcouple]

I have never seen a hood that fit well, these trucks seem to have just assembled themselves from left over parts when the factory converted from making tanks.

[cajundragger]

I pie cut my hood to make it fit.

to get the doors I cut the jams and moved them to match the door.

this is after I rebuilt all the hinges.

I still don't have "perfect" gaps, but they are pretty close.

[mr48chev]

Originally Posted by oldcouple

I have never seen a hood that fit well, these trucks seem to have just assembled themselves from left over parts when the factory converted from making tanks.

I've never had a hood that didn't have that little AD snarl between the hood an fender. The ones that I have seen that don't have that I would have to believe have been massaged a bit.

We tend to forget that unlike now days when guys buy trucks to drive to work and never will haul anything in the back and buy 4x4 trucks and never will go off road the AD trucks were built and sold to work and the large percentage of them got worked hard and for a lot of years. Very few were bought just for the owner to drive and not use as a truck.

The 47/54 "assembly" manual that is sold by a number of vendors and on Ebay http://compare.ebay.com/like/2307486..._lwgsi=y&cbt=y Has a lot of good body adjustment and measurement info but it is actually a 54 manual. For anyone who needs to replace panes though it is good as it shows you were the spot welds are and gives critical measurements.

[Atomsplitter]

I have a how-to for the hood installation but I can't find it right now.
I know you start with the rad support, then install the hood and install the fenders to fit the gap. The hood support, that's attached to the underside of the hood towards the cowl, may need a shim(s) to bring up the center up slightly.

[Atomsplitter]

Here you go!

http://www.stovebolt.com/techtips/

[Russell Ashley]

True story about the fit and finish on AD's. My uncle was a farmer back in the fifties and always had a black Chevy AD truck. He traded every few years. He traded his 51 on a new 54 and my aunt didn't like it. She said the new one wasn't as good as the old one. She said "When you close the door you can see out between the top of the door and the cab". This was when it was new. Pretty much sums up how much importance GM pit on door gaps back then.