Body fitting

[Broadside]

I see in the workshop manual it suggests using flat washers between body and chassis to reduce localised cracking, I assume this is merely suggesting 'shimming up' any gaps? Also does anyone recommend the use of any 'pads' of any sort between body and chassis?
Thanks
Graham

[BDA]

I didn't use any when I built my car. I didn't read that in the manual, but I didn't remember having any when I took the body off so it didn't occur to me to even think about that.

[JR73]

It’s worth throwing a tape measure around to make sure you have the body sat as central on the chassis as possible - it’s quite easy to bolt it down skewed or over to one side more than the other which can cause issues later on with tyre clearance etc... plus it can just look odd!
If you use overly thick matting between the chassis and body it can prevent you from adjusting this and there is nothing to say that the inner and outer body mouldings are aligned to one another accurately (plus the outer shell isn’t symmetric along the centre line!).
Repair washers are adequate to shim any gaps where it doesn’t touch down fully.

[TCS4605R]

I found the best way to bolt the body to the frame was to insert the two bolts located at the bottom center of the dash first then the front two bolts then the two rear bolts - for my TCS.  I used 3/8” stainless steel bolts, washers and nuts.

Tom - 74 TCS - 4605R

[Broadside]

Thank you for the tips/advice all. Nowhere near fitting it yet but just thinking of these things as I go 

[dakazman]

  Broadside ,
 I just dropped my body, the 3/8 padding on both sideson an S2 was to much, 3/16 would have worked on both sides.
dakazman

[RonPNW]

What did you use for padding? Is "jute" still the best option?

My body is currently off the frame and it has been on and off several times for various fit and finish issues. Currently it looks like it sits about 3/4" too low, glass to frame with no padding. This is based on alignment of wheels, the shaft to the brake master cylinder and alignment of the body and frame at the bottom of the frame. I'm thinking of using large neoprene washers (a little give and compressible) under each mounting point to correct / adjust this. This seems particularly important at the rear where is you simply snugged up the mounting bolts you would stress the rear of the fiberglass body. I don't recall if the original padding was thicker on top to create the correct mounting alignment. It would also add a small amount of isolation from engine and road vibration.

Is this the standard way of mounting the body?

Ron

[BDA]

I used 3/8" closed cell neoprene foam for my padding. r.d. enterprises sells it. Since you're on the west coast, I would call Ken at Dave Bean because they probably sell something similar. The section of the padding that goes on the 'T' is probably about 1/2" thick or maybe a bit more. There is also a triangular shaped piece of padding that goes where the frame Ys out. That has a rubber cover on top of compressed jute It's probably about 3/4" or more thick IIRC. Ken or Ray could probably advise you on dimensions. I still had that piece so I used it. If you don't have yours, you could make it from several layers of the neoprene foam. The foam provided a very snug fit for the body to the frame. I would not use jute.

You should not have to use the neoprene washers you're talking about and in any case, I would advise against them because it would allow for compliance between the body and the frame. You want them to work together as a single unit.

I didn't shim my body and I didn't mount it on the original frame (so there was a potential issue with tolerances. i.e. it's unlikely the original frame and my new frame had the exact dimensions and thus the fit would likely be a little bit different). As I explained earlier, it didn't even occur to me since I didn't remember any shims between the body and frame when I took it apart. I could imagine some minor space between the body and frame and I could also imagine that it might be caused by the snugness of the pad and a little flex in the body - again, I didn't experience this or I wasn't aware of it - so if the gap between the frame and body was the thickness of a washer, I think I would just tighten it up without the washer. If there is a significant gap, I might shim it then but I might try tightening the bolt listening for signs of distress from the body first. It could be that the frame is hung up a little rubbing on the padding and twisting enough to look like there's a problem.

Full disclosure - I have only mated one body to a frame so my view may be a bit myopic.

[RonPNW]

Thanx, sounds like neoprene is the answer. My dry fit guess of 3/4 seems to match your 1/2+ dimension for the top thickness.

Yet another step /  question on my restoration solved.

Thanx
Ron

[BDA]

I remind you to take Ken’s or Ray’s advice for the thickness of those pieces.

[Dilkris]

I can't remember where I got this from, (it was not from me so I hope the originator has no objection to me posting it), but I found it some years back and saved it for future reference - any help? 

[BDA]

Great post! That file should be a great help to those who are or will be mounting bodies to frames!