Door gap adjustment 1966 Mustang Convertible

plk1109 · 2 Weeks Ago

I need some advice. I would like to increase the gaps between the front and rear edge of the doors on my 1966 convertible. I know that the door can be moved ahead to increase the gap at the back of the door. Can the fender be moved forward? I have been unable to find an answer. I am aware that if I move the door that the windows will also have to be adjusted but I will be painting the car soon and want to eliminate the possibility of chipping the paint due to the gaps being too close together. Thanks PLK

**stlwagon** · 2 Weeks Ago

Welcome aboard... We'll find you some help in here.

Boomyal · 2 Weeks Ago

Yes, you should be able to move the fender forward.

Veronica · 2 Weeks Ago

Hello.

You can move the fenders forward, but, you will have to take everything off of the front of the car, like the bumper, front valence, stone guard, grill mount bracket and headlight bucket assemblie. Then take the bolt out of the bottom of the fender, near the front of the rocker panel, remove the nut from the stud on the rear of the fender. You have to remove the kick panels from the interior to get to that nut, the remove the bolt from the upper rear end of the fender. If you open the door and look past the upper door hinge, you'll see it. Then just loosen the six bolts along the lip under the hood, and you can scoot it around wherever you want it.

Ivy66GT · 2 Weeks Ago

Although its theoretically possible to move the fenders forward its a lot of work as Veronica pointed out. Keep in mind that by doing that you also will be making the front ends of the fenders not align with the hood correctly. You may find that a better compromise is to just center the door in whatever opening you already have.

Personally, I did it in the reverse order: aligned the hood to the cowl, the fenders to the hood and then the doors to whatever space was available. If the car has been hit in the front at some time that may not be the best idea though.

Veronica · 2 Weeks Ago

Hi again.

Yup, it's not complicated, but, there's a lot of stuff that has to get out of the way. It's a lot easier on an old Fairlane, but, alas, this fellow does not drive a Fairlane.

The way I always did that was start by getting the door gap right with the rear quarter panels, because those just are where they are. Then line up the hood with the cowl, because the hood being offcenter with the cowl really looks terrible, then adjust the fenders to the hood and the front of the door, then bolt all of that other junk on. You really don't need a great big gap to keep the door from hitting the fender when you open it if you have the back edge of the fender running on the same line as the front of the door. if the back edge of the fender is pushed in a little from the front of the door it will have a greater tendency to hit, but if you fudge a little the other way, with the back of the fender sticking out like 1/16 of an inch from the front of the door, you can have that gap really close.

plk1109 · 2 Weeks Ago

Thanks Veronica and Ivy, seems like I have a little work to do. I am a mechanical guy not a body guy so I was looking for an easy way out. The car needs paint anyway so once I start removing parts it might encourage me to do the paint. Thanks again. PLK