Cowl to Fender Gap Adjustment

[BT Classics]

1972 C-10
Something that has bugged me about the truck is this gap between the cowl and the fender. The passenger side looks fine but for some reason the driver side has this gap. The fender to door is fine too. If it was too close, you could shim the fender out. But with no shims in there, does anyone have any recommendations on how to help close the gap?

Also what should be unbolted/ loosened before trying to adjust? Wasn't sure if needed to remove things like the hood, grill, inner fender, etc.

Thanks!

[notsolo]

If the other gaps are good, Focus on the cowl, blue tape edges door, cowl, fender, pillar. Remove bolt behind door add a shim or 2, I use small stainless washers... are the windshield wiper holes centered? Good luck

[68 C10 Driver]

I would loosen the cowl cover bolts and slide it towards the passenger side.

[mr48chev]

How does the fender and the cowl cover fit the hood when the hood is closed?

[BT Classics]

Thanks for the input thus far!
The cowl cover fits pretty good otherwise. (I.e. The passenger side gap is fine, windshield wiper holes centered, typical gap between hood and cowl)

The hood also has about the same gap between the fender. (In this picture the hood is not closed all the way.) This is why I thought it was best to try to move the fender in. But there are no shims to remove so I wasn't sure how to do that.

[mr48chev]

If it wasn't painted you could add a bit to the edge of the cowl filler panel to take up the gap but that isn't going to work now.

[Phillip Owings]

So at work (Honda Alabama assembly plant) the weld guys use a wedge made out of hard plastic to make adjustments there are even really soft rubber hammers they wack the doors or hoods to make final adjustments. I know they are pros so be careful. you can even use wood paint stirrers. when I see your door to fender I want to use the wedge and push the edge of that fender down. but when you do that it will most likely create a wind noise. the video is just a example I found and not my work place. Good Luck

https://youtu.be/6hEx-wgrdAw

[Richard]

Originally Posted by 68 C10 Driver

I would loosen the cowl cover bolts and slide it towards the passenger side.

Would start with that and maybe move the fender up a scotch to make to gap look better. All is trial and error for best fitment.

[sick472]

That's a tough one, but the last gap to be set usually is.

I would remove the cowl vent and try to bring the fender in at the top (an maybe up) where the yellow lines are in the photo below. You can see where the cowl vent and door do not quite match up indicated by the red lines. This will likely cause and offset between the door and fender (at the Yellow Star, fender could end up more inward than the door). This approach relies on there being shims at the lower connection of the fender (right in front of the door and below the fender). If so, removing some shims there would cause the fender to bulge back out and correct the offset at the yellow star. If there a no shims below, shifting the lower part of the fender outward would move the center offset outward, but might also create an offset down low.

Then reinstall the cowl. If there are no shims under the front of the cowl...you cannot get it to move downward without bending the cowl tab so it would sit lower to help close the gap. If you could get the front of the cowl to shift over a bit at the green arrow (this would require bolting the passenger side down and applying some pressure to the center to flatten it out or not bolting it on passenger side and just increasing the gap on the other side before bolting it down). Consider bringing the rear down (bolt behind door at green star)...it might help close the cowl-to-fender gap a bit more, but would increase the gap at the red star.

You should not have to remove the hood to try this, but do not remove fender bolts entirely to be on the safe side. And remember that this may change how the hood fits when you go to close it for the first time.

I have worked hard on two builds to get the gaps as good as they can be and I usually end up chasing the worst of it to the least noticeable area. Both of these projects were basket cases made up of multiple vehicle parts and after market sheet metal. An all original project has a much better chance of fitting well.

[sick472]

I just noticed your last photo and realized that your hood will have to be adjusted too, if my previous suggestions work for you. I think I would deal with the hood last and pray for it to pan out without have to go back to the cowl and fender...you've got a lot of slight-mismatch going on right there.

[68 C10 Driver]

BTClassics, I just noticed that the gap between the cowl cover and fender is not even. The gap at the front of the cowl/fender is smaller than at the rear cowl/fender nearest the door. It looks to me your fender is out of alignment. I would take the cowl cover off, then focus on the hood/fender gap, then once you have that, check the other side.

Once the hood/fender gaps look good on both sides, reinstall the cowl cover and adjust it to align the body lines.

[Phillip Owings]

Question did you replace the cab mounts? If so did you replace the fender mounts also? This is where I heard about it. https://youtu.be/_hSm020w98c