Galaxie 1948 Chevy Aerosedan - fitment issues ?

[1959scudetto]

Hallo guys,

has anyone experienced fitment issues in final assembly of this kit? Especially when placing the hood ?

When installing the main body on the chassis, there is a 1 mm-gap between body and firewall (I glued this before onto the floor pan, as opposed to the instructions) - whe glueing this down using cyanoacrylate, the rear comes up a bit and the bumper would sit much too low. Even if I can solve this problem there is still another one left: after installing the front fender/grill unit onto the body and frame, the hood is sitting too far forward, leaving a prominent gap of about 1,5 mm in front of the windshield !

On a German website a builder said that he added styrene strips to close the gap and re-sanded, re-primed and repainted the hood - is this the only way to overcome this? I am building one in commission for the owner of the real car and would like to avoid repainting with BMW 198 royalbluemetallic, as the real one.

Anyway, this kit gives me hard times. In comparison, I had no problems with Fujimi Enthusiasts over-200-parts Dino 246 GT  or with Jo-Hans complex Chrysler Turbine kit - htey went together quite easily (but that was also 25 respectively 35 years ago...)

I would be grateful for any help.

[espo]

3 hours ago, 1959scudetto said:

Hallo guys,

has anyone experienced fitment issues in final assembly of this kit? Especially when placing the hood ?

When installing the main body on the chassis, there is a 1 mm-gap between body and firewall (I glued this before onto the floor pan, as opposed to the instructions) - whe glueing this down using cyanoacrylate, the rear comes up a bit and the bumper would sit much too low. Even if I can solve this problem there is still another one left: after installing the front fender/grill unit onto the body and frame, the hood is sitting too far forward, leaving a prominent gap of about 1,5 mm in front of the windshield !

On a German website a builder said that he added styrene strips to close the gap and re-sanded, re-primed and repainted the hood - is this the only way to overcome this? I am building one in commission for the owner of the real car and would like to avoid repainting with BMW 198 royalbluemetallic, as the real one.

Anyway, this kit gives me hard times. In comparison, I had no problems with Fujimi Enthusiasts over-200-parts Dino 246 GT  or with Jo-Hans complex Chrysler Turbine kit - htey went together quite easily (but that was also 25 respectively 35 years ago...)

I would be grateful for any help.

Just so happens I'm in the middle of building this kit now. The first thing I noticed in the mockup was that the floor pan  part # 61 has a groove toward the fire wall area that the Frame sets down into. This is near the front mounting holes in the floor pan. In my kit they were just ever so off and the frame wouldn't set in like it should. In my case I just cut away a little material from the outer edge of the groove and then the frame fit fine.  Since the firewall area seems to be a problem for you maybe check this area first since the firewall area is all built up from this area. The kit use's  more body parts than most kits, but I think this is to make it as correct as possible, and trial fittings are a must. I have mocked up the body several times and not had the problems you mentioned. 

[1959scudetto]

Many thanks for your tip - I will see what I can do with it even if I'm not quite sure at the moment what you mean with groove (I will check it within the next days together with the instruction sheet);

the problem is that I have been over-optimistic having read excellent reviews for this - then brand new - kit back in 1999. I bought it then and spray-painted and polished all body parts without doing any dry-fitting before that: BIG MISTAKE !!!  - after a 15 year-break I finally want to bring this neverending story (on and off several times: engine/frame and chassis/interior) to a good end. Adding plastic strips and re-painting the hood would be the very last solution for me, and I will try to avoid that if anyhow possible.

 

[RichCostello]

I'm also in the process of building this kit. This is a great kit, and everything went together perfectly. I lowered it per the instructions and everything lined up exactly like it should. I'm almost finished with it, and it looks great, except for one thing, THE HOOD DOESN'T FIT! I have the exact same problem as Helmut, the hood will not reach the cowl. I've tried everything I can think of, and nothing helps. I was ready to buy the other two versions of this kit, but I don't think that will happen now. 

Any suggestions?

[espo]

On 7/27/2020 at 3:50 PM, 1959scudetto said:

Many thanks for your tip - I will see what I can do with it even if I'm not quite sure at the moment what you mean with groove (I will check it within the next days together with the instruction sheet);

the problem is that I have been over-optimistic having read excellent reviews for this - then brand new - kit back in 1999. I bought it then and spray-painted and polished all body parts without doing any dry-fitting before that: BIG MISTAKE !!!  - after a 15 year-break I finally want to bring this neverending story (on and off several times: engine/frame and chassis/interior) to a good end. Adding plastic strips and re-painting the hood would be the very last solution for me, and I will try to avoid that if anyhow possible.

 

 

20 hours ago, RichCostello said:

I'm also in the process of building this kit. This is a great kit, and everything went together perfectly. I lowered it per the instructions and everything lined up exactly like it should. I'm almost finished with it, and it looks great, except for one thing, THE HOOD DOESN'T FIT! I have the exact same problem as Helmut, the hood will not reach the cowl. I've tried everything I can think of, and nothing helps. I was ready to buy the other two versions of this kit, but I don't think that will happen now. 

Any suggestions?

You two are scaring me on this Hood fitment issue. I have mocked mine up several times and no problems. After reading your posts I went back and did it again and the Hood fits fine. I notice that the very back edge of the Hood where it meets the doors on the body could be shortened slightly but nothing more than a little clean up and no where near the 1 mm you're mentioning. What I have noticed, and you may want to look for yourselves, is how the Firewall is resting against the ridge it mounts to inside the body. I haven't done the final painting or assembly yet on mine. In my mockup the Firewall is mounted in front of this stop in the body. This brings it to what looks to be the correct location. Is it possible that the front Fender/Grill area part is not seated all the way back on the body ?? The back edge of the inner fenders should stop at the leading edge of the body. One possible reference point  would be to line up the door opening line on the Fenders with the leading edge of the Body as this represents that door line and they would have to align. 

[RichCostello]

2 hours ago, espo said:

 

You two are scaring me on this Hood fitment issue. I have mocked mine up several times and no problems. After reading your posts I went back and did it again and the Hood fits fine. I notice that the very back edge of the Hood where it meets the doors on the body could be shortened slightly but nothing more than a little clean up and no where near the 1 mm you're mentioning. What I have noticed, and you may want to look for yourselves, is how the Firewall is resting against the ridge it mounts to inside the body. I haven't done the final painting or assembly yet on mine. In my mockup the Firewall is mounted in front of this stop in the body. This brings it to what looks to be the correct location. Is it possible that the front Fender/Grill area part is not seated all the way back on the body ?? The back edge of the inner fenders should stop at the leading edge of the body. One possible reference point  would be to line up the door opening line on the Fenders with the leading edge of the Body as this represents that door line and they would have to align. 

If the front fenders were seated farther back on the body, the wheels would not be centered in the wheel openings. The hood fits fine at the front grill area, but it needs to be lengthened back to the cowl and doors.

[espo]

47 minutes ago, RichCostello said:

If the front fenders were seated farther back on the body, the wheels would not be centered in the wheel openings. The hood fits fine at the front grill area, but it needs to be lengthened back to the cowl and doors.

I just set the body of mine with the fenders held in place with tape and set it down over the chassis and the brake drums appear to be centered. I'm not sure pictures would even show the mounting points I mentioned. I could take a couple of pictures  tomorrow if you think it would help.

[RichCostello]

1 hour ago, espo said:

I just set the body of mine with the fenders held in place with tape and set it down over the chassis and the brake drums appear to be centered. I'm not sure pictures would even show the mounting points I mentioned. I could take a couple of pictures  tomorrow if you think it would help.

Thanks, but I might have solved the problem. I just tilted the front of the fender unit up a little, and the rear of the body up  little, and that tightened the hood up a lot. The problem is that when the body and fenders are placed all the way down onto the frame there is a bow in the center of the car that pulls the hood away from the cowl, but the body and fenders look fine. It did raise the stance slightly, but that I can live with.

[espo]

9 hours ago, RichCostello said:

Thanks, but I might have solved the problem. I just tilted the front of the fender unit up a little, and the rear of the body up  little, and that tightened the hood up a lot. The problem is that when the body and fenders are placed all the way down onto the frame there is a bow in the center of the car that pulls the hood away from the cowl, but the body and fenders look fine. It did raise the stance slightly, but that I can live with.

I'm glad you were able to solve your problem with your build. I mentioned an issue I found with the frame and the floor contact point that I corrected. In my mind that may have been something you and 1959 Scudetto may have been having problems with as I was. The channel in the floor part where the frame rests didn't align correctly and this was making the front part of the frame drupe enough to open a gap on the back edge of the hood were it meets the firewall. I would like to see any pictures of your build if you post them. 

[RichCostello]

6 hours ago, espo said:

I'm glad you were able to solve your problem with your build. I mentioned an issue I found with the frame and the floor contact point that I corrected. In my mind that may have been something you and 1959 Scudetto may have been having problems with as I was. The channel in the floor part where the frame rests didn't align correctly and this was making the front part of the frame drupe enough to open a gap on the back edge of the hood were it meets the firewall. I would like to see any pictures of your build if you post them. 

I wish I could show pictures, but I'm too computer illiterate, and I'm not sure my phone would take good enough pictures to make it worth while.

[Greg Myers]

Something else to consider might be the thickness of the paint. at any rate test fitting is a must 

[carrucha]

Very helpful tips guys!