[darryl in pcb]

Thanks, Dean.

 

[Steve Michael]

I mention at the beginning of this thread that showing you how to make these adjustments stay put is part of what I’m doing here. To explain that further…

There are two reasons short of direct physical damage, that in my opinion, the fit of the fascia to the hood changes over time. First off is sag. The entire front assembly is plastic. Which over the years, could deform slightly and droop to the outer extremes. Like where the “hood gap” is.

Secondly, is that all of the factory attachment points of the core support to the steel chassis, are just sheet metal screws. Granted, big ones, but how about some bolt threads and bolts?

So, I will point out shimming the core support, and converting to threads and bolts where possible / practical. If your factory screws are not stripped or otherwise to your dissatisfaction, then ignore those conversions to bolts as I go along here.

I said early on here I can’t give an exact procedure for your car because I can’t see your car to tell what it needs. But I can state there are 2 basic steps to the biggest item, the core support.

And those 2 basic steps are:

1) Shim, position and anchor the core support correctly to the frame, independent of the braces and brackets that supplement the core support.

2) Use the sets of braces to hold the core support but not position it.

Can the braces tweak the position of the core support? Yes, they should not however be used to fix gross alignment issues.

Since some owners may not have ever seen the front all apart, here are a few good pics of what the front looks like.

This picture is with the core support removed, sitting in front of the car. You will not have to go this far at all unless you determine after failing to align the core support by shimming etc, that your frame is bent. Then you’ll need to strip it down to straighten the frame.



This picture is when I was working on my car. The nose and rebar off. Also note the piece of 3” angle iron laying underneath the car across the front. Since the car was not perfectly level sitting on stands I shimmed the steel angle to match the car so I could take reference measurements from the car to the ground. In summary, this pic is more representative of the level of disassembly to align things.



Shimming and anchoring the core support to the frame.

Once again, it is assumed you have studied the car and by now realize what it is that needs aligning.

You close the gap at the wheel wells by shimming the core support up at the lower frame horns. This will not affect the fit along the front edge of the hood. That is done with, or at, the rebar.

You anchor the core support to the frame with 2 screws (or bolts) on each side. These are installed at the factory, but you will need to adjust or maybe modify them.

There can also be shims between the frame and the core support where the 2 factory screws are on each side. Those shims can by there for several reasons. To simply fill the gap, to move the core support to one side or the other, or to spread it a bit and make it wider on both sides. That would affect the view as looking DOWN on the hood gap area.

Here is the location of the shims from the core support to the lower frame horns.





And here is a shim removed. Please excuse the melted look on one end…



So. To get the shims in and out, and then add or subtract them. Am I ready to go as soon as I pull the nose off? NO! The following parts / items must be undone first. (pics of them as this thread progresses…)

1) Core support braces to frame inside wheel well. (trace location with pencil first)

2) Core support struts to frame below headlights. (trace location with pencil first)

3) Screws on each side of core support going in to the side of the upper frame rails. (trace location with pencil first if you can reach them)

With those items undone or loosened, here is a picture of my jack placement when lifting the core support to access the shims.



While lifting it watch for one, that it is actually going up, and two, that if not, it isn’t binding up on the attachment screws to the frame. You may run out of travel in the holes. I did on my car, so I had to completely remove the screws on one side to get the shims in and out.

Here is the gap you should end up with to get the shims in and out:



The slotted holes in the shims are to pass around the rubber mounts on the bottom of the a/c condenser and the radiator. You might check alignment of those if you are so inclined; that those rubber mounts are actually in the holes in the core support.

Here’s looking down at the hole the radiator foot sits into, with the radiator pulled back and the a/c condenser in front of it.

If the radiator or a/c condenser are jacked up and not setting down correctly, this is probably the problem area.





The core support shims are available from Mopar. At least they are listed in the catalog. I made my own from nylon sheet from McMaster Carr.



So how do you determine the correct amount of shims? Well, did you take measurements before you tore it apart like I suggested? And then there’s the constant reinstall the nose and check my progress step. Followed by the repeat or adjust step. As you add or subtract shims.

This post right here...Is what I need right now but with images. Does anyone have a pdf of it they can email to me? [email protected]

 

[Monopoly]

This post right here...Is what I need right now but with images. Does anyone have a pdf of it they can email to me? [email protected]

Me too. I'd love the same. [email protected]

My front fascia is actually sitting too high to the point where it's rubbing the hood Infront of the wheel wells. Shims on core are most likely the culprit. Will try removing one of each side to see if that helps.

 

[Steve Michael]

Thanks for the help Dean! For anyone with a 3d printer and ABS material, I have a simple stl I created on tinkercad for these shims. Worked fine in my car. You can use your slicing software to make whatever thickness(es) you want. emai me at the above address for the file.

 

[RobV]

This post right here...Is what I need right now but with images. Does anyone have a pdf of it they can email to me? [email protected]

Fascia Removal Update And Comments

and I want that file.

 

[Steve Michael]

Me too. I'd love the same. [email protected]

My front fascia is actually sitting too high to the point where it's rubbing the hood Infront of the wheel wells. Shims on core are most likely the culprit. Will try removing one of each side to see if that helps.

Might want to look up there and see what the shim situation is on your car currently. Mine had no shims in the lower frame rail to core support position.

 

[Monopoly]

Might want to look up there and see what the shim situation is on your car currently. Mine had no shims in the lower frame rail to core support position.

Thanks I've had the fascia off it's pretty easy except those pesky trees. There's 3 or 4 core shims there currently. It was in a front end accident in 2020 from a prev owner. Guessing whomever put it back together didn't align it properly. Or at all.