My name is John and for past two years have been doing a frame off restoration on my 1972 olds 442. The frame was lowered onto body and screwed down we then put fenders on and front end. It is not going together the way we took it off. Somebody said that we have to loosen body mounting bolts and shake body to get it to settle and make sure it is on straight. Any suggestions would be appricated Thanks John

 

Hi John, glad you came to C.O. Hopefully we can get an answer from some of the experts here. I remember reading and actually seeing a video about your problem last year. IIRC GM has 'line up' holes drilled next to the front body pucks that help square the body on the chassis. Did you notice anything like that on your rolling chassis?

If no one else chimes in on this, contact Patton Glade; he goes by the name 70Post on this site. He restores these cars professionally and off the top of my head, he would know the answer and more to your question. Here's his link: https://classicoldsmobile.com/forums...rs/70post.html

 

Welcome to the site John! I've not done this myself, but have heard the same thing you had described. Loosen everything and kinda shake it around to help it settle into place, then do the fine tuning with shims to get the gaps right. John

 

You _lowered_ the frame? Was the car body upside down on the rotisserie? The way I did it, the body was right side up and supported outboard, the frame assembly was rolled underneath and jacked up, adjusted to be centered, and the body mount bolts were then tightened.

 

Thanks Allan I really appreciate the info and will follow up. The lines on fender - door I think could be closer and bumper on passenger side is hitting fender. We took fenders off three times and it just seems like we are missing or not doing something correctly. Any other info on where i can find that video. I will reach out to Patton Glade next. thanks again and have a happy and healthy new year. John

 

Maybe an odd question, but do you have an Assembly Manual and CSM for this car? They have a limited amount of info, but it might help.