[JLMounce]

I debated on posting this in the first gen section but figured it’s better suited here.

I’ve provided a few photos for reference.



My bird was painted in 2007. Originally it was supposed to be just paint with minor to no metal work. After soda blasting the car the shop found rot that had been hiding. As it goes that ate into the budget, specifically the panel alignment time. I’ve lived with this misaligned front end since that time. I’m finally at the point that I’d like to tackle the issue.

I’m looking for some insights on what might be causing it in the first place. It’s my understanding that the beak, to include the batwing and headlight surrounds are not adjustable left to right. At least not without elongating holes.

As you can see the driver fender does not sit anywhere near flush with the headlight surround. The passenger side is much closer, but the headlight surround is out beyond the fender.

You can additionally see that the lower valence is shifted towards the drivers side as well. This is evidenced by not being mounted at all to the batwing. The tabs are offset left to right in accordance with the shift.

I have a feeling that the entire front end is crooked, towards the drivers side. Not pictured here, but the cowl panel is not mounted straight on the car either. The style line meats the upper fender on the passenger side, but is sunken under the window trim by about a 1/4” on the driver side. Hood gaps from the cowl to the back of the hood and from the hood to the fenders are good and straight. This is largely what leads me to believe the entire front sheet metal is skewed to the drivers side.

Fender to door gaps are also good on both sides.

The first thing I checked was if the subframe is square to the body. This checks out.

Is it possible this is a core support issue? Is it possible that the fenders are simply mounted half hazardly?

My initial thought is to move the beak out as far as I can, loosen up the fenders, valance and cowl panel and see if I have any adjustment there. If not, is there any adjustment side to side of the core support?

Anything that I may be missing here?

[Tim john]

One thing of importance on a 69 bird to get the front end right is to have the inner fender well bolts "loose". With them loose, align your fenders, hood and front end facia to your liking w/preferred gaps, once satisfied go back and snug up your inner fender bolts. This is what worked for me, hope it does the same for you.

Tim john---

[JLMounce]

Thank you for the tip John. I will get those loose to help work with the gaps as well.