rear body alignment

[lyndon]

having just refitted the rear body section I sat down with a mug of tea and started eyeing up the spoiler against the roofline and very quickly realised something was not right , looking at the spoiler the right hand rear section is leaning down, so a measurement taken from each wheel centre showed it was out by about 15mm. I have removed the 1.5mm shim from the l/h hinge and inserted another 3mm shim under the r/h hinge ; it look's better but is still not spot on or am I being to picky,
Lyndon.

[BAS]

Have you tried to take any measurments off the rear of the boot section as the spoiler maybe the problem? I did the same trick and eyed my boot and spoiler across the roof, all looks ok now but I think I tweeked the spoiler for a better line.

[rutthenut]

I recall that the r.h.s did sit lower on the car, so you won't be the first to find this.

Whatever number of shims/spacers you use, do check that there is a sensible gap between the top of the rear engine bay chassis rail (on the Hawk) and the underside of the rear body section.

Over time, the panel is likely to 'droop' a bit and any gap will be closed. If the panel makes contact it will most likely lead to 'starring' in the gel coat at that point (and it will also wear out the powder-coating on that piece of chassis).

[lyndon]

I checked the spoiler for alignment and it is higher above the swage line on the rhs than the lhs so if this was to match it would make it even worse,
asked the body shop man what he thought and he said it should be checked after all the suspension is set up as it's ride height's differ right to left but I could not get my head around that as the roof spoiler was level in relation to the rear spoiler. Removed the r/h body catch fitted to the chassis which made no difference so the pondering goes on,or should I get the suspension set up first and then look at it again.
Lyndon.
p.s Thank's Brent & John.

[chris.richard]

Lyndon, can you post a pic? I can't visualise which spoiler is squint where?

[BAS]

I would try and take you measurement off the chassis, ignore the wheel position.

The other option is to use a spirit level on the rear of the chassis, if off level adjust with a jack (under the car, not by hitting it ;) ). You can then check across the body with the level a see where the problem lies. I've used this method quite a lot.

[lyndon]

Think I know the problem.I started by saying [haveing just refitted the rear section] what I did'nt say was that it had been off the chassis for at least 8 months and I have found by useing some straight edges that it has twisted slightly. Any thoughts on how best to rectify this problem,
Lyndon.

[BAS]

Leave the rear body out in the sun on a hot day. Then whilst warm refit and clamp it in place. It should level out;)

[chris.richard]

Leave the rear body out in the sun on a hot day.
That'll be a long wait then! :)

[BAS]

So much for Global Warming then!

[lyndon]

one thing about building a replica strat is patience is of the utmost importance,so I will wait for a hot sunny day and hope it's on a weekend that i'm not working
Lyndon.