I'm not a body man, but I can see that your door gaps between the rear of the doors and the quarter panels are off. That's where you need to start. Then adjust the gaps between the front of the doors and the rear of the fenders. Put the hood on and adjust the hood gaps at the rear of the hood to the fenders. You may have to move the doors in or out to get the hood to fender gap correct. You'll then move the core support left or right to set the hood to fender gaps at the front of the fender. Were the gaps adjusted before the car was painted? If not, it may be difficult to get them correct without scratching the paint. You usually have to bend, pry, and tweak panels for correct gaps. When you adjust door or hood gaps, remove strikers and the hood latch. The panels need to line up without them installed. If you use the door strikers and the hood latch to align the panels, it will make the doors and hood difficult to open or close and it will wear out the strikers or latches.
Nick do you have any pictures of your car when you got it back from the body shop before you put it up on jackstands ?
That’s what I was thinking. From the front end where the core support and fender meet, it seems those holes don’t have any wiggle room. And if I can fix that gap at the lower end of the door, it might kick up that fender front edge to meet the hood. Might have to let a professional do it once I get it running. I wonder if I can loosen the core support body bushing and add a washer. That could be a question for @hugger. I’ll have to PM Ethan. Thanks Larry!
Raising the core support won't change the gaps at the rear of the door to the quarter panels. On the right side, there's no gap at the bottom of the door to the 1/4 panel, and the left door to 1/4 panel gap looks wide. Don't mess with the hood and fenders until the door to 1/4 panel gaps are correct. Since the 1/4's can't be moved, you need to start and move forward.
In these pictures, were all of the bolts installed and tightened or were the fenders just setting on the car with a few loose bolts?
I had BIG gaps after a shop painted my SunCoupe. They call me up and saw there is something not right with my car...must have been in an accident. I go up to shop and find that they had put the core support directly on the frame with the rubber mount on top. I was pissed and the shop owner was embarrassed. I guess they were used to working on Chevelles that have different core support layout......
I mean they weren't horrible (this is my first restoration), but I know the back of the driver door had a larger gap than the passenger, but at least it was an even gap. The body guy did reference that it must have been in an accident at some point (before my ownership). Doors all open which is better than before going in. The front of the doors use to hit the fenders. Only the two lower bolts under the fender by the door were loosen and removed when I popped the wheel well out. Obviously I took all the bolts that held the wheel well to the fender and chassis out. The top fender bolts, hood hinge and front core support bolts weren't touched. Also, Thank you All! Thanks for taking the time to read and response to give me some help and insight.
