body panel alignment problem
 

Assembling my 1970 Nova and having problem with cowl panel alignment. The fenders align correctly with the doors, as does the hood, but the cowl panel does not; it sits a little lower than the top of the fenders and hood. Am I missing some sort of bracket or shims needed to elevate the cowl panel for proper alignment?

Re: body panel alignment problem
 

There are shims that go under the small screws that hold the cowl onto the top of the f/wall. The cowl panels generally fit very poor, especially at the ends where it goes under the windshield reveal molding. There are triangular shaped, closed cell foam, wedges that are glued to the underside of the cowl - I'm not totally sure what they are for, but.....

Re: body panel alignment problem
 

Thanks, the assembly manual was some help, going to a junk yard to look at a nova that still has the cowl panel and see what I can figure out.

Re: body panel alignment problem
 

[ QUOTE ]
There are triangular shaped, closed cell foam, wedges that are glued to the underside of the cowl - I'm not totally sure what they are for, but.....

[/ QUOTE ]

I believe the foam is there to prevent debris from going past that point and collecting down between the inside of the fender and the cowl side panel. Of course, when that foam falls off, then stuff gets down there and contributes to rotting the fenders from the inside out.

Re: body panel alignment problem
 

I always believed that they were there to help the air feed into the heater core better. I know I have never seen any NOS ones of these.

Re: body panel alignment problem
 

shims are a easy fix
but if you don't like using them the panel is made of sheet metal and can be tweeked to fit by a good bodyman

Re: body panel alignment problem
 

Shims were used from the factory.

Re: body panel alignment problem
 

[ QUOTE ]
There are shims that go under the small screws that hold the cowl onto the top of the f/wall. The cowl panels generally fit very poor, especially at the ends where it goes under the windshield reveal molding. There are triangular shaped, closed cell foam, wedges that are glued to the underside of the cowl - I'm not totally sure what they are for, but.....

[/ QUOTE ]

Went to the junk yard and found the donor Nova. Removed the cowl panel and was surprised to see the number of shims that were under the screws! It appeared that a bunch of shims had been glued together at the factory to create one really thick shim, does this sound correct? I put these shims under my cowl panel and it aligned pretty good. Just want to make sure that this sounds correct or did some back-yard mechanic jury-rig this Nova. Anyone got a pic of the cowl panel by the hood hinge, showing the shims?? Thanks.

Re: body panel alignment problem
 

I can't say that I've seen 'factory glued shim packs', but the factory would/could use more than one shim at a given location. There are several different thickness' to the shims, so it's feasible that GM would mix-n-match as necessary.

Re: body panel alignment problem
 

-----I think those thin shims tend to get glued or stuck together by rust. I have noticed this frequently......Bill S