Hi,
I am building a dolly/jig to finish the repair work on my car.
I have leveled the car to the best of my ability.
The top inside of the longs in the cockpit are level side-to-side and front-to-back.
I have built a metal dolly frame that is 12 foot x 3 foot rectangle
The dolly frame is level sitting under and a few inches lower than the car.
I am making fixtures go from the frame to the car that attach:
1-To the front suspension Pickup Points (front of the torsion bar)
2-To the suspension crossmember bolts
3-To the inner and outer consoles on both sides (all on one metal cross piece)
4-To the transmission mounts.

I did the front suspension pickup points (front of the torsion bar) yesterday and the pieces that I cut to go from the dolly frame to the car were the same length +/- 1 mm or so.
I moved on to the inner and outer consoles in the back and it seems that the driver’s side is about 3mm higher than the passenger’s side. Everything else seems straight on the car (level and other measurements) within a millimeter or two.
Inside the passenger’s compartment the top of the longs are level front to back and the dolly frame is level.

Is this discrepancy within normal tolerances or is it something with which I should concern myself.

If it is ok, I can just make the dolly frame to console support 3 mm taller on that side and move on.

I am measuring level with a rotary laser so it is fairly easy to check accurately.

TIA

-Andrew

If it is ok, I can just make the dolly frame to console support 3 mm taller on that side and move on.

I am measuring level with a rotary laser so it is fairly easy to check accurately.

TIA

-Andrew
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A picture would be helpful to understand what your dolly looks like to understand where your contact points are.

Sure Bruce,

Here is the front right at the furthest front pickup points:


Click to view attachment

And here is the passenger's rear with the attachments tacked in:

Click to view attachment


and here is the driver's side: with the attachments just sitting join the bar prior to welding. Note the 3mm-ish gap at the top of the upright for the outer suspension console:


Click to view attachment

You have previous rust repair. Body is heat twisted. Add some weight to that corner and force it down 3mm. Otherwise, any further repairs just lock in the twisted shell.

What repair work needs to be done to the car? Will there be any repair work involving any of those attachment points or are they all solid?

The suspension points are all solid.The repairs are the longs from door post to jack point on both sides and the firewall.

I am leveling the car by sweeping a laser inside the car along the top of the longs. I check the 4 corners inside—the top of the long where the front heater hose comes out and the top of the long in the back on both sides just in front of where the long goes into the firewall. They are all even within.5–1mm

If I lower the drivers side rear jack stand I can get the drivers side suspension pickup to be even with the passenger's side, but then the long inside the passengers compartment will be a little low (2–3 mm).

I am thinking that I just need to remeasure and re-level everything and split the differences when thing are a little out and I should be able to get everything within 1–2mm range all over the car.

Thanks for any advice

-Andrew

I did some re-levelling of the car all around.
I started with the front mounts at the front of the torsion bar tubes—leveled them. Then I leveled the rear outer suspension consoles side to side.
I then supported everything really well then relieved the tension on the door braces and then snugged them back up
I checked level at the 4 suspension points again. Now everything is level within .5mm or even less, which is a great relief.
So now most everything is straight except for two things that have been that way before I even began messing with the car
1) The rear of the passengers door sits a little high maybe 2–3mm—latches are off—the latch easily pulls it down but I would like to get it straight without having the latch pull it down.
2) Dimension "H" across the door openings is good for the Passenger's side, but about 2–3mm too big on the Driver's side. The door gap in the front of the doors a bit big. If I tighten the door brace it does tighten the space but at the top of the door—nowhere else. I can ignore it and just clean up the gaps in the bodywork stage, but would like to get everything as accurate as possible. I read a bunch of threads on this topic and will implement some of the suggestion but if there are any other suggestions on this last bit of straightening aI would greatly appreciate the input.

-Andrew