Malibu Monday: Finishing the Body Assembly and Gapping Process

Successfully assembling and gapping the body of a classic car can mean a lot more than just “eh, that looks straight enough.” But with a little bit of patience and some extra hands, getting those perfect body gaps that every car enthusiast dreams of is possible. Check out how the gapping process is going for our friends over at American Modern in this week’s episode of The Build above.

Now that the trunk on the 1965 Malibu SS has been gapped and smoothed into place, the crew of The Build is on to hanging the doors. Of course, just like with the trunk, it helps to have a few extra hands on deck to be able to get each body panel in place properly. Plus, a few people can hold the panel while the rest wiggle and bend things into shape- always a lot easier than trying to do it yourself.

With both doors, the American Modern crew lucked out and didn’t really have to do much adjusting to make the doors hang correctly or show proper gapping. With a little bit of fill-in on the corner of the adjoining panel to the driver’s side door, and a little bit of body work here and ther, the doors will fit the car well and look like a dream.

Moving onto the front end, there was a little more work to be done for the crew. First, screw holes needed to be adjusted in the inner fenders, then the core support had to be installed to give the fenders a place to attach to, and finally, the front fenders had to be tweaked a little bit to get the gapping just right. The last gapping project came with the placement of the Malibu’s hood.

With most of the body panels back on the Malibu and the majority of the gaps worked out properly, the crew of The Build can move on to new things! Check back next Monday to see what they’re up to next!

About the author

Lindsey Fisher

Lindsey is a freelance writer and lover of anything with a rumble. Hot rods, muscle cars, motorcycles - she's owned and driven it all. When she's not busy writing about them, she's out in her garage wrenching away. Who doesn't love a tech-savy gal that knows her way around a garage?
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