Body misalignment?

I just changed to a set of 16" Alpina wheels which is a pretty standard set up for these cars. Two other guys here in town have the same setup with no problems.

I have a rub problem on the right side. The tire rubs on the from of the wheel arch where the front spoiler wraps in



(I tried some sheet metal screws on the spoiler to try and pull it out of the way but no luck)

It's OK on the left side, no clearance problems



And the distance between the back of the tire and the rear fender is the same for both sides





So what's going on here? Any suggestions on how to fix this? I want to keep the spoiler and the tires. Should I have my magic body man enlarge the front of the right wheel well? Or possibly cut back a lot of the spoiler on the inside of the fender for clearance, which will probably ultimately look like $hit.

Suggestions are most welcome!

The issue is most likely the spoiler itself. It may even have been added after front end repairs. I would carefully look around this area for prior damage.

My suggestion is to remove the 16'" Alpinas. I can give you 20 bucks for the set.

The strut rods bent ? Seems that the lower control arms are too far forward . check the wheel base .

The strut rods bent ? Seems that the lower control arms are too far forward . check the wheel base .

Click to expand...

You could rule this out by comparing the distance at the base of the wheel arch across the wheel opening. How is the tire position at the rear of the arch? equal? unequal side to side?

I think the issue is the spoiler and curvature at the fender meeting point. Are both sides of the spoiler symmetrical? One side looks like it slops differently.

+1 on the spoiler as cause of the problem
in the wrong side it does not seem to follow the line of the fender, but comes onto the wheel abruptedly

Good suggestions guys (except for Arde's :lol: )!

I guess I'll take the spoiler off today and measure the distance between the tirs and the forward fenders. Stay tuned

Heh heh

I'm with Arde. Sven has a good suggestion too. After all these years and who knows how many previous owners, none of us should assume that our coupes are straight. This is frequently revealed when one attempt to replace a windshield.

I'll give you 20 clams, no more, for that defective spoiler. You'll have to pay shipping though as I'm unemployed. My wife currently supports my extravagant lifestyle. She's a keeper.

OK, job done. I ended up cutting off the tabs on the spoiler that stick ino the fender area



This is the left side, untouched area



Was I supposed to cut these tabs off when I installed it? One of the guys here in town has a '74 with a spoiler and his doesn't have the tabs



Is there a "correct" installation or is it whatever works?

Also, Honolulu is correct, these cars are not straight. I put the front disks on jack stands and measure the distance from the hub to the front and rear sections of the fender

Rt rear fender to hub = 330 mm
Rt front fender to hub = 260 mm

Lt rear fender to hub = 310 mm
Lt front fender to hub = 270 mm

So between 10 and 20 mm (almost an inch! :shock: ) difference, enough to make tire clearance an issue! But the body seams are straight and even so I wonder where the difference is??

I would guess the entire car can be slightly twisted, yet the seams can remain visually "straight"

With such a mismatch the car was probably hit.
I up my offer to 300 bucks for wheels spoilers and the car itself.