Many technicians have worked for me over the 39 years I’ve been in business, and some thought I was a picky fanatic when it came to part alignment. Of course, I thought they were blind in one eye and couldn’t see out of the other one. The point is no customer should be in charge of quality control…that’s your job. And one of the positive signs of a quality job (and indicator of craftsmanship) is even gaps between your parts and all adjacent parts.

No customer should point out to you that a gap is off because that will usually be just the beginning. Some will take it as an insult to their intelligence and think that you didn’t see the gap because you’re not a detail-oriented person. Remember, they don’t want it as good as it was prior to the accident, they want it better. If you know this from the beginning, you’ll save yourself a lot of time and anguish.

No customer wants to hear any lame excuses such as, “None of the other parts on your car line up either,” or, “The last guy who worked on your car didn’t do a good job”…even if they’re true. They’ll look at you as a whiner who blames his problems on some unknown phantom. You’re far better off facing those alignment issues as they come up and getting the customer and adjuster (if it’s related to previous damage) involved, rather than waiting until everything has been painted and the customer is pointing out the problem to you. I offer you this advice: “If it’s predictable, it’s preventable.”

There are many reasons why poor bolt-on panel misalignment happens. It could be a structural problem, human error or the quality of the parts you’re using. Let’s take a look at these reasons and diagnose each.

Structural Misalignment

Tell me how many times this has happened in your shop: a slightly damaged vehicle is getting the front sheet metal bolted on when the exclamation, “Holy cow, nothing lines up, the front end’s over in Jones’s yard!” comes blaring out of a technician’s stall. Or, “I don’t know what happened…it didn’t get hit that hard, it must have been damaged in a previous wreck!”

Everybody has heard these things, and most of us have probably said them ourselves. What leads us to discovering structural misalignment problems after we bolt the new parts on? And yes, in some cases, after we bolt the freshly painted parts on?

Whenever this happens to me, I consider it a personal failure. It generally stems from wanting the structure to be square and hoping that it is. As my father used to tell me, “You can want in one hand and ____ in the other and see which one gets full the fastest.” Harsh words, but they get the point across quickly, vividly and truthfully. Wanting and hope separate man from the animals but have no place or basis in the science of collision repair.

There are some fundamental, quick checks that need to be done to verify whether or not you need to measure more comprehensively. If all you use for a quick diagnostic check is a tram gauge, then use it (Photo 1). This will help you to determine if it’s safe to proceed or if you need to mount or bench your project on structural straightening equipment, thoroughly measure the vehicle three dimensionally and then make structural corrections.

Proceeding without first verifying that the structure is true is like painting a big red target on your backside and handing the boss a bow and arrow. Why go through that? We’re talking about less than 15 minutes to determine, “Yes, I was right, there’s nothing wrong,” or, “Boy, I’m glad I checked this. The frame is swayed over, the nose would never have fit on this. It didn’t look that bad, I couldn’t see any damage.” That’s just the point, too. You can’t be sure until you check it with more than just your eyeballs.

We’re talking about panel alignment in this article, but measuring will reveal structural and suspension alignment issues. Open those eyes and think as analytically as you can on the front end of the job to avoid the time-sucking problems too many of us run into on the backside when you want to deliver a problem-free, quality repair to a happy customer. A few more minutes at the start of the job will assure far less friction when you want to move the job and collect your money instead of moving backwards so that you can get moving forward correctly.

Human Error

Human error. Yes, I know that’s what you think we just got done with, but there’s more to it than that. If everything is square structurally, is it still possible to have poorly aligned parts? Of course it is, and the main reason why is we need to be more critical of our work and not give up so soon trying to get everything to align properly. We have to be more than assembly line workers who are bolting brand-new parts onto brand- new bodies.

Over my many years in this industry, I’ve heard stories about new OEM parts, which I’ll go into next. We also use recycled parts and aftermarket parts. All of these parts, including OEM, may require additional fitting as compared to the same operation completed on the assembly line. Maybe if we understand some of those reasons why, we can understand why we need to sometimes go just a little bit further, strap the fender, and carefully bend it to achieve a hood-to-fender gap or bend a door hinge mounting to achieve alignment (Photo 2).

Plethora of Parts
No matter if a part is recycled, aftermarket or OEM, there could be fit issues.

As far as recycled parts go, many of them may have had exciting lives before showing up on our doorsteps. Does that have a possible effect on the parts we use from these cars? Yes. The  mounting flanges could be slightly bent, and this may not be evident until you bolt the part on. If they are, corrective measures will be required to bring the part into alignment. Failure to bring these misaligned parts into alignment is our error.

There are several manufacturers of aftermarket parts, and several levels of quality and price. Generally, the quality of aftermarket parts has improved since they were first introduced to the market. Parts certified by the Certified Automotive Parts Association (CAPA) are tested physically to ensure the same material make-up (primer, metal galvanizing, adhesives, etc.) as the OEM parts they’re intended to replace.

Do all OEM parts fit? Not 100 percent of the time. However, all OEM parts have to adhere to strict NHTSA and FMVSS guidelines, and all OEM replacement parts are designed to meet those same standards.