Update;
A number of good folks here and on the ffcobra forum have offered up help and advice.
I printed the information out and went back to the shop to take another shot at it.
As Fran has told us - Aligning a GT40 body is a very tedious process. He's right!
1) Took the spider loose front and rear
2) Removed the firewall
3) Removed the RCR Street roll-bar
4) I took everything loose except the doors.
5) There are two mounting pins for the rear clip on each side - removed the forward ones as they were bolted into the aluminum of the tub.
6) Propped up the rear clip and removed the bolts
7) Right side rocker is all the way against side of the tub and slid back so it hits the front of the tub (behind RF wheel)
8) Went to space the rockers from the 65.5" that they came spaced at - to 66" as specified by manual
9) Found that I could no longer put the left front mounting pin in for the rear clip because there was no aluminum under it (past the edge of the tub) - I left the forward pins out and just use the rear pins to locate the rear clip and went back to the 65.5" spacing.
10) The rear clip fit much differently now. Much of the "Z" of the spider was no longer evident.
11) Put the rear bolts back into the rear clip so I could lift it (I'm by myself).
12) Measured the rear clip:
Measurements were outside to outside at the point where the clip "feet" sit down against the rocker panels.
** The rear clip is 65.5" wide where the rear-most mounting pins are.
** At the front of the rear clip, it is 65.75" wide.
Now here's where the interesting part is...
The rear clip's mounting pins were set to maintain a width of 65.5"
When pushed down over the 4 pins, the rear clip would deform - therefore the Change in the shape of the clip. This change I observed would push the clip in such a direction that it would no longer fit the profile of the rear of the spider.
Below is a drawing of the body and it shows how the body fits down on the chassis. Note that the green lines are parallel and the red lines show the basic direction (with some exaggeration to show effect)
I spent about an hour on the phone with Tom (EGLITOM) this afternoon talking about the dynamics of the body and mounting positions. We discussed many of his mods.. I think that they are not only more original looking but I think they would make a positive impact on overall fit.. Tom - Thank you SO much for your call and taking the time to help me..
So - With the help of Tom, Chuck, Mark, Jeff, Jac and Fran - I have a good idea as to what happened - and how to fix it..
After making careful measurements it seems that the rear clip may have been cut about 3/8" short on the left side - when the clip is lined up with the back of the spider, it is turned clockwise (looking down from the top) slightly which shows via the red-lines as referenced to the green lines.
Also there is some warping in the clip as the two mounting surfaces (feet) are not parallel but they should be.
Now - I have a couple of options here;
1) Mount the rear clip slightly twisted in the clockwise direction.
Option 1 would be the easiest. I doubt that you would even be able to see it unless you looked hard for it.
Option 2 would be the hardest for a number of reasons;
a) Adding material to the left front edge of the clip would not be easy and I would have to question the strength of the addition unless it were reinforced from the inside.
b) I will have to reposition the left side rocker panel toward the rear.
c) The front clip will now have to rotate counter clockwise to meet with the rocker panel on the left side. It does not fit well anyway as evidenced by my having to use a pair of ratchet straps to hold it down (see previous posts).
d) The spider will need to be re-positioned yet again to compensate.
e) The fitting I've already done on the left door will be void and may require a lot of work to rebuild / repair the "work" already done.
I've never been known to take the easy way out...
Any thoughts and advice are appreciated...
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Reference measurements on rear clip length
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Right side - Started at the same distance from the center of the rear spoiler;
Measured to the point of the body above the right side scoop;
It's 59-3/8"
LEFT SIDE
Again the same equal distant point on the rear spoiler;
Measured to the point above the left side scoop;
It's 59"