Panel alignment is aided with thick spacers that act as shims, located at the A-pillar stud and the studs at the lower mounting point behind the front wheel. Make sure to note the position of these adjustment spacers. | 
We could tell right off that the damage to this Dart's body was purely cosmetic, but it pays to check the substructure. Note that the inner fender apron and radiator core support are in perfect condition: laser-straight and square. If your car is bent here, it has to be fixed before bolting on new metal. | 
Panel alignment has to be based upon the fixed portions of the bodywork, and then the adjustable areas are brought into alignment. The fixed area here is the cowl. The door is already properly aligned to the quarter, so this is the critical starting point in aligning the fender, at the cowl and upper edge of the door. The spacer at the A-pillar stud sets the height. |
Next, move to the lower area. Again we have spacers here, which move the fender edge in and out. Set the gap so that it is at the best average of parallel along the entire door edge. | 
Use a single fastener at the fender's front, and seat it so that the front of the fender can be moved in and out. Lower the hood and set the gap so that it is parallel along the length of the edge. Once it is perfect, open the hood and cinch down the fastener to lock the fender in place. Then install the rest of the fender fasteners. | 
A replacement molding set for the hood's leading edge was found at the same Mopar show for $10, and these pieces were in nice condition. We don't know where they sent it, but our bumper came back from the tire shop looking really good. Our bumper brackets needed considerable hammer work to bring them back into proper shape and alignment. |
We found a '68 Dart grille at the Fall Fling Mopar show in Los Angeles. This grille was not show quality, having dull worn anodizing. It was drilled in the upper corner for an alarm key, and it was stripped of all paint. At least it was straight. The bezels were a little chewed at the edges, but they were much better than the mangled originals. Even though this grille isn't perfect, at $40 the price was right. | 
The center grille was repainted with the stock black and argent accents, and it looked pretty good, once bolted in place. The bezels were marred at the outer edges, so we just screwed them in. Eventually, all these pieces can be restored to new condition by stripping, polishing, bright anodizing, and re-painting. | 
While it may seem like a big job, it actually only took one day to repair the damaged front end of the Dart. The key was collecting the required parts ahead of time. The Dart looked much better already, and once we move on to fix other areas of the body, we may even strip it for a full re-paint. |