Finally making the full HD step-by-step fascia alignment video!

[Matt M, Pa]

Ghoststalker....that makes perfect sense from what I've looked at too! I just couldn't tell exactly when looking at the car together. It would seem to be perfect in moving the fascia up on one side without effecting headlights,..etc. Thanks!!! Now I'm wondering if that could be adjusted with the fascia still on the car so you would see immediate results ti any movement?

[GhostStalker27]

Now I'm wondering if that could be adjusted with the fascia still on the car so you would see immediate results ti any movement?

I was wondering the same thing. Less work plus immediate results = awesome, let's hope that's the case

[TitleMine]

I'll check it out now that the car is up on stands and report back. I'm very afraid of alignment changes causing paint rub because the paint on my car is immaculate, but I'll go slow at first and check it out.

[GhostStalker27]

I'll check it out now that the car is up on stands and report back. I'm very afraid of alignment changes causing paint rub because the paint on my car is original and immaculate, but I'll go slow at first and check it out.

I understand, it's difficult removing it too, maybe you can do it with it still on - fyi your front fascia was repainted

[TitleMine]

fyi your front fascia was repainted

Now that I have the front off, I'm uncertain whether it was repainted or the car had a bra or clearbra applied to the front fascia for a period of time. Something's up, but the back and edges are really good for a respray. I guess anything's possible with money.

[GhostStalker27]

Now that I have the front off, I'm uncertain whether it was repainted or the car had a bra or clearbra applied to the front fascia for a period of time. Something's up, but the back and edges are really good for a respray. I guess anything's possible with money.

I've seen this car before, if you look under the front of the fascia - that lip that hangs down - all vipers came from the factor with that part in black..yours is red. It's not a bad thing, any car that is driven gets rock chips and eventually should be resprayed. Anyway more often than not that part gets painted over in a resprayed. Not to mention as you eluded too with possibly having a bra for some time, the color looks off, it's a little darker than the rest of the car..but again look under the fascia its red when it should be black.

[VoodooRob]

I've seen this car before, if you look under the front of the fascia - that lip that hangs down - all vipers came from the factor with that part in black..yours is red. It's not a bad thing, any car that is driven gets rock chips and eventually should be resprayed. Anyway more often than not that part gets painted over in a resprayed. Not to mention as you eluded too with possibly having a bra for some time, the color looks off, it's a little darker than the rest of the car..but again look under the fascia its red when it should be black.

Are you talking the lower lip of the fascia that contacts the ground first and gets scraped up? https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...fVHMJ0eECqG1Eg

[TitleMine]

He must mean the flat area behind that, because there's no way that lip is black on all the stock cars.

I've seen this car before

Neat. Where was that? This one spent its life in Texas and Kansas. Did you move to the East Coast recently? I'd love to get more info on the provenance. I have owner 1's name, but there's gaps.

[GhostStalker27]

He must mean the flat area behind that, because there's no way that lip is black on all the stock cars.



Neat. Where was that? This one spent its life in Texas and Kansas. Did you move to the East Coast recently? I'd love to get more info on the provenance. I have owner 1's name, but there's gaps.

Are you talking the lower lip of the fascia that contacts the ground first and gets scraped up? https://encrypted-tbn1.gstatic.com/i...fVHMJ0eECqG1Eg

You know what, it may only have been vipers that came stock with stripes. Black like in this picture ->Attachment 6604 After buying my Viper (which came stock with stripes) I was told it was repainted for that reason and it does look sort of weird having the stripes run down the lip like it does, shown here ->Attachment 6605

[TitleMine]

Here's another humdinger. How far is it safe to jack up the radiator saddle? I'm at a couple mm and everything seems fine, but I'm a little nervous, having never done this before. I added the equivalent of one shim. I'm gonna test in the morning, my husband's corvette had a fuel filter problem last night (recently replaced, wasn't secured tight enough, I guess) so he wasn't in the mood for anymore wrenching tonight. I'll stick it on and post pics tomorrow morning.

[Matt M, Pa]

Vipers did NOT come from the factory with the vertical area under the fascia painted black. My 2000 GTS fascia is original paint and while the stripes don't go onto that vertical area...it's body color.

[VoodooRob]

Vipers did NOT come from the factory with the vertical area under the fascia painted black. My 2000 GTS fascia is original paint and while the stripes don't go onto that vertical area...it's body color.

Exactly what I have on my 97 Blu/Wht with original paint. I also have an extra 97 Blu/Wht front fascia I bought on line and that one is the same, stripes stop before the vertical part, vertical part body color. I think a lot of owners over the years rattle canned the small vertical area due to scraping.

[TitleMine]

Haha, hell yeah! I think I've got it. The major win was elevating the corner using wood or a very, very, very, very gently applied jack to lift the side up, then doing a radical adjustment to the area that was raised by opening the hood, and over the fender, in the area where the three plastic hand-screws were removed, pushing that forward very forcefully, then locking it in place with the thumb screws and the strut in front of the headlights. I still can't test-fit the fascia, but for the first time the lower and upper corner appear to be in a straight line while the same width apart as my finger, which is precisely the width that the "good" side is. I may go for another 1/4" and try my luck to get that factory "hairline" look, but I think I nailed it. I'll have a full report (or dashed hopes) for you tomorrow. I'm going to bed.

[ICPREY]

I believe it depends on the body color if the portion was painted black or not. Guys didn't rattle can the center section black. Silver Vipers were painted black in the center section...

[Matt M, Pa]

Titlemine....please keep us in the loop! Sounds like you are on the right track. I've been up to my neck with work and unble to work with mine.

As far as silver cars having the "black out"... I can't imagine why silver cars would get this treatment but not yellow or white? I've never looked for this in particular, but I don't recall ever seeing the black paint along the bottom of the fascia on a factory paint car.

I do recall that white '96 RTs with the foglight "tunnels" blacked out....

[ICPREY]

Titlemine....please keep us in the loop! Sounds like you are on the right track. I've been up to my neck with work and unble to work with mine.

As far as silver cars having the "black out"... I can't imagine why silver cars would get this treatment but not yellow or white? I've never looked for this in particular, but I don't recall ever seeing the black paint along the bottom of the fascia on a factory paint car.

I do recall that white '96 RTs with the foglight "tunnels" blacked out....

The white RT/10s had a different fascia than the GTS's and did not have the portion in question. My silver 99 had it painted factory and there are plenty of stock photos showing the same thing.

[Matt M, Pa]

I'm going to take any further "black out" paint discussion to PM to avoid derailing this very helpful thread any more than it has....

[TitleMine]

I'd love to know the verdict from an expert though. It does not look like mine used to be black underneith, because their is some foxing around the bolt holes and it's definitely red then primer.

Also:

I was wondering the same thing. Less work plus immediate results = awesome, let's hope that's the case

Answer is a definite no. Too difficult to manipulate the saddle with the fascia on. You could do it, but you're very likely to crack something expensive.

[MH60M]

I'll update as the work is ongoing and post the final video when it's done.

So.......where can I find this video? Fascia alignment is killing me.

[MuRCieLaGo]

So.......where can I find this video? Fascia alignment is killing me.

I asked some questions about that issue too a couple months ago and GTS Dean provided some great pictures. Will fix the issue as one of my winter projects.

https://driveviper.com/forums/thread...uestions/page2

[mackzilla]

Definitely following this as a winter project. My car didn't have issue before I had it restored to OEM VSG. Now I have the "stroke face". Headlights are maxed forward and I can drop a sandwich inbetween them and the fascia.

[Viper Pit]

Where is the video?

[Dan Cragin]

The hood, headlights and front bumper cover alignment have always been an issue. Its a labor of love to to get it perfect, even when the car is original.

We did a top speed GTS years ago. It took us 2 full days, with 2 techs to get all the gaps absolutely perfect.

[MuRCieLaGo]

The hood, headlights and front bumper cover alignment have always been an issue. Its a labor of love to to get it perfect, even when the car is original.

We did a top speed GTS years ago. It took us 2 full days, with 2 techs to get all the gaps absolutely perfect.

Is it hard or simply time-consuming?

[GTS Dean]

Both.