<VV> door shims, headers, and glovebox decals

[Paul Michalczyk]

The door wedges on one side of my very early (4th week of August, 1964) 65 convertible are reasonably close and can be made to contact one another as described in the body manual.  However, on the other side they are not even in the same area code.  There is about a 1/4 to 3/8 inch gap between the two wedges.  The gap between the door edge and the body is appropriate at about 3/16 inch.  It is apparently been this way since new.  I recall noticing, back in 66, that the door edge gap would sort of float around, especially on uneven roads.  This never seemed to bother anything, so I never gave it to much thought.  How important is it for the two wedges to nearly contact one another?

I am installing a set of Clark's "Ultimate Headers".  It looks like there is room to install them backwards.  That is, facing forward and then to connect them to the stock 140 or other low restriction mufflers using U pipes.  Is this possible?  Desirable?  Has anybody done this?  I am using nonstock, "slanted" exhaust tubes.  Having gone through this much trouble, I would like to enjoy the benefits of a low restriction but relatively quiet exhaust system.

The decal (now very flaky) on the inside of my glovebox door is substantially different than that offered as a replacement by Clark's.  Apparently, the very early LM's used a different decal.  (This is the decal that describes the function of the oil/temp lights and has tire pressure information.)  If anyone has an early LM decal, in good shape, I would sincerely appreciate a high-quality digital picture of it so that I may have a new decal made.

Finally, if anyone has an older LM (my VIN is L100268, Fisher Body 18), I would be interested in making contact to compare a few notes.  Please contact me off-line.