Side hull plates not lining up on top edge

[Ray Massa]

As I am working on the hatches and was doing a dry fit, I now noticed that on both sides of my tank, the thick and thin portions of the side hull do not line up on the top edge. Just wondering if anyone else has this issue. I don't recall if there was any way to adjust that since it mounts directly into the chassis. Maybe there was enough tolerances and wiggle room to have had one of those move up or down. I don't recall now.
(please excuse the sorry excuse for weld lines - my first attempt)

[Ray Massa]

I solved the issue.
I kept looking at the issue of the alignment and as much as I didn’t want to do it, I really felt there was no good option. So I loosened the screws of the side plates, knocked off all the welds (no big deal, they were bad anyway), and after I loosened the brace that attaches the two sides, I was able to align the sides flush. It took a while but went better than I thought it would. Another lesson learned to pay closer attention when assembling.

[Nick Chiocchio]

Hi Ray, What did you use for the welds? Bondo?
BTW I have the same issue. Fortunately I didn't use Loctite on those screws.

[Ray Massa]

I used Milliput. I knocked them all out of course to move that plate.
I only used blue Loctite on screws. Red is too aggressive for me.

-Ray

[Nick Chiocchio]

I solved the issue.
I kept looking at the issue of the alignment and as much as I didn’t want to do it, I really felt there was no good option. So I loosened the screws of the side plates, knocked off all the welds (no big deal, they were bad anyway), and after I loosened the brace that attaches the two sides, I was able to align the sides flush. It took a while but went better than I thought it would. Another lesson learned to pay closer attention when assembling.

So I loosened the screws of the rear panel (closest to the sprockets) only, then gently hammered to plate so it was even with the larger one. Retightened the screws and now they are even. Hopefully that worked. I was assuming the larger plate was the correct reference. Time will tell!

Just got all my wheels glued on. A lot of small screws to mount them!