I'm trying to get the door lined up. I know these things didn't fit great to start with. When adjusting the door, the body line is low on the front when aligned at the rear. The front where the door meets the top of the fender is also low, with the rear body line and upper lip lined up. When the door is dropped down on the back to line the front up the gaps are to tight on the back,lower front and the back is to low. If the whole door would adjust up it would line up great. Is this normal. Any recommendations on whats best or how to correct this. Or do I just get it as close as possible and live with it.I've even thought about grinding out the hinge holes on the top to be able to raise the door up. Thanks Mike
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See VH *NM*
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Re: Adjusting Door C2 coupe
Mike,
First things first,is the door original to the car? If not are they both AO Smith or St Louis? The 67 AO Smith is the best coupe for fit from my experience. Around 65 AO Smith can be most difficult. AO Smith and St Louis body and doors can not be mixed and get a good fit. In some cases they will not even fit. You will need to have the weather strips in place only if they are original. New repops tend to "puff" the doors out. So leave the new ones off. Original weather strips yeild the best fit. New repops need to "setup" and fit better over time. Most noticable "puff" is in roof area. Leave the body door catchs off to start with. You will not need to install them till your ready to set the final in/out position. Try to get door roughly even gaps front and rear to start. This will enable you to determine the in/out relative to fenders. Shims are used to change the relative position of the hinge pin relative to the door. Shims in forward area of door securing bolts to move door out, and back screws to move door in. In addition combinations of shims to move the top and bottom of the doors in and out. Start with the belt line edge. align these in and out as well as in line. You may need to tip the door to achieve alignment with the corner of the door adjacent to the door handle as well as the gap along the vent window and pillar post. For initial securing of the door to the hinge I only use half of the bolts since you will be tightening and loosening a lot. If you need to compromise fit try to do it on the bottom corner in from of the wheel as this is a known "bad fit" area anyway.Comment
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Back Screws?
Hi Gene, Its a 65 A.O. Smith body. The back screws for moving the door in that you refer to. I can't find any way to move the door inward. Are you talking about adjusting the striker plate to get the rear of the door in. The striker plate is not installed yet. Thanks MikeComment
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Re:Screws securing door to hinge
Mike,
The screws I'm refering to are the ones securing the door to the cast hinge.
I know it sounds funny to shim out to move the door in but it works when you change the position of the hinge pin.
Under the door hinge (against door mounting surface) if you put shims under the screws toward the front of the door it will move the center on the hinge pin outward. The opposite will happen to the rearward screws. You need to have various thickness shims to make up the difference in the center most screws so you are not stressing the door. As the position of the hinge pin moves in or out it will move the outside surface of the door in or out. In extreme cases one needs to mill down the hinge mounting surface to move the door inward. Do not exceed 1/16" or you will weaken casting too much. I had to do this on a friends car to get it flush. Shimming generally will not accept more than 1/8" shim thickness with good results.
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Back At It Today
A few more things to try. Thanks GeneComment
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