C-1 door gap - adjustment?

[Mick Fuson]

Hi, I have a question regarding door gaps on a 59. A buddy of mine has replaced the damaged front clip on his 59 with a Sermerscheim unit. Now he's moved on the door fit and seems to be having nightmares with the way the doors fit the opening. According to the illustrations in the service manual in section 11-4 figure 8, the gap is to be between 1/8 - to 7/32's. When the door is set to 1/8 at the rear of the opening, it has 11/32's at the front. Overall it fits the opening pretty good but the gaps look bad. It apperas that he'll need to fill in some of this gap at one end or the other. My question then becomes, which is the preffered end of the opening to add fill, and that being asked, what is the best filler method to use? Vette Bond, glass mat and resin combo, or some other glass strand reinforced filler?
Thanks, Mick

[Roy B.]

Re: C-1 door gap - adjustment?

Every one has their own idea but I fit the door front edge to the body gap first so the inner door panel meets good then extend the BODY laying in glass to meet the rear door edge , I don't extend the door because it's to thin and will show a crack line after opening and closing all the time. BUT first you might try shimming the rear fender(rear) UP more to close the gap. Many other ideas out there but the body is the strongest area to work on.My 2 cents

[John M.]

Re: C-1 door gap - adjustment?

I agree with Roy. The last place I would build up is the edge of the door. The added material will crack and fall out pretty easy. I would add material to the front jamb as my first choice, and the rear jamb as a second choice. I close up gaps like this all the time, and you will never see the addition. If the door fits, and the gap is uniform from top to bottom on both front and rear, then you really don't have any choice but to build up material to close the gap.
If the gap is not uniform, then you can shim the body to close up the gaps.
Most times I will just use bonding adhesive if the build-up is less then 1/8", but if more is needed, I will usually use Kitty Hair, or one of the other fiberglass-reinforced fillers.

Regards, John McGraw

[mick fuson]

Re: C-1 door gap - adjustment?

Roy and John : Thanks for the quick responses to my questions. His gaps seem fairly even top to bottom on the front and back door edges ---- just too wide. I really feel that any shiming would make him lose ground, because the gaps ARE so even now. I can see what Roy is saying about doing the work at the back of the opening, so-as to keep the interior panel fitting well, and I can also see John's point of view of adding material to the front of the opening because it will be less likely to be seen when the work is done. It appears that about 1/8" is the amount that needs "closed-up". Will Vette-Bond do this OK, or should a "stronger" filler be purchased?? He still has some Vette bond left over from the installation of the front clip.
THANX MICK FUSON

[John M.]

Re: C-1 door gap - adjustment?

Mick,

The Vette-bond will work just fine. One thing to keep in mind when deciding which side to take it from: The clearance between the dash end caps and the end of the door panel upper metals, is generally quite close, and moving the door forward to close the gap will quite often end up with the screws from the dash end cap cutting into the vinyl of the end of the door panel when the door is closed. I would mount a door panel and check for clearance between the dash cap and the door panel before shifting the door forward. You can grind a little on the end of the dash to make more clearance, but not much.

Regards, John McGraw

[Mick Fuson]

Re: C-1 door gap - adjustment?

John, thanx (again) for the response. The clearance at the dash end caps is something I hadn't even thought of. All the more reason to maybe add material at the front of the door opening instead.

[Mike M.]

Re: C-1 door gap - adjustment?

i fear if you add material to the front clip/door jamb area, your stainless side trim may end up a tad too short. i'd add to the rear pilar area. mike

[David B.]

C-1 Door Gap Adjustment

Mick,
Paddock Corvette Parts (paddockparts.com) sells door skins for C-1's for about $260. I wonder if that might also be an option. Don't know if that might give you additional door width to work with if they come slightly oversized?
Dave B.

[Wayne P.]

Re: C-1 door gap - adjustment?

Not trying to be a Monday morning quarterback, but if your friend ever does another front end, tell him to fit it with the door installed so he doesn't have this problem again.

[Mike M.]

Re: C-1 door gap - adjustment?

agree with wayne. your buddy might consider removing the front clip and sliding it back to properly gap with the doors installed.mike

[John M.]

Re: C-1 door gap - adjustment?

Sounds like a lot of work when a little bonding adhesive will fix the problem.
I sure as heck wouldn't pull the clip back off, or replace the door skins just to fix this small problem. If you hade seen the ammount of bonding adhesive that was used in the original assembly of a couple of the cars I have owned, you would not be concerned either. These cars were NOT precision built instruments!LOL

Regards, John McGraw

[mick fuson]

Re: C-1 door gap - adjustment?

I appreciate all of the responses regarding my friends front clip problems. Removing the entire front clip just to slide it back 1/8" seems a little extreme, when the rest of the clip seems to fit so well, and a dab of filler material in the jamb would do the trick, but I certainly can see where in the future, should anybody come to me again for help with one of these front clips, the suggestion of installing the doors first could help get the gaps at least closer then these gaps came out. I agree with John in the fact that most of these old C-1's were less then perfect from day one, and we will at least attempt the "filler method" as a first try to correct this. Again, many thanks to all for the help.

Regards, Mick Fuson