Door alignment

[Bigal75]

The doors on my 67 RT do not appear to be aligned properly. The drivers side being worse. The bottom gap between the door and rocler goes from thin to large and the bottom rear of the door seems to be sticking out too much. You can see the body lines dont really line up and it drives me insane. Is this something I can try to adjust at home or am I just going to make it worse? I have no body work experience.

 

[69L48Z27]

Door are the absolute worst to align not only by yourself but just in general. I spent about three hours a door when I hung mine. They're dead on but holy cow.

That said, you can do it! You don't need to be a 'body man'.

Post some pics f what you have.

 

[Bigal75]

I'l get pics...thanks.

 

[Mike67]

Check your hinges I found this on both of mine last weekend. Knew the bushings were shot and bought a kit but these might be toast!

 

[Bigal75]

The pics are not the best. But it looks like the top rear of the door has to go down and the bottom rear of the door has to go down and in at the same time.

 

[Bigal75]

The hinges are tight. No up or down play.

 

[moes]

Door are the absolute worst to align not only by yourself but just in general. I spent about three hours a door when I hung mine. They're dead on but holy cow.

That said, you can do it! You don't need to be a 'body man'.

Post some pics f what you have.
View attachment 583802
View attachment 583803

Did you have all the door inside pieces and glass installed when you lined up the doors. You will find with the extra weight you might have to made some adjustments. Just a heads up.

 

[Bigal75]

I didn't notice at first but those hinges are shot! Wow.

 

[69L48Z27]

Did you have all the door inside pieces and glass installed when you lined up the doors. You will find with the extra weight you might have to made some adjustments. Just a heads up.

Yep. When I tore the car down I disassemble down to an empty door and took note. Surprisingly there was no difference but I'm aware it can happen.

Thx!

 

[69L48Z27]

Bigal75 - looks like the door is low in the front and high in the rear. Those adjustments would be made hinge to body. After your close with that, then you can adjust the in/out, that's the hinge to door. Accessing hinge bolts with everything installed is pretty tough. You'll need to pull the kicks inside and then get access to the other bolts while the door is open.

Trick with an assembled door is to not loosen it up too much. Always leave upper or lower front bolt family tight and rotate the door in the opening. Also take your door striker out when you do this.

 

[Bigal75]

Thanks for the advice. I think I'll get a buddy over and we will give it a go. I'l tape up the gaps and take my time.

 

[khryslerkid]

Just did some adjusting on both of my doors.

Where the hinge bolts to the body will get the door up and down at the latch. Where the hinge bolts to the door will get the in and out at the top and bottom.

I like useing a scissor jack. Only loosen the hard to get at bolts first, then use the easy to get to bolt last to release the hinge. Having the door supported before loosing, then you can raise it where it belongs, tighten just the one bolt and check for alignment.

Think about which way the door needs to go and only loosen that hinge, not both hinges. The door strikers will need readjustment after changing the door location. Don't try slamming it after adjusting the door and jamming it up. Windows might need adjustment also where they meet, after moving the door.

On nice paint, you might run a lenth of masking tape along the door to protect the paint just in case.

 

[Bigal75]

That's a good idea! I'll do something like that and just take my time. I just have to wait for the warm weather and then I'll give it a try.

 

[Bigal75]

So if I need to lift the front of the door I would need to loosen both hinges from the body to allow that type of movement?

 

[khryslerkid]

So if I need to lift the front of the door I would need to loosen both hinges from the body to allow that type of movement?

You should get upward movement there. If you can't get enough there then maybe you can get a little more at the door.

When you loosen the body to door bolts, look if they are slotted up and down.

 

[Bigal75]

Thank you!

 

[Mike67]

I didn't notice at first but those hinges are shot! Wow.

What was suprising was they actual opened and shut with relative ease. Passenger side just barely rubbed the fender but I think that was a fender alignment issue.
These doors are heavy and that metal certainly fatigued over 50 years!

 

[Torqueflite]

I usually have the fenders off when I adjust the doors. Like has been said looks like the door is low in front and high in rear. I myself would pull the fender on that side. Then you can set the gap to the quarter panel and align the bottom of the front edge of the door to the rocker. When you have the top of the front of the door fitting the cowl and the rocker then put the fender back on and align it. I usually have the hood on before the fenders and set the cowl to hood gap as a baseline. then install the fenders and shim the fronts as necessary. That looks like a big gap between the door and quarter. Has it ever been in an accident possibly? Sometimes a lot of panel adjusting elsewhere is necessary to make one out of place panel fit. Your mileage may vary. Take your time and work carefully. Good luck!

 

[Bigal75]

We're going to attack this in the next couple of weeks. I' not sure of the car has been in an accident however the gap to the quarter looks worse in the picture somehow since the door sticks out. Both sides are pretty much the same, the drivers side being a bit worse. Is it a big deal taking off a fender?

 

[Bigal75]

Does the grill have to be removed if I take the fenders off?