Hi all,
Been away for a while, so not been on much the last month or so
Could someone please measure & give me the correct door gaps for a vert body shell, top middle & bottom please? A photo with measurements on would be most helpful!
There's a few beers in it for who ever can help out!!
Do not bother gapping the apperture to a set measurement. If you're doors are good then set the body to a 5mm shut line around the door. Start with the wings fitted and all front panels bolted into place. Check the door gap to front wing and A post, see what gap this gives you on the B post (without any shims behind the hinges. If tight at the front then shim to a good gap then address the issue with the B post.
Check the obvious ie hinges are not worn and that the peg and socket align, Always set the gaps with the car with the running gear fitted and the doors fully built up.
If you can post some pics it would be a great help.
Got a bit of "an issue" with door shut gaps on a 59 genuine rag top that im in the middle of right now.
The car would appear to be hump backed. when i built up the drivers side door and wing i had a massive gap, about 12mm from wing to door. i had replaced the complete innerwing and hinge pillar cover. I have since realised that i have moved the Hinge pillar from its original position when doing this. I got a good cap on the B post by raising the door but this led to the wing needing to be lifted as well. All this looked not too bad, although not as should be, passable, but for the massive gap at the A pillar!!
The other side , well that is a completley different story, after hours of head sratching, moving and re- adjusting , i was getting nowhere. I couldnt even get the bottom of the door to line up with the rear quarter panel. I thought the hinge piller had to be at fault!!!!! I cut it off and renued it. BIG MISTAKE!!!!
So, heres where im at now.
After realising that the passenger side hinge pillar was in the correct position all along, and that the drivers side pillar needs moving back and the wing returned to its proper position. This will leave me with the bottom of the doors lining up with the quarter panels, but opening up by around 5-7 mm more at the top.
So , after much more head scratching and a few cup of tea, the only way i can see to fix this problem is to get the car up on stands, cut two small wedged slots in the upper sil, just in front of the B pillar and apply pressure till the gap at the top closes in. I will strengthen the inside of the inner sill with angle iron and weld it in place then put some sill doublers over the outside.
Im not expecting this to be straight forward or problem/risk free, but feel that i need to take the risk as i have already spent a huge amount of time and money on it so far, and plan to finish the project to the highest standard.
Any advice will be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Derek.
jonathon wrote:Do not bother gapping the apperture to a set measurement. If you're doors are good then set the body to a 5mm shut line around the door. Start with the wings fitted and all front panels bolted into place. Check the door gap to front wing and A post, see what gap this gives you on the B post (without any shims behind the hinges. If tight at the front then shim to a good gap then address the issue with the B post.
Check the obvious ie hinges are not worn and that the peg and socket align, Always set the gaps with the car with the running gear fitted and the doors fully built up.
If you can post some pics it would be a great help.
That's what I'd usually do, but parts of the front have already been cut out (not by me), and the whole front flexes from the back. I don't trust the door hinges at this time. I'd really like a measurement to work from, then I can adjust the doors and other parts if I need to.
taupe ,
Its a long winded story, but what i have done is return the front end of the car, doors, wings bonnet and front panel back to the proper position.
After doing this the door gaps are reasonable at the bottom , aprox 5mm but open up to around 10-12mm at the top.
The shell has had the sills replaced/ repaired in the past. The evidence shows that the car has not been braeced properly when these repairs were done resulting in the car being hump backed , so to speak.
So , yeh, i need to remove and replace the panels causing the problems, eg, the sills. just trying to get another opinion on the proceedure i was suggestiong and any other ideas.
Derek,
I'd suggest restoring the hinge pillars to the correct position, and hang the doors. I assume that the car has the motor/box/axle etc fitted.
You then need a 'dozer' which will clamp to you're sills, you then need to attatch the chains to the hinge pillar and B post (seperately) and pull the gap together. Its very easy to pull the top region of the bulhead backwards, to close up the gap to the desired measurement.
You might find a good local bodyshop who will do this for you, go for a good quality accident repair centre as they will be well versed in pulling cars.
If you were nearer we could help. Don't cut anything yet until you have investigated this option.
jonathon wrote:Topic not hijacked as the advise is that you do not really need them in order to sort you're problem.
Thanks, but I'd still like the measurements to double check.
The car has had been in a front end accident, and parts have been cut of from the front, so the door on one side at the mo can't actually be attached.
In fairness to the poor beggar, he did give some inkling in the last post he managed to jam in
Also, as he was offering bribes from the outset, I think someone should give him what he asked for!
I would, but don't know that my car is "right"!
