how to straighten a door .v.

[xpress]

so here i am.

i socketed off the nuts on the door, shifted the top ones left and the bottom ones right and did them up.

i think i have a sagging door is an understatement.

it's shutting more on the latch but won't go to the second click.

i would try and move the latch closer to the door face but the door just won't shut flush.

it's a replacement door, the left one is probably original to the car, i have a replacement for that (rust it was changed) but the car came with the right door replaced.

i started thinking how a garage would do it quickly for the cash because they've always got a way to do work quickly.

i figure they would take a block of wood and knock the top of the door in where the hinge attaches, maybe it is metal fatigue causing the sagging? therefore restoring some sort of shape to it. either that or this door is plainly not made to fit this particular car.

any ideas?

sledge hammer?

ps the screws are rounded off for the latch so i will have to chisel face them out.

oh joy.

[bmcecosse]

Most likely the area where the door bolts on is rotten - and can't support the weight of the door. Some welding required probably

[simmitc]

With the door open, try lifting the back edge. If there's any movement then see whether it's the hinge pins (replace) or the A-Post (weld). After that you can look at packing pieces behind the hinges. JLH do a comprehensive range of laser cut bits to fit either side of the hinge (door or pillar) and in various thicknesses.

The door top (window frame) is adjustable by slackening mounting bolts to door. You can also "adjust" the lip of the frame where the draught excluder fits in order to improve the fit - mole grips or block of wood and hammer. A very good Minor specialist makes ach door to fit a specific car as there is a great deal of variation.

I've seen body shops "adjust" the door with jacks.

[xpress]

i could just get some washers/acting as shims and try to build up behind the hinges to correct this sagging, no play in the a-pillar or the nuts. there's definitely a gap at the top part of the seal between a-post and door. i am not even sure if i correct this if the door will indeed even shut to the second part of the latch, when i lift it, i can't seem to shut it to the 2nd clic! the door seems to stick out and looks like it's not shut properly!

definitely i can see that these doors need to be sort of made to fit each car, that's the drawback to getting donor doors and not fixing the existing ones!

:S

any ideas let me know :S

[xpress]

with afterthought and hindsight, i think that the door at the upper hinge, needs knocking in a bit, because this gap between the a pillar and door should be tighter and it actually gets wider as you look up the door, and on the other side, it's tighter and more uniform. however i guess i'd better be careful knocking this part of the door in, otherwise i would have to fit shims/washers to correct it! i think i am right here because on the b pillar the door edge is losing its paint because it's rubbing.

the joys!

[xpress]

today i have been tinkering and managed to free up the drivers side clip-on mirror, greased and fitted it.

fitted the triangle cover and pushed the rubber back in, quarterlight back in, all screwed in and done.

measured the pitch between the door and a pillar. it starts at about 2mm, goes up to 7mm difference at its worst at the top near the top hingle.

my theory is that i am going to have to knock the metal in at the metal where the hinge meets the door, at certain intervals ...

bottom screws will leave that part of the metal, next set up, knock in with a hammer by 2mm, then upper hinge lower bolt area, 3/4 then upper hinge upper bolts 5/6mm ..

however, that's a lot of mm to knock in the metal at, do you think this is possible?

i am measuring compared to the door on the other side and the lines when the door is shut.

[polo2k]

if it were me I would remove the locking hardware from the B pillar and get the door to shut correctly and sit in the apperture.
presuming everything is straight you should be able to fit and adjust the locking stuff

[xpress]

true polo, but you can actually see the gap widen on this door. sucks eh? if anyone wants to take out some of their anger and and hit the door with a lump hammer pm me.

lol.