Door gap

[jimyboyle]

I have stripped the interior and wings from my 1970 2 door in preparation to start on the sills and floors but need a bit of advice.
The driver's door is a free fit in the gap which when measured about 3" above the top of the sill is 34".
The nearside door is a poor fit, the gap at the same place is 3/16" narrower making the door a tight fit.

When the door is moved to the close position the window frame fouls the B post, see photo, if you push it shut it does so with little effort to give a snug fit all round, see photo, it does not shut with the aid of worn hinge pins, they seem to be a good fit.
The hinge piller flexes / hinges forward to allow the door to close.

If I measure from the front of the closed doors to the back of the flange on the hinge pillar at the point where the door curves over near the top, the drives door is a 1" whereas the nearside is less than 7/8" Suggests a spacer is under the drivers door hinge to move it away from the pillar but there is no sign of one.
Both doors are the same width when measured 3" up from the bottom

I don't want to start bracing the door openings if something else needs to be done first, (like moving the A pillar forward a bit.
Any advice would be appreciated.

http://s1063.photobucket.com/albums/t512/jimyboyle/

[bmcecosse]

You will have to get the door aperture right - with NO flexing... So you need to adjust the tight side till it is same as the ok side.

[jimyboyle]

Should I cut off the hinge pillar/post and move it forward or is that a daft suggestion

[jimyboyle]

Had another good look at it, the door to B post gap is perfectly straight although only just under 3 mm, at the front the gap on the window frame is really tight so moving the A post won't work.
So that leaves me with flexing the A post bit with the hinges out to where they are with the door closed and then using the flitch/A post repair panel I was going to fit anyway to fix it in place.
Does that sound like the way to go?

[bmcecosse]

I guess so!

[Neil MG]

I think your description sounds right!

The problem as you quite rightly diagnose is due to hinge pillar and surrounding area corrosion allowing flexing. The weight of the door pulls it forward. You need to make sure the replacement parts are welded in the original location. If you move the pillar forward to compensate for flexing, then once it's all solid again and there is no flexing you may find more door and panel fit problems.

[jimyboyle]

I have now cut away the panel in front of the hinge pillar and it is clear to see why the door flexes the hinge panel, rusted through at the top and bottom
In the gap between the panel the hinges are welded to and the very front panel, there was clearly a section welded to the hinge panel at right angles going towards the kidney but almost all of it has rusted away.
Was this originally welded to the kidney bowl, no sign of any welds.
I have a new repair panel from Moss. It is the front hinge panel with the part inner wing section as one piece, it fits nice except at the top of the hinge panel. The panel on the car rises vertically and then about 40 mm from the top goes away at an angle towards the door.
The repair panel does not have this angle so when put in place there is a gap of about 25mm at the top, am I supposed to try to bend the repair into place. which would seem quite difficult to do. or just weld in a spacer. Anyone know?