Convertible door gaps

[flak monkey]

Hi guys,

Just joined up, and will no doubt have lots of questions in the coming months

I have a 1968 convertible sitting in my yard thats been there a while. It belongs to a friend who wants me to do a sort of resto job on it. Its not in terrible condition, and is an original convertible. It's had some money spent on it over the years, but also a lot of bodged MOT type rust repairs. Including lots of sill repairs.

The thing of most concern to me is the door gaps, which are a couple of mm at the bottom, up to around 10-15mm at the top Now I am guesing that isn't right! The doors don't shut easily at all. I am guessing, by the extent of the old repairs, that its all moved and been badly repaired without any bracing.

Can anyone give me an idea of the correct door gaps I should be aiming at? I will be replacing the complete floors, sill sections, and frame rails so have the oppotunity to straighten it back out as best I can.

The rest of the car doesn't look too bad compared to some others that I have seen!

David

[bmcecosse]

Just aim for door gaps even top to bottom - and not closing up when 4 people climb into the car and sit down.......

[flak monkey]

Thanks, it doesn't move much now, but it's obviously not right. There is no shims or anything in the door hinges, doesn't look like they have ever been off.

It had a new engine fitted a couple of years ago, and it's had a new rag top at some point recently too.

Here's some pics of the poor old thing.

Vin and body tags, I know the MAT VIN is correct for a convertible, not sure about the body tag




I am not sure what's referred to as the strengthening plates at the A and B pillars, as I dont have a hardtop here to compare.




Those lovely door gaps, both sides are the same and the opposite to what I'd normally expect.



And some brilliant old repairs

[tysonn]

Gaps on mine are around 3mm and parallel.

[MarkyB]

I don't think the window frame is original and it's angle looks more extreme than the door itself.
Hard to tell which bits of the sills are original from the pictures, any ideas?
Pictures of the gaps at the front of the doors would be interesting.

[flak monkey]

Hi,

Thanks for the reply.

The gap at the front of the door is good, even all the way up, 4-5mm. Ive taken the wings off now, so can't get any pics. I agree that the window frame looks further out than the door, and it's not original. I can adjust that once the door shell actually fits the body correctly though.

The boxing plates of the sills have been patched over, the underside of the sill/floor is a series of patches and the inside has also been patched at floor level quite considerably. The only part that hasn't been touched is the top of them

David

[ASL642]

It looks to me like the stainless steel door top isn't in straight. If the door lock "end" was lowered a bit more the gap would appear more even.

[rayofleamington]

The door tops have been taken from a traveller door (or the entire door). There can be variation in door sizes over the years etc..
However I've not come across doors being 'out of parrallel' - therefore as you already expect, the problem is the floor/sills. The biggest problem I've seen is between 4dr saloon doors and LCV doors - in theory they were the same but in reality they could be VERY different in length.

I'd agree you're right to cut it all out and start again as there's enough rot in between the patches (and enough patches) to make it worthwhile.

The repairs don't look nearly as bad as many of the 'bodges' I've seen - but not what you want to see on a drophead. A lot of the structural strength comes from the ends of the sill - there are many panels joined together at the bottom of the A-post and patches over the top do nothing to repair the inner structure / strength. You're almost certain to find you need to repair every panel that comes near the ends of the sills, and it's very much worth to do the hidden ones and make sure welds penetrate through all panels, not just the first ones etc..

The photos of the A & B post strengtheners look fine (i.e. - look original) which is always a good start.

Good luck with the project - i'll be interested to see it as it goes along.

[Ian46]

I'm just about to start this sort of restoration work on my 1952 Convertible.

Having restored a few other convertibles in my time, Spitfires, MGA's MGB's I have found that when you 'inherit' a vehicle that appears out of shape you have to spend some time working out why.

Look for accident damage or dodgy repairs as you have and try to work out where strength may have been lost through those repairs. Bottom of the A post and repairs to the cills before is a classic starting point for investigation.

With the car on a known flat surface, chalk out a centre line on the floor and measure each door opening and measure to the suspension pick up points to determine any deviations in the structure. One side may be different to the other as previous repairs have been carried out at different times and there could be distortion locked into the structure. If you haven't done so already put the hood down. I have seen convertibles in the past that are literally held together (or apart) by the hood frame!

Then bite the bullet and with the shell fully supported cut some of the previous repairs out and pull/push the structure until you have the door gaps you want. As the doors hang off the A post a lot of attention should be focused in this area. Leave the front wing on to help alignment and the door with its window frame to align with the rake of the screen (As has been pointed out you may want to ditch the s/s frame you have as it looks odd).

When you are happy with the external panel fit (as this is what you will see) weld in a temporary structure consisting of bracing across the door openings and cross bracing across the B posts to keep the desired shape. I have used the returns around the door openings where the draft excluders fit to weld to. When the works are completed the temporary structure is cut out and the attached points are hidden under the draft excluders.

This approach has worked well for me so far. Good luck with the project an post some photos of progress please.

Regards Ian