cdoyle

Hey,

OK, so on my 84 I'm replacing the door with one off my donor car. My original door on the passenger side actually hung fine didn't sag or anything. But the door itself had a lot of rust and bondo on it. So I thought it would be better to just replace the door with a good one.

So I cut the door pins off, and bought the greaseable pins and have them installed. But the darn door is not fitting right, it's almost like it's too far forward because it's hitting the fender when I try and shut it. It rubs right in the middle of the door. Plus on the other side, there is way too much of a gap, so it's really like the whole door needs to move back a hair. I can't figure out how to do it?

Another thing I noticed is with the door shut, the actual door seems to be pushed out too far. it's not flush with the fender anymore. More on the top of the door it needs to be pushed in some? How is this done?

I thought this would be an easy swap, since the old doors fitment was fine no opening/closing issues. But now I'm having all sorts of problems with this.

cdoyle

oh forgot to mention, when the door was on the donor car it matched up great there too. So that's why I'm so confused, both doors on both cars were fine before I started this project.

cdoyle

Here are some pics to show what I'm talking about.

Here is where the door is hitting the fender:


Here you can see how it's pushed out too far (the old door lined up perfectly with the fender)



The gap where the door shuts


I cannot figure out what is going on here?

cdoyle

Anyone know how to fix this?

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

Did the doors have shims?

That's all I can think of, IDK alot about body work.

cdoyle

no shims that I saw..
I don't see any way to adjust them in, just doesn't make sense.

Louis64

Do the door strikers adjust?? I know sometimes they do

cdoyle

I don't think they do, but I'll check tonight. Even if they do though, would that help with the door rubbing the fender?

cdoyle

Anyone else have any ideas what could be causing this? I'm hoping I can get it fixed this weekend, but right now I have no idea on what to even try.

white gold 88

cdoyle, first your donor door looks like it has been worked on the front. Appears to be filler in the pics so the end of the door may be tweaked. Second the fender looks like it may be pushed in a little in the middle possibly to match the door that came off the car. There is no in and out adjustment on the door so you'll have to make the fender fit the door.

As for the forward and back adjustment, the bolts through the hinge into the post is the place for this adjustment. Usually you will find that GM left one hole in each hinge with no adjustment. Open that hole out and the door should move back.

cdoyle

Thanks,
I'll take a look at the fender and see if that can be adjusted at all.

On the hinge, I know there are 3 bolts. The one bolt closest to the fender is not adjustable. ARe you saying that bolt should just come all the way out, and not be used?

t-top havoc

iTrader: (3)

See if the jacking area has been mashed by a floor jack.
I've read that can cause fenders to bow some, & unfortunately for me, that is the problem with our passenger side.

white gold 88

pm sent

Yes you can leave those bolts out for alignment but I'd put them back before you're done. New hinges from GM came with one hole small. We'd always run a 1/2 inch drill through it before putting them on.

With the in and out deal, you may want to check the inside of the door around the hinges to see if there are any signs of damage or tweaking. Also on the car around the hinge mount areas. This would cause the door to be out of alignment. Does the window fit the weatherstrip or is it sitting "out" too far also? If the window fits well then you need to work with the sheet metal. The fender has quite a bit of adjustment in and out. The only problem with going too far out will be hood gaps. If you are getting ready for paint then you may want to take the hood and fenders off, it'll make aligning the doors much easier. Let me know if I can help. Good luck

cdoyle

Hi Dan,
I hadn't even thought about the window until you mentioned it, and it doesn't even remotely line up







The door actually shuts OK (besides rubbing the fender), and the hinges on the door seem OK. They don't appear tweaked at all.

There is no difference between a T-Top/hard top doors are there?

white gold 88

There's no difference in the doors, well maybe some of the weld on parts moved around over the years. I've seen several, on here and in the past on my own that didn't fit right. Somehow you need to move the top of the door in. Maybe with the door off you could bend, tweak the hinge. First off I'd get the door slid back, that may be most of the problem. Could be binding at the top and pushing door out.

micktroup2

I would suggest lifting the door UP as well as moving it back a little. Mine does this too at the front, but not to the same degree(it is a replacement door too). If you raise the front of the door up, it will close that gap at the top and open it at the bottom. You can see on both ends of the door that the gap is bigger at the top than the bottom. This is a sign that the door is too LOW.

QUICKCHICKEN

iTrader: (12)

Cdoyle, i have the GM book for T tops and in this book it also tells how to adj the door glass. it tells what bolts do what function so your not going at this blind. these adjustments can be found in the HELM book in the body section.

white gold 88

I've got the book as well but if you move the window in that far it won't touch the wiper, sweep.

With that door that far out you may have to drill out the welds in the upper hinge and bolt the door on. That's GM's way to replace the hinge but it can be done to gain adjustment. I didn't want to mention it because it's a PITA.

cdoyle

When you say drill out the welds, what do you mean? What do I need to drill out?

I've tried to pull the door back but it won't budge. It could be that I'm already at the end of the adjustments in the hinge. Do I need to somehow make those adjustments longer on the hinge?

but not sure if that would fix the door being out too far problem. Seeing the glass and how far out it is, I just can't believe it's so bad! It fit perfect on the old car so I thought this would be a much simpler swap..

QUICKCHICKEN

iTrader: (12)

have ya loosend the striker pin? it has a "little" movement to allow the door to come in some. a friend that was a body man shown me this long ago.

white gold 88

I believe after 10 years of producing the same car that GM's tooling got out of wack. When you say the door won't slide back, do you have the bolts out that have no adjustment? If not it won't move. If they are out you may need to take out one more and see if there is any adjustment left. If the threaded hole is close to the front of the edge of the hole in the hinge then there may not be anymore adjustment left. There is a way to move the door back by bending the door or hinge but I try to save that for fine tuning. You can really mess up a door that way.

As for drilling out the welds, IIRC there are 4 spot welds holding the hinge to the door. You'll need to locate these as best as possible to start drilling from the center. If you do this you'll need to make a "tap plate" to put inside the door or reach inside and put nuts on the bolts to hold hinge on again. Either way it's best to use a 14 gage or so plate on the inside of the door.

cdoyle

Hi,
Ya I have the non adjustable bolt out of the hinge, and the other 2 are loose but I just can't 'pull' the door any toward the back of the car. It doesn't move. I think it's at the end of the adjustment slot is why, but I can't see in there to know for sure.

Even if i am able to slide the door back some, any ideas why the door is 'out' too far? Seeing the glass being almost an inch away from the weatherstripping. Is it even possible to adjust the door that much? Even if the striker pin could be move some, I don't think it would move the door enough to fix that.

QUICKCHICKEN

iTrader: (12)

something nobody has mentioned or i over read it, the fender is able to be pulled out by loosening the 10mm bolts that run along the top under the hood. thats how i got my fender to line up with my door.

white gold 88

See if it will move forward, give it a good rocking to free it up. It'd really be best to remove that fender. I know it's more work but you are painting anyway, don't have to worry about chips or scratches. If the area of the car around the front of the hinge is pushed in this would cause the door to be forward and out like this. Like if someone swung the door open way too far. With used parts you never know how they were treated.

I hate to mention it but you can put a socket or other stout piece of metal in the hinge and close the door some to twist the hinge and door to usually. If you try this do it carefully as you can really mess up a door. Be sure to set the socket or whatever against the hinge only. If you let it get to the jamb it will mash it. Push it closed gently using a little pressure at first then more as you see it's not messing anything up. I could get a pic of doing this on my car or something if you need. It should bring the door back and in.

cdoyle

Hmm, I guess I'm not picturing what you are describing?
Put a socket where, and then try and close the door?

white gold 88

I'll get you a pic this evening on my car, it'll be better than something else. I'm at work now and didn't bring my car.

cdoyle

Thanks! I really appreciate your help

I think I might be able to push the door 'back' a hair so it won't rub on the fender. There looks to be a little bit of adjustment left there. Just trying to get the door to move I have the bolts all loose but the door is being stubborn.

Hopefully I can at least get that done, and still have the door close properly. Then the next thing is how to fix the being pushed out too far problem.

white gold 88

This is about the best pic I can get. It's tight in there! Anyhow the socket is blue and notice that it's on the edge of the hinge. You may need about a 1 inch impact socket. Keep it on the hinge on the door side as well then as you try to shut the door you will feel the resistance. Do a little at a time checking gaps and the door shell. Sometimes you can actually warp the door shell and pop the skin loose. This doesn't always move the door the way you think it would so be careful. Pics in my album, site doesn't seem to want to let me post it.

white gold 88

Finally, LOL

cdoyle

I see the pic now, so doing this method, will this help bring the door 'in'? Seems like it would push it out?

white gold 88

That's why I said be careful, little at a time.

BTW How are you trying to slide the door back? Try with the door closed, loosen the top hinge bolts. Then open the door carefully. May want to have window down so you can hold up on door instead of handle. Bring door open enough to clear striker then see if it will go down, drop. If it does then tighten the bolts up. The door will be down on the striker then. Loosen the lower hinge bolts and pick up on rear of door, maybe even set it back in striker. Then tighten lower hinge bolts.