Door gaps/adjusting panels..etc

[Wahoo]

Are these cars known to have bad panel gaps? I removed my passenger door to do some rust repair, and now I'm test fitting it to make sure it has decent gaps where I patched.... anyways it was a bit of a pain adjusting the door.

The door hinges are bolted on the car I never touched them, I removed the door by unbolting the door from the hinges.

What I'm adjusting is the door itself with the bolts loose, now it seems that you can only pull the top out or the bottom, no up and down movement? Or in and out(towards front of car, or towards rear).

I just want to make sure I'm trying to adjust it right.

This is the best I got it to be for now. I had to grind my patch down so I will have to reweld the bottom because I burned through the bend.....

Pictures:

See the top is wider than the bottom, and it was hard to make the door not hit the front fender(center horizontal body line).

 

[mikes86ttop]

Nope your on the right track, you'll never just bolt it back up and have it perfect, there's a lot of adjustment between the door and hinges take your time, also take your striker out to make it a little easier... Mike

 

[Wahoo]

Nope your on the right track, you'll never just bolt it back up and have it perfect, there's a lot of adjustment between the door and hinges take your time, also take your striker out to make it a little easier... Mike

striker? whats that?

 

[Wahoo]

Also is there adjustment with the hinge bolted onto the body or is the adjustment only hinge to door?

 

[mikes86ttop]

The striker is what the latch latches onto , yes there is also adjustment on the body

 

[TurboDave]

I have a similar issue! the front lower edge of the door is very close to the fender, but.... it's not a door alignment issue as all the other gaps and alignments of the door are perfect. If I move the door at all it'll screw up the other gags or lines. It's like the lower rear edge of the fender needs to move forward somehow.
Help!!!

 

[mikes86ttop]

That's an adjustment on the front clip if all your door gaps are good, how are your support bushings? Worn bushings will cause the front of the nose to dip down, hence causing a big gap at top of fender and tight down bottom. That can be adjusted with a little finesse here and there also keep in mind worn hinges will also be a PIA...Mike

 

[TurboDave]

Hinges are perfect! Not sure I know how to adjust the front clip.

Sent from my QMV7A tablet via Tapatalk.

 

[Wahoo]

The striker is what the latch latches onto , yes there is also adjustment on the body

Can I adjust the hinge to body with the door still on or do I need to take it off?

I want to confirm that there's no forward or backward movement of the door? Or maybe there is with the body to hinge adjustments?

Also I believe my door hinge bushings are good because if I grab the rear of the door with it open and go up and down I don't feel play. Is there another way I should be checking them?

 

[skidlid]

It looks like the back gap is good in the pictures. If you change the front it will move the back some also. I think all you will have to do is loosen the bottom bolt and middle bolt on the fender and slide it forward. If you do not have enough movement in the fender, make the bottom bolt hole larger and stick a body spoon between the door and fender and pry the fender forward as someone tightens the bottom bolt.

 

[skidlid]

Is the front of the door too low, hard to tell in the picture? If so loosen all the bolts on the door side hinge wiggle the door around then pry up this should get the plate in the door to move so it will move up. Then tighten and try again. If it is low this would help that gap towards the bottom of the fender also.

 

[Wahoo]

I think it's like an 1/8 or 3/16 of an inch too low to the body line at the rear of the door.

The up and down adjustment of the door is with the hinge to body? Can it be done with the door still on the hinges?

 

[Wahoo]

Is the front of the door too low, hard to tell in the picture? If so loosen all the bolts on the door side hinge wiggle the door around then pry up this should get the plate in the door to move so it will move up. Then tighten and try again. If it is low this would help that gap towards the bottom of the fender also.

My above post, is the up and down adjustment on the hinge to door or hinge to body?

 

[skidlid]

Move it on the door first if you do not have enough then you will have to move the cowl side of the hinge. There should be enough adjustment at the door though. You may have to loosen all the bolts on the door quite a bit then try to get it to go up. There is a plate inside the door that slides around so the door can be adjusted. Sometimes this plate stick from rust and you may need to open the door slightly while the bolts are very loose and wiggle the door to free up this plate.

 

[Wahoo]

Move it on the door first if you do not have enough then you will have to move the cowl side of the hinge. There should be enough adjustment at the door though. You may have to loosen all the bolts on the door quite a bit then try to get it to go up. There is a plate inside the door that slides around so the door can be adjusted. Sometimes this plate stick from rust and you may need to open the door slightly while the bolts are very loose and wiggle the door to free up this plate.

The body line at the back near the latch is good, I double checked, but when closing the door it seems like the door is slightly too low like when it latches it lifts the back of the door up a little bit.

So I think I need to get the door higher at the hinge adjustments, what's the best way to do this?

I'm worried to do it with a jack, don't want to damage the door but I don't see how else one can lift the door hold it in place and tighten the bolts.

Makes me wonder if I should just raise it by adjusting the hinge on the body with the door off, this is a pain in the ass lol, if I do that then I have to some how adjust both hinges equally.

 

[Wahoo]

How much adjustment is there for the front fenders? It seems lined up with the hood pretty good so I'm worried about having to adjust everything if I touch it...

 

[skidlid]

Just put a block of wood under the door and use a floor jack to jack up the door while the bolts are loose. It will not hurt anything. You should be able to just loosen the lower bolts on the fender and pry ahead without effecting the rest of the fender.

 

[Wahoo]

Just put a block of wood under the door and use a floor jack to jack up the door while the bolts are loose. It will not hurt anything. You should be able to just loosen the lower bolts on the fender and pry ahead without effecting the rest of the fender.

You think I should spray wd40 on the plate so it slides easier, maybe that's an issue as well.

 

[skidlid]

You think I should spray wd40 on the plate so it slides easier, maybe that's an issue as well.

Can't hurt, try to lift and twist also with door open in different spots

 

[silver/black]

when i had a body shop guy look at the gaps, mine are the same, he just scratched his head and couldn't figure out how it would happen. could it be, our flimsy frames being jacked up and with the weight of the engine before you can support it or it not being supported while on jack stands??