The passenger door on my 68 only just shuts atm and we haven't even replaced the rubbers yet! It probably has about 1mm of clearance between it and the sill (i think that's what it's called) :jesus When on the other side there are a good few mill's. I am worried that once it's painted and we go to put the door seals around, it won't be able to shut properly 馃檨
Can anyone help, what can we do???
Foxy
xx
-------------It's not actually the sill, read below plsnn[ Edited on 2-7-2005 by foxy_fuchsia ]
Chewy 路
Adjust the striker plate outwards?
pod 路
wait till you put the new rubbers on 馃檮, you will have more fun trying to get the doors to shut馃槀
toplessbug 路
how are the hinges usually they are worn which allows the door to drop and no amount of wiggiling will fix that ..if the hinges are ok then have you replaced pan halves and lower door pillars? if so sometimes if your not careful the a pillar can move and needs to be pushed back to the right spot you can check this buy looking at the gap between the door and the b pillar when the door is nearly closed be sure to fix these probs before you paint cause you dont want to be pushing pillars around later
foxy_fuchsia 路
I just found out it's not actually the sill. Its actually the part where the door catches. I don't know how to explain it so I have shown a piccy of what part it is below...
foxy_fuchsia 路
I only had a pic of the drivers door so it is worse than this and only has about 1mm of clearance
VWCOOL 路
Have you rpelaced the door? Sometimes doosr from other years etc are a ittle bigger or smaller than the original, by a few mm. It's called 'manufacturing tolerance'. If the gap at the front edge of teh door (A pillar) is large, you may need to bend the hinges which is a job that requires experience
foxy_fuchsia 路
Yeah we did actually replace the door with a later model one so that's probably why...
h 路
oh no doh!
Anthiron 路
ive got the same thing on my baja but it still shuts so im not particularly worried. its cause my A pillar bases were cactus and after they were welded up the doors were a bit skew if.
foxy_fuchsia 路
Is there anything we can do? We still have it's original door but i think it needs some work..........
Anthiron 路
well when mine was welded the door wouldnt shut so we got my bottle jack and bit of wood and jacked my doorframe apart a little bit. but i didnt care about the dents etc cause its got enough all ready i just care about funtionability. so i dont recomend you do this. but u could go to a panel place and get a hydrolic ram and if supported properly u could use the same sort of idea to move the frame out slightly. too me the pic u have posted makes it look like ur pillars have been welded and welded higher than stock which lifts the hinges up and puts the door on a funny angle.
Anthiron 路
or ur hinges are just sagging a little. is there play in your hinges?
toplessbug 路
well it looks as tho your a pillars are not right ,you need a portapower to move the top door hinge foward a bit to even up the gap check the door hinges first to make sure its not there .pushing the a pillars foward is not a big job
foxy_fuchsia 路
That piccy is the only one I had and it is of the drivers door!! The problem is on the passenger side 馃檨 The drivers door is fine, but the other one has about a mill gap which ain't good! The hinges are fine, no rust at all and no play....
toplessbug 路
hang on that door fit isnt fine the top is way to close ,look at the variation between top and bottom ..now if the pass door is the same i would bet sombodys done a weld job in there and not braced it correctly and the pillars have mooved back at the top .simple fix grab the porta power ,long extn, fit it to the upper door hinge point and GENTLY push it to where it should be
foxy_fuchsia 路
Ahh i am confused...don't know what to do 馃檨 It is supposed to be primed this weekend but I don't want it done till I know how I can fix this
Andy 路
??? A little confused also.
Is there not enough adjustment in the mounting of the hinges to accomodate variations like this? That's what I have done on my VW's.
Worth the effort to check this first.
Don't forget hinges vary as well as doors model to model, can you compare to what you removed?
splitbusaustralia 路
bend the hinges! drive out the hinge pin and
just put the sperate bit of hinge in a vice heat it
and bend it (hit with hammer) to open door gap.
Fit oversize hinge pins and fix any sag while you're at it.
Most bus doors need this done and its not that difficult...
regards
RobK
t2 路
i also read that its a good idea to fit the rubbers before paint to make sure the gaps are right and the doors open and close properly, i guess the trick would be to not destroy the rubbers when you take them off for paint or you would need to buy a replacement , some people even go ahead and buy 2 sets just to get the doors closing flush during a resto
just a thought
darrennn[ Edited on 6-7-2005 by t2 ]
Doug Sweetman 路
Ummm, I'd never describe removing a VW hinge pin as 'not difficult' ..... unless you have a full workshop and 10 ton press available.... I have always had to drill them out and that is a bitch of a job.
Ive the gap is big at the bottom hinge you can shim the hinges - bringing the bottom of the door out further consequently brings the top of the door in... if you know what I mean.
koolkarmakombi 路
someone may want to explain the porta power method to FF a bit better, wiser ppls than me, I understand whats being said but have never done it. I think they would be able to do it from their obvious aptitudes but a clear guide would make it easier.
I recommend the hire shop in wolverhampton street (i think) is stafford as a good hire shop to get a porta power
kkk
helbus 路
A porta power can cause damage if used incorrectly.
First thing I would do is drop the front of the door by a couple of mm if that is possible, Then lift the back of the door with it open about 10cm. It is best to lift from the bottom of the door and push the top of the door forward at the same time.
Hey I've been doing this sort of thing for a long time on a lot of cars and it can still take me up to an hour until I am happy with an exact door gap. Then sometimes it can take 30 seconds.
Jeza 路
I'd also be curious to know how you deal with this issue using a porta power, as I've got a similar problem. Some one mentioned the porta power also... but the detail was very hazy.
And in between reading the post and replying Helbus comes along and saves the day... thanks :thumb
Cheers
Jeremynn[ Edited on 6-7-2005 by Jeza ]
foxy_fuchsia 路
Well I just found out that when that piccy of the drivers door was taken the car was jacked up in a very awkward position, hence the dooor looking like that. I went and had another look at it and it's fine. We did however find a solution for the passenger door which I am so happy about and it looks great!!
My genious boyfriend took a small strip of metal out of the front part running down beside the hinges and used a bottle jack and a piece of wood to edge it over gently and then welded the strip up when the gap was perfecto! It great now shuts like new 馃榾 And the best part is it only look him 1-2 hours! Full steam ahead for tomorrow's priming, and the weather looks very nice indeed...knock on wood! :bouncenn[ Edited on 9-7-2005 by foxy_fuchsia ]