Door alignment help

I posted this in another section, but think it belongs here. Think its more a technical question and I didn't get much feed back in the body section 🙅

Click here - if you can help.

Thanks, Kevin

What do u need to know ???

Ok, as it stands I have just had over sized hinge pins fitted so they are fine. But the rear edge of the door is not parallel with the B pillar. I cant see how (when door is shut) that sliding the hinges at the front of the door in or out will lengthen or shorten the distance between the hinge and B pillar, thus straightening the door alignment.

Door is dropped on back edge (lower corner at rear). I dont know if you need to heat the solid part of the hinge and bend them or not.

Cheers, Kevin

thats a hard one Kev

as you have found out

the hinge screws can be adjusted up & down
and in and out

but nothing to adjust Your door back edge....

I usually , adjust the door lock striker
to lift the door up slightly...

but that probably won't fix Your problem..

I just remembered Kev,
I think they used shims that were slid in between the hinge and the door jamb...

so, shimming the top hinge will lift Your door edge UP...

cheers

LEE

you can add the factory shim plate between the door hings and body mounts to adjust this area of alignment.

So if it is dropped at the back corner then you would add shims to bottom hinge

start off by fitting the door with NO rubber seals this will make it easier to align

Even though you have new hinge pins fitted sometimes the hinge may be bent slightly and may require a knock forward or backward to get the gap correct also as per above shims can help use a heavy hammer and a good dolly to stop the hinge rivets pulling from the door skin its not an easy job and may require some mates around to help hold and push

some doors after years are way out of shape and may also require a stretch or twist along the back of them

also easier to align the door with no glass fitted

If you have had the car to a panel shop they should have aligned it before paint ( if there anygood ) or is it a new door your fitting to the car

so the back B pillar gap isnt any good how about the front A pillar gap is it even up n down or excessively wide???

for got to add Lumps of wood 2 x 3 hard wood are good to use as a bending helper as well

yeah as vw54 said, the doors may be physically twisted and bent to 'hand-fit' them to the car

Thanks everyone for the input. Firstly, my car is a bare metal shell and I took to the door with a piece of timer and applied a bit of pressure. As it worked out, obviously to the right spot as I now have the passengers door swinging into the door frame without touching anywhere. I now know that by just standing next to the car and hanging on the door (being lazy) can very easily put the alignment out and will have to take care in the future.

Now I will have to go and work on the drivers door and hope I have as much luck.

Thanks again, Kevin

OK so you have the body off the chassis
Great align it best as possible

BUT be aware it can and may / will go out of shape when bolted back to the floor pan

when fitting the body to the chassis may sure you align and fit all the bolts and rubber before you tighten any of them

Sorry vw54, may have said that wrong. The body and doors are bare as in all metal, no glass, window winders etc. But, the body is bolted down on the floor pan for the door alignment thanks. So hopefully once sorted and then painted, it will all go back nicely - I hope.

Kev

So has the body been off the chassis at all ???

If its been off was it bolted down correctly and evenly was there any panel ( welding ) work done on the A pillar it may need a push with a porter power

did you check the front door gap is it excessive are the hinges bent theres a zillion things to check and push


when hanging the doors ( bare ) the B pillar gap should be slightly more open at the top compared to the bottom to allow for the weight of the glass and lock mechanism etc etc this extra weight will make the door align when complete

Thanks Dave for your thoughts and yes the body has been off and is now back on. I have it bolted down firm, but dont have a seal in there at this point.

When you talk about a bit of a push with the porter power are you talking about either hinge area or just the bottom. Yes I have work done with both the bottoms of the A pillars repaired. But it was all measured up so I'm told. With the body on, is it possible to slightly push on the upper hinge area. The channels were not taken out so I also hope this hasn't allowed the door gaps to move.

Thanks for the tip about the extra weight when the door glass etc goes back in.

Just a couple of photos to show you the work, Kevin

Ok so the welding may have distorted the lower hinge area and it may need a diagonal push to twist the body back to correct position its hard to say it will be something you will have to play with a few times to get it right

the lower hinge may need a push forward to over center it if that makes sense

how is the front door gap and the gap above the 1/4 window

Nice pan!

VW 54 Is on the right track

I just started assmenling mine and had the same issues. The flat face on the body pillar sets the angle of the door hinge. I noticed on mine, that not one of the hinges came off the body at the same angle. So like VW 54 said, over or under centre the hinge too fix the issue. Say the bottom off the door is too close to the centre pillar, push the bottom hinge towards the front off the car.

It worked a treat for me.

Trev