| [ Total Views: 733 | Total Replies: 10 | Thread Id: 76115 ] |
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 djnee
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| posted on April 23rd, 2009 at 01:35 PM |
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Whats everyone's experience with doors fitting properly?
I posted in the tech bit a while ago that i'm having a job getting my doors to fit properly on my 68 Beetle.
I had a few replies and followed the advice, but no matter how i jig them about i still can't get any joy 
I've tried taking the striker plate off completely, but even with that off and pushing heavily on the door to close it, the door still won't shut
flush with the body, basically the most the door will physically close is how you see it in the picture below, plus height-wise i can't get the
chrome trims to line up either.
It looks like the previous owner had probs with this too as between the hinges and pillars i found it packed out a bit with metal washers.
What's the best bet....some different doors?
The hinges look slightly bent...as if the doors have been opened a bit too wide a few times, but i'm reluctant to take the doors off and re-bend them
straight just in case it makes things worse!
Any tips on how you guys got your doors to fit...or is this one of those things that with it being a 40 year old car i'll probably just have to live
with!?
Many thanks
Neil
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 vw54
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| posted on April 23rd, 2009 at 01:49 PM |
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make sure the hinge pins are good and not loose or worn grab the door at the back and move up n down to check out the pin wear
fir the door to the car with out a rubber or striker plate get the gaps even if possible
and the seam aligning with the rear seam on the body work under the window and above the chrome strip
dont worry about the chrome strip as yet untill all the above is good
if the hinges are bent then you may have to use a FBH to bend but will damage paint unless you protect with cardboard
also fit the doors with the glass and winder mechanisms as this adds weight and will make the door drop if added later
as per yr picture do u have the door rubber fitted there if so remove the rubber and try the door again you may have to clean the gunk out of
the door rubber slot with glue thinners or similar
hope this helps
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djnee
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| posted on April 23rd, 2009 at 02:33 PM |
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OK....
Pins appear to be ok, so i took the door rubber out and it was exactly the same. Behind the rubber was clean and nothing needed clearing out from
behind it.
After further investigation I'm beginning to think it's a combination of many things, and i'm not sure which way to go with it.
Here's some more pics
This is taken from the inside....i notice the middle of the door seems ok (from the inside at least) but there's a massive gap at the bottom. Does
anyone reckon the whole door could be bent?
The top hinge looks like it's bent to the left slightly....
...whereas the bottom hinge looks like it's bent the opposite way to the top!! (grrrr...ffs!)
Sorry to bother everyone with such mundane questions, but this really niggles me and i'm not sure what the best remedy is.
Do you guys reckon i'm better off looking for straighter doors or is it worth trying to do something with what i already have? Any help is greatly
recieved as i'm on a budget of not-a-lot!
Thanks again 
Neil
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donn
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| posted on April 23rd, 2009 at 02:41 PM |
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How long have you had the car? has it been like this since you have had the car? Sounds / looks like it may have been in a major bingle and the body
is way out of wack, doros may twist a bit but this can be straightened to a degree but if the body has been distorted and not put back into shape
properly then you have a major job on your hands.
I dream of a day when a chicken can cross a road without being asked for it's motive!
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VWCOOL
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| posted on April 23rd, 2009 at 02:43 PM |
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If you can get nicer doors for not-a-lot-of-$, try those instead. Bent hinges mean the doors will never sit straight in thier apertures (assuming
nothing else is bent, of course...)
Pay your debts, CxxT
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djnee
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| posted on April 23rd, 2009 at 02:47 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by donn
How long have you had the car? has it been like this since you have had the car? Sounds / looks like it may have been in a major bingle and the body
is way out of wack, doros may twist a bit but this can be straightened to a degree but if the body has been distorted and not put back into shape
properly then you have a major job on your hands.
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Yikes!
Not had the car long, about a month, but they were like this when we bought it. I wasn't overly concerned as i realise that due to the age of the car
things may not line up properly and was prepared to try and get them to fit better....but after trying and failing i thought i'd ask here.
I'm praying it's the door and not the body....scary thought
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68AutoBug
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 posted on April 23rd, 2009 at 02:53 PM |
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Hinges look bad...
You don't see many bent like that...
especially the bottom one..
and if the hinge is bent that bad,
then inside the door where the hinge attaches...
must also be bent...
so that door looks Bad...
Just hoping the door hinge attaching piece inside the door jamb of the body isn't also bent....
best of luck
LEE
- [size=4]Helping keep Air Cooled VWs on the road - location: SCONE in the Upper Hunter Valley - Northern NSW 320 kms NNW of SYDNEY--- [/size]
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djnee
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| posted on April 23rd, 2009 at 02:56 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by 68AutoBug
Hinges look bad...
You don't see many bent like that...
especially the bottom one..
and if the hinge is bent that bad,
then inside the door where the hinge attaches...
must also be bent...
so that door looks Bad...
Just hoping the door hinge attaching piece inside the door jamb of the body isn't also bent....
best of luck
LEE
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It's deffo a weird one in the sense that i can appreciate that bent hinges would make either a larger / smaller vertical gap between the door and the
body, but the door would still probably close flush with the body...even with bent hinges??
(hope you can follow that! not exactly the best description ever!!)
Or am i way off?
Either way it's not great though...lol
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Joel
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| posted on April 23rd, 2009 at 07:07 PM |
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ok looking at your pics what you have is typical of a door thats been opened to far
comes about from people swinging on the doors, doors being hit by things when open or people letting them fly open when facing down hill
the top hinge gets bent and the lower hinge doesnt bend its the door skin that does which is also obvious by the hole in the outter doorskin behind
the lower hinge
its common as muck, at least 3 of my bugs have been like it
easiet fix is to get another door but another alternative is to find a rusty or dinged up door with good hinges and swap them over
oh yeah in the first pic "big gap" is normal
the 1mm gap between the door and the front pillar isnt tho, should be about 4mm
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555bug
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| posted on April 23rd, 2009 at 09:36 PM |
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That A piller looks like it may have seen better days, i'd check it for rust also as part of your work.
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djnee
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| posted on April 30th, 2009 at 12:13 PM |
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| Quote: | Originally
posted by 555bug
That A piller looks like it may have seen better days, i'd check it for rust also as part of your work.
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Yeah, i'll probably end up trying to sort it properly. Im presuming there's a replacement panel that i can get welded in?
Thanks for all the advice guys
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