Trying to make my door fit better

[patrick66]

I'm taking a paint and body class...which is just marginally a "class" since everybody in there but me has paint and body experience, and it's basically renting the body shop at the vo-tech six hours/week for eight weeks to do what you want to, pretty much.

Last week, I hammered away on a Fargo tailgate I'm looking to put on my '68 D100. Tonight, I drove the '66 Coronet to class to see if I could get the door to line up and shut better. The gap around the door is uniform, but the lower rear corner of the door sticks out from the jamb about 3/16". Been that way for the 38 years I've owned the car. So, I figured, I'd give it a shot at making the door right.

At the very top, the door window chrome hits the rear window chrome, so if the window is up, I have to shut the door rather hard. If it's down, the door shuts fine, with the lower door issue I explained earlier. I managed to get the door "in" at the lower corner about half that 3/16" it was before. The upper window corner no longer strikes up against the rear window chrome, so I've got that going for me. It's as good as it's gonna get, since I'm not going to pull the dash assembly and the kick panel to get to the forward hinge mounting bolts. The thing is, the gaps are dead-on right now and the door shuts better. It's not perfect, but I'm gonna leave it alone and be happy with the work.

The pics below show the "after". You'll see the door at the top rear still sits down in relation to the quarter panel, and the bottom rear still sticks out a bit, but it's better than it was.

 

[Cranky]

Is the door the problem or has the quarter been worked on? Doors can be a bit tricky especially if you don't plan on loosening the hinges. I've used a floor jack and a foot long 2x4 under the bottom to push up one that was sagging and have used wood wedges to push against the jamb to get one straight that was slightly twisted. Ever use a sledge hammer to 'body work' a bumper using the ground as a sand bag? Loved to do body work but the neighbors didn't like it much

 

[patrick66]

The quarter had a small rust problem, that was fixed in 1985. I'm pretty sure the door is the issue. Next step might be to lift the door with a jack and a 2x4 to get it a bit more in line. I've also tried to loosen up the mounts and pull back on the top of the door and push in on the bottom, which resulted in what's pictured. Better than it was, but not perfect.

 

[slimt]

First off check hinge pins.. see if there any wiggle.. if solid ..align the door with the quarter panel first.. that might mean removing the front fenders.. so the Hinge Post bolts can be loosined and moved back,, the quarters are stationary.. thats the first step.. I have the same problem with my Charger.. those will be the first steps I will take.. if it was a Minor adjustment.. maybe a two by four.. but your gaps are wide....

back in the day shims were used.. even by the factory.. I know Mopars had those.. GMs were big on those..

 

[slimt]

Is the door the problem or has the quarter been worked on? Doors can be a bit tricky especially if you don't plan on loosening the hinges. I've used a floor jack and a foot long 2x4 under the bottom to push up one that was sagging and have used wood wedges to push against the jamb to get one straight that was slightly twisted. Ever use a sledge hammer to 'body work' a bumper using the ground as a sand bag? Loved to do body work but the neighbors didn't like it much

Yep, Neighbours can be dirtbags..

 

[flypaper]

its not uncommon for a Mopar to have gaps like that going all the way back to new.

 

[moparnation74]

Check the hinges for looseness.

You may be able to adjust the door close but you will have a larger front gap vertically near the bottom.....

 

[Billccm]

Possibly a urban legend, but several of my mopar collector and long time enthusiasts friends claim Chrysler wanted the bottom rear corners of the door out slightly. Seems there was a high speed whistle issue that was resolved with the door lower corner. Maybe that was an excuse to slap together car bodies?
Most untouched b bodies I've seen over the years have the bottom corner out of alignment slightly.

 

[patrick66]

Interesting. My passenger side door is nearly perfect. I'd thought about the pins, and hoped to have fixed it last night. But, I think it may have to go to removing the fender and going in deep. I may well wait until I decide to repaint the car to do all of that. The paint is quite good on the car (painted 1985, and always garaged), but since I've got some minor rust in a couple of spots, I'll do the whole car at some time and take care of all that at one time.

 

[moparnation74]

Interesting. My passenger side door is nearly perfect. I'd thought about the pins, and hoped to have fixed it last night. But, I think it may have to go to removing the fender and going in deep. I may well wait until I decide to repaint the car to do all of that. The paint is quite good on the car (painted 1985, and always garaged), but since I've got some minor rust in a couple of spots, I'll do the whole car at some time and take care of all that at one time.

The pins/hinges on my GTX driver side were worn badly and I had a gap as yours....Car is restored and the gap issue was resolved....Hinges were restored....

That is a high possibility its the pins/hinges

 

[moparnation74]

Possibly a urban legend, but several of my mopar collector and long time enthusiasts friends claim Chrysler wanted the bottom rear corners of the door out slightly. Seems there was a high speed whistle issue that was resolved with the door lower corner. Maybe that was an excuse to slap together car bodies?
Most untouched b bodies I've seen over the years have the bottom corner out of alignment slightly.

Urban legend....

They got kicked out there due to the rocker/1/4 area which is leaded.....The fitment was poor and that is an area where back in the day people didnt eye down cars like they do now....So the easy overall fix was to bend the door out a but....

 

[wagonman]

When setting the gaps before paint the only real issue I had was the trunk lid. The right front corner sat high and no amount of tweaking would get it lower. We took the lid off sat it on the floor and smacked it with a sledge and a 2x4, a little filler and all was good. The QC back in those days left alot to be desired not to mention 50 years of pounding on a Unibody car. Looks like that door is a candidate for some 2x4 love.

 

[Jackpot50]

They didn't care much about body fit back then.
Look around at others and see how they fit.