Door sag

[kendelrio]

Ok gents-
I've tried and tried, but I cannot seem to get the sag out of my driver's door.

I've adjusted the hinges (I have found they move them in and out)



The doors themselves


And in the process got the gap too tight (Note the chipped paint)



I cannot seem to get the gap correct and have a good level door.



If I get the door to where it doesn't droop, the gap is too tight. If I open the gap, the door drops

Can someone please explain to me like I'm 5 how to adjust the thing please?

 

[NDT]

Could the entire back of the cab be tweaked forward a bit?

 

[kendelrio]

Could the entire back of the cab be tweaked forward a bit?

It's possible, this *is* an almost 60 year old vehicle, but the passenger side is nice and level and the gap is beautiful.

 

[marchplumber]

You have the most amazing problems and solutions, Brother! Thanks for challenging and enlightening us!!

 

[kendelrio]

You have the most amazing problems and solutions, Brother! Thanks for challenging and enlightening us!!

Ummm thanks?

 

[marchplumber]

Ummm thanks?

Well, ya know we love ya, soooooooo

 

[ZiggyO]

I am willing to bet the pin on the upper hinge of the drivers door is shot-- We see that in my inlaws' body shop quite often. It makes sense that the driver's door is showing the issue and the pass door is perfect-- the drivers door sees the most use and many times is also used as a form of leverage to get behind the wheel.

Pull the hinges and sight down the hinges vertically-- I bet the pin is worn out or the hole worn to an oblong shape.

Z

 

[kendelrio]

I am willing to bet the pin on the upper hinge of the drivers door is shot-- We see that in my inlaws' body shop quite often. It makes sense that the driver's door is showing the issue and the pass door is perfect-- the drivers door sees the most use and many times is also used as a form of leverage to get behind the wheel.

Pull the hinges and sight down the hinges vertically-- I bet the pin is worn out or the hole worn to an oblong shape.

Z

So the fix for that is a "new" hinge?

 

[ZiggyO]

So the fix for that is a "new" hinge?

So in the auto body world, new hinges are the fix-- however, in the event that the hinge is not readily available, we use bronze bushings . It will require the services of a machine shop, but essentially, the hinge is drilled out on center, bushings pressed in, and a new pin inserted.

 

[canadacountry]

@kendelrio this is offtopic but when I noticed your saga I thought of an unrelated but similar headache-ish from my one trabant book..turns out that they fit the "raw" duroplast door panel onto a car then sandblast it to exact size hence since every car is 'bespoken', 30+ years later taking the driver door off one car and putting it onto another car does not always 100% fit well right away for this particular reason!

 

[kendelrio]

@kendelrio this is offtopic but when I noticed your saga I thought of an unrelated but similar headache-ish from my one trabant book..turns out that they fit the "raw" duroplast door panel onto a car then sandblast it to exact size hence since every car is 'bespoken', 30+ years later taking the driver door off one car and putting it onto another car does not always 100% fit well right away for this particular reason!

Interesting!

 

[Barrman]

With the door open. Do you get slop at the hinges if you pick up on the handle end? If so, try to see if it is the upper or lower hinge. Possibly both.

If no slop then it comes back to the cab being tweaked or as mentioned above the tolerance of the cab and the tolerance of the door being at the opposite ends of the spectrum and it just doesn’t fit right. Another wild thought is the body mount bushings. I am sure they are dried and degraded. Maybe one so so smooshed the cab has deformed?

 

[kendelrio]

I meant to update earlier... i left the shop last night and my buddy went TO the shop and adjusted it for me. The freaking thing is perfect now.

Tomorrow I'm going to hem him up and force him to tell me what he did!

 

[Bill Nutting]

In the early 1970’s I did a lot of service work at Pontiac Motors. I used to love watching the guys at the end of the line “adjusting” the bodies. Their main tool was a 2 X 4 and a rag. They would look the car over and pry doors, hoods and trunk lids to make them fit right. With all the sophisticated assembly equipment on the line, it ended up with a couple guys with a plank of wood and a whole lot of experience that made the panels fit.
I’m sure this is not done now, with robotic assembly, the tolerances are much tighter.

 

[canadacountry]

haven't really seen these type of people for myself personally but @Bill Nutting in one 'stories on the railway' book I have - basically in one particular chapter the writer for that story pointed out that at the time he was a relatively new fitter himself at the shop and wasn't shy to call the senior over if he ever needed to recheck his work, and more or less immediately the latter would some of the times say "hmm..a little more" or "well they won't notice that at 70mph" (me: !! on the latter) .. I guess thats what one gets for being able to eyeball something immediately without having to consult any tools/books due to 'having been there several thousand times before' in a manner speaking no?