As with many of us, I struggled to correctly position doors within the cab that has had extensive metal replacement. To complicate matters, the metal replacement was done on a rotisserie that required the doors to be removed and I didn't know enough to take note of the door positioning before I removed them.
I was whining to a friend (who has a "shade tree" shop) that I could not get a "pro" to take a look at my door issues without dragging the cab to their shop (it is bare metal at the moment). My friend told me to call "Doug and Bill". They have done body work all their lives and although they are retired (I am 75 and they are clearly older... or maybe a lifetime of body work ages you prematurely?).
Well, Doug and Bill showed up at my garage one Saturday morning. Within 5 minutes, Bill was asking at me to get this tool and that tool and to raise the door up in the back... now down, etc. Within say 15 minutes, the driver door was aligned with a suitable gap all around, except for the very bottom, rear, where I had added a replacement cab corner... that will require a litle bit of metal to be added to the cab corner to make the gap at the rear of the door, consistent (see first picture).
The passenger door was more of a challenge. After getting the door "where it had to be" (see second picture) after bending the top of the door outward, Bill pointed out that to achieve a more acceptable and consistent gap would require cutting the cab. He proceeded to cut the cab at the beltline at the front of the door, to establish what he felt was an acceptable gap (see third picture). He then went to town slicing the passenger side outside cowl in an attmpt to duplicate what he did to the cab at the beltline (see 4th picture). He soon said that I would not be happy with result becasue of the vents... they would be distorted. Bill advised me to get a replacement side cowl withoout the vents and since the door is now on the cab, I should be able to position the new cowl piece to achieve the gap he defined at the beltline.
Turning his attention to the gap at the rear of the passenger door, he advised that to make it consistent to the eye, I would need to make a vertical slice in the cab starting about 1/3 up from the bottom in order to create a little more gap space on the lower part of the door.
Bill then took a 1/8 drill bit and proceeded to drill pilot holes in hinges and doors so that the door placement can be repeated when the doors are removed. He also replaced 1 3/8-24 bolt with a 5/16 bolt and nut because he felt that it was not worth the effort to cut at the hinge opening (that slides inside the door) to make all 3 holes line up perfectly.
I consider myself lucky to have Doug and Bill pay me a visit and I share this with my Stovebolt friends just in case any of the information might help them in their adventures with AD doors. As for me, I am off to replace the passenger side outer cowl and to CONSIDER the advice that I might need to do a vertical slice to the cab at the lower rear of the passeneger side door.
