The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop AD Door adjusting/aligning

My doors are still out at the bottom, latch side by 1/2" or so. It's not a big problem, but it bugs me to see it. It seems to be a typical AD problem - I've seen some "show" trucks recently that have it. One show truck was perfect, but it was a bought truck, so the owner was of no assistance.

I've searched these forums, Autobody store archives (even #8 - it's big), and the web and nowhere have I seen detailed info on bending the doors. I'm afraid to just stuff a block into the hinge gap willy-nilly, put my 275lbs into it, and find I've made things worse.

Has someone corrected this problem on an AD that can detail the procedure? Block size, location, technique, etc?
Thanks in advance

Chuck,
let me first say that I really have enjoyed your website. I will be putting all the panels in mine eventually and your photos are really inspiring.

I have been noticing the door out at bottom/back on a number of show trucks myself. In these cases, the door meets the cowl correctly at the front but sticks out at the back. I think the contour of the door is the same both at front and back and to me this means that the angle of the front cowl/doorpost is wrong. I made up a little cardboard form to study the contour to make sure it is the same. I think this happens in a lot of re-build cases because the angle of the front doorpost changes as the cab weakens and bends. then if new panels are added in at the same angle, the problem remains. I have seen one truck that someone attempted to reshape the door frame around the window to compensate and it didn't look good.

I look forward to see your final pictures when it hits the street.

Chuck, door alignment is tough when you consider all the mixing & matching of parts that could have happened over the years. Let alone damage to the cab. I have spent a whole day trying to align AD doors on some trucks & I still could not get them right. The only thing worse than aligning AD doors is aligning an AD hood.

So what yer saying is that when working on the inner/outer cowls on an AD - fit up the doors and get then nailed into position before tacking up and welding in new sheet mental?

As far as hood alignment goes, I have had to take the entire front end of the truck and loosen radiator support bolts, inner and outer fender bolts, inner fender support rods, etc. And horse the whole thing up/down left/right to get the hood to sit right. Then, you sometimes also have to fart around with the center hood brace where the center of the hood meets the cowl and shim it to get the right tension.

& Kens way is the easy way if ya can pull it off !!

Ken,
what I was saying was that if the front contour of the door aligns properly with the cowl and the rear edge is of the door is closed at the top but protrudes at the bottom, there is no door adjustment that can make up for that. I don't have the experience that you folks have in working with these body assemblies, it just seems logical to me. I think that one could make a simple tool to measure for this problem when replacing sheet metal, without having to mount the doors.

truckernix, the only way you can correct that is by twisting the door. The trouble is, this is no Honda Civic door, they are VERY strong. You can get a little out of them though. Put a block of wood in the jamb up at the top rear of the door holding it open. Then push in on the bottom of the door twisting it. DON'T GET YOUR FINGERS AROUND THE EDGE, hear me now, believe me later. I lost a finger nail doing that once. Anyway, sometimes you have to get a balance in the fit. It makes no sense to get a perfect fit at the front only to have the rear out a mile. Sometimes it is better to have a not so perfect fit in the front to get a not as bad fit at the rear.

I was able to get perfect fit on my truck when I sectioned the cab. I twisted the door while the skin wasn't welded on. That and some other "surgery" left a perfect gap and fit.