The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors Door Alignment

I am working on a 51 Chevy 3100. I have replaced both cab corners and the lower cowl panel on the passenger side and the door fits great. I have moved over to the drivers side and I have no gap on the back of the door and I can't seem to move it forward. I have not welded the drivers side cowl panel yet but did rebuild the door hinges. In the process of rebuilding the hinges I deformed them a little but got them back to shape I think. Could this be the problem? I have the cowl panel screwed in place with enough room to move the door forward about an 1/8 of an inch. I also have a problem at the front of the cab with the same patch panel as it protrudes about a 1/2 inch forward of the cowl.

I have pictures but don't know how to upload onto the forum page.

Brian,

These doors can be a REAL bugger to align without repairs to the cab. My guess is that you may have not gotten the drivers side door hinges back as they were originally from where you deformed them. Did you support the cab with tack welded cross bars before doing the repairs? The cab may have moved or flexed. You will need to measure your door frame and make a comparison to the passenger side as well as measuring the driver side door and frame. Pictures would REALLY help! On the bottom left hand corner of the Stovebolt page is a link as to how to add pictures to this forum.

Tim

When you test the door fit, is the beltline of the door matching the beltline of the cab front and back? The doors are slightly wedge shaped so that by lowering them, you will increase the door gap.
I would check the beltline alignment before a got out the BFH for door opening adjustments.
Carl

Fixit1958. I checked the measurements and they are the same on both sides. No I did not support the cab with cross bars. I am starting to wonder if the hinges are out of wack when I rebuilt them. Thank you for the help.

52Carl. The belt line is lower by about an 1/8" on the front and back. I got the passenger side perfect so I thought the drivers side would be just as easy. That's what I get for thinking.

double check the hinges, and start from there. Mike

http://s1380.photobucket.com/user/brian_davis16/library/?sort=3&page=1

Here are some pictures of what I'm dealing with. Thanks for the help.

Put different hinges on and it seemed to help a little bit but still don't have any gap at the back in one spot. I got some hinges from a wrecking yard that has a few AD trucks. Checked the door gap on them before removing and that door fit good.

I would wager that every door is just a bit different, so a door that fits good on one truck may not be a good fit on another.

You may have to get a jacking bar in the door frame and do some adjustment. Your opening may be squashed a bit (as in the top of the door frame is pushed backward or forward.) The A pillar above the upper hinge could be misaligned and pulling the top of the door opening forward enough to cause a rub with the top of the door at the rear, even though the molding lines up.

Some guys have ground the edge off the door and welded and ground the weld to get the proper gap.

You might have to resort to what a body man did to the family's 54 Chevy Station wagon in repairing it after a t-bone by a drunk. The two right side doors got replaced, and when my Dad picked it up, he noticed that the rear door wasn't properly lined up. The guy took a pipe wrench from my dad's shop truck, stuck it in the lower hinge and slammed the door shut. It fit just fine after that.

Measure your openings at various points both right and left (largest diagonal measurement in both directions, lower hinge mount to top and bottom rear, latch mount to top and bottom front, etc.) and compare the measurements side to side. That may point you at where the problem lies.

For 52- up ADs: I just learned a little lesson on this subject. Door latches and locks and strikers play a big role on how it fits and closes. Worn components made it impossible to align the door correctly (in/out) not fore/aft.
Also, have seen a truck with worn latch and striker open when the frame flexed over a rise in the road.