The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop 1950 chevy 3100 door pi tures

I just got this truck and thought I would see if anyone knows what's going on and why it's happening. When the door is closed there is a fairly large gap between the door and frame starting about where the door handles are. It's the same for both doors. I believe the door has to go down a little but don't see how to adjust it.

Looks like the door actually needs to go UP just a little bit. The belt molding should match up, but it actually doesn't look that bad. The main issue seems to be that the door latch striker needs to be adjusted inward a bit to get the door nearly flush with the body. It could be that the weatherstrip is too big to allow that however.

Adjustments up/down, front/back are made by moving the hinges a bit. They have slotted holes for front/back movement on the bolts behind the door panels, and for up/down the hinge bolts on the hinge pillar need to be loosened for adjustment. It can be frustrating, as an adjustment in one direction can throw the alignment off in another direction. In severe cases (not yours from the look of it) the hinge arms might need to be bent.

Thanks for the reply.. I just thought that if it was flush at the top and the whole left side where hinges are then something must be holding the bottom out.. Pretty cold and windy here so I will have to wait til weather improves to see what I can do

Coltonk , you have a PM in your in box.

Raising the door so that beltline on the door is inline with the beltline on the cab will lessen the gaps. This is due to the fact that the doors are slightly tapered in shape. At the door handle level, the door is narrower than at the bottom of the door.
It looks like a fresh rebuild. Do you know if the hinges were rebuilt? All of them need it. The originals never got oiled for 60+ years.
New hinge pins will make door alignment not easier, but rather, possible.
Carl

Is the door actually grabbing the stricker all the way? Looks like its only getting the first "click"?

That was my thought. It's also possible that the door needs to be twisted if it's more closed at the top than at the bottom.

Well I messed around with it a bit today and I'm convinced that the part mounted on door frame (not sure what it is called) is not the right one. The door latches OK but I don't think that what it latches to set far enough towards the interior and that's what is holding it out.

I never really messed much with the body of the vehicles so I'm making my best guess.

I don't see any PM in my inbox. Can you please re-send?

You already took care of it. Thank you.

What the latch hits (mounted on the frame) is called the striker. The bolts holding it on thread into nut plates (2 bolts per plate) that sandwich the frame around slotted holes to make adjustment in and out, and up and down possible. Loosen them and move the striker in the direction it needs to go and retighten. Check the fit and repeat as necessary. Check here for specific instructions.

OK, I wanted to rule out the door strike so I took one off and closed the door and it still has the same gap as before so I guess it isn't a wrong door strike. I am at a loss as to what could be keeping the bottom half of the door out.

Any other suggestions

Sometimes the door needs to be twisted. I’m not a body man by any stretch of the imagination but I have done it successfully a couple of times. This was 30+ years ago. Hopefully one of the more up to date experts will chime in with the proper procedure.🛠

OK Everyone,

I found out what the problem is with the door being out from the body about 1/2" when the door closed but the top part of the door was flush with the frame. First I tried adjusting the door by loosing the bolts that hold the door on.. No good. I then removed the door strike to see if it was something with the door latch/lock...No good... next I removed the door and took hinges off to see if the hinges were the problem... No good... I held the door up to the frame with everything removed... Still No good.. Only thing left.. The rubber seals... Pulled them off... That did the trick...

I don't want to say, I told you so...... But I did.
I'm glad you got it figured out. Good Job!

Are you now planning to replace the weatherstrip? I ask because I have the same problem with the doors on my 49, which I've always assumed was the weatherstrip being too tall and/or too dense. If you replace yours I'll be curious to know what you find that works.

Kevin,

I should have listened better... thanks for the help

Greg,

I will be replacing the weatherstrip. Havent really looked at it yet.. but if anyone has a vendor that is superior to the others, I would love to know who..

Steele Rubber Products is regarded to be the best in the business. Pricey but you get what you pay for.

Steelrubber.com

BTW, I just talked to the Steele Rubber guys at the GNRS. I was inquiring about Suburban side window stuff. They told me that, they have a ton more stuff than what their web site or catalog show. They say call them and they can help. They also told me, when discussing the side window issue, that I can buy any single piece and I don't have to buy the whole kit to get that piece.