The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors 1950 door adjustment: not flush

Hi All, I have a 1/2 ton 1950 chevy truck that I am trying to get the doors installed. I manage to get the driver side door adjusted OK. The passenger door is giving me problems. The main problem is that the bottom corner of the door, away (near the latch) it is not flush with the body. It seems that everything I have read is mainly vertical and horizontal adjustment. The front of the door seems flush with the body. The door is about an 1/8" low with matching the body lines to the door. the amount that the door is not flush is at least a 1/4".
How can I bring in the lower corner in to be flush with the body??
thanks,
Skipper

So the top of the door is fitting flush, but just the bottom rear corner is protruding? A photo would sure help. We really have to see it to make an accurate diagnosis.

Was the door damaged at some time in its life? Or did it come off a different vehicle? Is the door actually the problem, or is it really in the body itself? Do you have another door you could try to see if it fits the same? This would identify whether the door is high or the body is low.

If only one corner is protruding, the worst-case scenario is that you'd have to reconfigure the door by pie-cutting the inner panel, bending the door to shape, then re-welding.

Here are the old school dealer tips.
https://www.flickr.com/photos/advance-design_parts_co/albums/72157641244124604

You need to start with lining up the beltline of the door with the belt line of the body.
These doors are slightly wedge shaped. Moving them up and down will make a significant change in how they fit and how they latch.
Start with lining up the beltlines.
When you say "not flush", are you talking about the door edge protruding outboard of the cab? If so, I know of ways to fix that. Just let me know if that is what is going on.

Yes, the bottom corner is protruding out. I will see if I can get a picture. The door has been painted and I cannot really cut into now. What was done though,is the paint shop did weld in the lower inner door sheet metal. It was rusty and I purchase a patch panel from one of the vendors. The shop cutout the section and welded in the patch panel. I see if I can lift the door and get the body lines to line up and see what it looks like.
The hinges that attached to the door use star washers that I think are over sized in the OD. Where can I get these star washer of large OD?

The shop may have not gotten the corner of the door back in the exact position when they welded in the patch panel. But you need to go thru the whole alignment procedure that Carl outlined before worrying about the door skin.
As far as lock washers, McMaster-Carr has about ANYTHING in terms of hardware. A well laid out website as well that's easy to find what you need. Here's their page for star washers.

Those slides are brilliant, Brad. It’s amazing the treasure chest of info you’ve compiled for us.

Thanks again Brad- your info on the doors is massive help to me..Thank you!

You might also want to read this thread:
(Edit) I had the wrong thread -

Thin and thick door seals