The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Door Phase 2, "the clone doors"

Okay I finished adding the bottom of the door. The door alignment looks fairly decent with one large exception.
Problem 1 Another view

In general the front of the door looks even top to bottom. The seam across the top looks good too. From the pictures it looks like the bottom left of the door gets farther from the body. I am really unclear as to how to solve this problem. Again the front of the door is fine, so adjusting the hinge at the bottom is going to mess that alignment up, further the hinge is as far to the drivers side as it will go, yes I know I could make mods to the hinge, but again the front of the door is fine. What would others do?

This is all off of a 58' fleetside and there was a previous thread concerning this issue, in that thread others instructed that I had put the egg before the chicken and I should finish the bottom of the door before proceeding. Being new to this and doing it almost completely alone(Except with this boards advice and instructions, which has been tremendous) I make stupid assumptions, evidence of that is in previous posts.

The door is not latched, and being new to this endeavor, I was wondering if that would make a difference?

That problem can be fixed by bending the hinge ,there is a instuction on how to but You'll have to do a search on door hinge heating and bending I had the same problem with my drivers door and fixed it by heating and bending the hinge if the top of the door is good than you'll just have to do the bottom one I think that Czechman has the instuction sheet on his photo album.

Pete

I did a Czechman search on google and here, but the pages had been moved from the album, any other links?

I would PM Czechman I'm sure He'll send it to you or tell you were to find it.

Pete

the first fit should be with hinge bolts loose enough to be able to muscle the door a bit to get the gap even all around and up/down, the striker/latch may pull it in

you do need to install the latch and see how it works - also keep in mind that the weatherstrip will change things, maybe a lot, especially down the leading edge - helps to put one on for a test fit, even the old one if you have it .... run your fingers under the bottom edge and check the fit there, might be binding on the step edge part way back, should be an even finger tip gap front to back

stand back and let's see a pic of the whole door, and another showing the front edge, especially at the dogleg

Bill

This the drawing in question? http://www.pbase.com/czechman/image/99395374 It helped me a lot as the last resort to door fitting.

I was very careful to go slowly and made a drawing of the hinge before any bending for a comparison as I bent it. Worked like a charm.

Thank you, I have two pictures, not exactly of the whole door, but a bit more.
Pict 1 Pict 2

have you seen any evidence that side of the truck has been in an accident? with the top of the opening fitting well I'd think either the back post is mis-shapen, the front has been pushed in or the door is malformed .... does the feature line on the middle of the door match the cab line as well as the top molding does in pict1? does the front edge fit well all the way down? [really need a fender on to see - should be just slightly inboard of the pillar and fender] ... have you done any work on the step?

if the whole front edge fits well [with the fender on] you may need to bend the door above the feature line, if it fits well at top but is way out at the bottom .... with the front fitting that well [if it does all the way down] I can't see bending hinges helping anything - but still, you need to install the latch and see if that changes alignment any

Bill

The step is a replacement, the line of the door along the step is even. The cab corners were replaced. I had that thought too, but the separation starts higher up than the corner replacement. I found no creased panels, i.e. no evidence of accident or other foul play, just rust and it was Texas truck.

This morning I did something I had not done in awhile, I took the hinges off and put the door into the whole, it fit fine. I held i the place but the curves if the door matched the body well. So I now know it is the hinges.

so we're back to my first response: "the first fit should be with hinge bolts loose enough to be able to muscle the door a bit to get the gap even all around and up/down" .... and if the latch is on when you snug up the bolts .... it may be nothing

Bill

Wow this is hard, I just figured out one problem, behind the bottom hinge there is a pocket. When I got my trwuk, is was rooted(like TX cars never rust) Anyway, I replaced it, what I noticed was wear spots on the hinge from the freshly primed surface of the hinge, so, slipped my hand down there and could feel the hinge striking the pocket.

Lets see what other things I find, I have to fix that, did not see that one coming.

see my tag line? there's not many details on these ol trucks that's not absolutely vital to the whole .... the lower hinge pockets are frequently rotten, any leaks around the door collect down there and keep the dirt/dust that collects in there wet - it's also right behind the tire, where the cowl vent drains .... as I said on your original door thread, the TF doors are a study in frustration, takes a lot of patience to get it all near right, which is as close as the factory got it

but hey! by the time you do your next truck it'll be a piecea cake seriously, put the door on with the hinge bolts loose - put the latch on - close the door, maybe adjust the striker position a bit to get the best fit - then try tightening all the hinge bolts from the inside that you can reach [most] - check how it opens and closes - keep fiddling to get it closer - expect to do that all over when you put the fender on, and again when you put the seal on

Bill

The pocket helped the situation, but did not solve it, it still sticks out on the bottom by the cab corner and all the way up to the striker plate. I pulled the top hinge out to try and at least get the top and bottom out the same amount. Was NOT successful. I took your suggestion and loosened all the bolts and got into the truck with with the door in the best position possible and then tight as many as I can get to from the inside that did not help, as my issue at the bottom of the door persists. One thing that I did notice is the striker plate is as far in as it will go, and since the truck has not been completely stripped yet, it is were the plate was when I got the truck, made me wonder what I missed before dismantling the truck?

You have a PM

A couple of things. When I disassembled the truck, I had welded a cross to the door openings so in theory the door opening would not shift, just a thought provoker, what many people advised had been to un weld the lower part of the lock pillar and redo it. MIG welds do not un weld cleanly. I am still at it but giving up. The truck was a basket case to begin with, I looked at pictures of the truck before I took it apart and the poor door fit was evident although not as bad as what my work became.
Because it is unwelding so poorly, I have decided to part it out.

a suggestion for next cab: do any metal replacement with the cab properly mounted on frame, with fenders and doors in place [even if not always bolted] - after each area is repaired one piece at a time, refit everything before attacking the next area .... sounds like you wound up with an accumulation of minor misfits .... if you repair the steps, corners and pillars carefully with the cab on the frame, there should be no need to cross brace the openings even when the cab is removed, except [maybe] when removing a major part of the floor

Bill

Good advice, as I said the truck was a mess, the floors on both the drivers side and the passenger side were replaced. Hence the reason the doors were crossed with braces.

Update:

I have been quit on my progress, but concerning the door, I have continued.

I removed the inner corner again.

I seperated the step from the hinge pillar and took a porta power, between the rear right side cab mount and the hinge piller. With the door mounted. I then moved the piller until it meet the line of the door. Moved about 1/4 inch, but it looked perfect. I have not welded it in place yet, my plan is to put the cab on the chassis mount up the fenders and ensure the fenders line up with the door.