The Stovebolt Site Forums The Parking Lot '60-'66 Trucks 60-66 Doors

Am I the only one that notices on every truck from thearly 60's, it seems the door edges seem rounded and don't smoothly align with the fender? Since these trucks seem to rust worse than their predecessors, is it rust under the door skin that causes this, or is there a body curve that I am not seeing? I would love to hear what 4-5-6 has to say about this...Thanks, Jim

I have some rust free doors, they are the same way. Fit and finish was not a priority, these were trucks built for working, most adjustments at the factory were made with large mallets.

Glad to hear my experience is consistent with others. Close (apparently) to good enough to be like original.

I don't believe for a minute that fit and finish were not a priority. I have examend enough original unmolested vehicles and spoken with ex GM plant workers to buy that.

Poorly fitting doors, just for example leak water and whistle. Both are warranty items that people paid attention to and dealers didn't want to deal with then, same as now.

I'd say that it's more likely, that 40+ years of work and slamming and tweaking are why our doors that may have been hung on several vehicles usually don't line up perfectly.

Rick - fit and finish were important - within the limitations of the design, the wrap around windshield years were particularly tough for fitting, if a door didn't fit the first truck it was tried on a 2nd, maybe a 3rd and even a 4th, and then it went into the service parts pile, with the real fiddling left to the bodyman when it was used for collision repair - and if things weren't quite 100%, the dealers had prep crews that dealt with the final touchups to make things acceptable for a work truck .... trucks didn't get the picky treatment afforded luxury cars

Bill

ChetMan,

As the owner of a '65 I have also looked at a lot of the 60-66 era trucks. I lived through the era when these trucks were new and have seen hundreds of really nice trucks. Of all of them only a handfull had good uniform seam and body panel alignment and those were restorations that were better than what came out of the factory.

I'd agree with Red58, with further comment: fit and finish were important - within the limitations of the design & within the accepted quality of the era.These trucks were indeed meant to be work trucks, not cowboy Cadillacs. It wan't until 1967 that fit, finish and creature comforts, rivalling that of automobiles, was a priority.

Now I'm starting to feel old.

In 1968 when they changed body style and went to being "more than just a truck" we switched from being a "station wagon" family to a "truck" family.

I had an old timer body shop guy teach me the best way to align the doors is without the weatherseal and then install the seals. But even then he claimed they never did line up like a car.

Thanks guys, for your responses and opinions. I agree with everything that has been said, but I am still wondering about the gentle "curve" that kind of looks swollen at the front edge of the doors between the door and fender. This swollen area runs vertically from the bottom of the door upwards to the main body crease. I am certain that on the clay model that GM designers made the body panels from, that this area was not swelled and rounded as on most trucks I see. I am confident that the engineering clay model was smoothly sculpted in this area. I am thinking that there is rust under the door skins between the skin and the frame here and that is what is making the swollen look. OR, the door skin and frame were unassumingly bent at the factory during crimping of the doorskin and a mild reshaping is due for the restorer to get the shape the designers had in mind. I too, have adjusted many doors and they are always a compromise...I have been known to apply body filler across the door-to-fender seam and then block it down to get it perfect, (after all mechanical means were exhausted). You can't do it though if the edge becomes to thick...it doesn't look good that way. You've got to keep the wallstock edge of the door no thicker than 3/16" for good looks. My door seams would have to be 1/4" to 3/8" thick if I go that route. I love these trucks and am in the process of doing the bodywork on mine. Has anyone ever pulled a doorskin off of one of these doors to see what is going on inside on the front edge? Thanks, Jim

I have some rust free doors, they are the same way.

I am leaning heavily towards the doors being slightly bent at the factory when they crimped the door skins onto the door frames. Still not sure how I will approach mine though...I may get new skins and reshape the frames slightly before crimping. Jim

I know what you mean about that front edge "swelling" on the doors. It seems more pronounced on the driver doors than pass. doors. But the defect that really gets me is the slight overhang of the bottom of the door at the rear. It hangs over the rocker at the back of the door for about 6-8 inches. Factory photos of these trucks will turn up that defect pretty consistently. Again, the driver door seems to be involved with this problem more often than the pass. door. If you have the resources to devote to the correction of these issues, then more power to you. I applaud your efforts.

After looking over the bone pile of 100+ door shells and the 50+ trucks in the lot, I have come to the conclusion, that the problem is not consistent, nor present, across the board. I have some trucks with the doors still swinging, that look great and some that look a bit out of whack. Also, the door shells, appear to be the same scenario...neither consistent, nor present, amoung all the doors.

The various manuals, specific to the '60-'66 Chevy trucks, have extensive details of every section view, where panels come together, which specify the +/- tolerances of each gap. Although automation, in the manufacturing & assembly phases of the automotive industry, has taken the place of the factory assembly-line workers, I believe tolerances, during the assembly process, was a function of the QC standards of the guys on the line.

Tony,
Thanks for looking into this. Having been in manufacturing for 30+ years, I have seen the evolution of manufacturing go from individuals having control of things, to tooling, fixturing and robotics taking control of those same things. I believe that different folks on different days, and perhaps in different factories did things differently from time to time and therefore we have the variation that we are seeing on these truck doors. Again, thanks for taking a look at it and thanks for being on this board and sharing your in depth knowledge of these trucks with all of us. Jim

Thanks, Jim. I, too, learn alot of information and garner a few nuggets, from the wealth of knowledge of the members on this site.