The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors Poor quality replacement door

I am finishing up a body resto on my 59 Apache. The front passenger door was pretty rusted so I bought a replacement door from LMC. After finishing it and putting it on the truck I went to put in the glass, etc. To my horror, when I replaced the vent window (original from my old door) and rubber, there was a gap of 1/4" that the rubber did not fill. The gap was 1/4" off spec! Ack! I have temporarily filled the gap by stuffing a bit of rubber in it, so as to prevent moisture from running down into the door. Does anybody else have any suggestions as to what to do to fix this? I suppose I could go back and patch up the original door, but I don't know.

Boy, that is a war story, sorry to hear you have all that time and money into finishing. I have no advice other than try and find a suitable stock door, or maybe contact LMC and they might have another to trial fit before refinishing. They need to know that the fit was unacceptable in that area though. Good luck. I have heard other war stories on some repop panals.

need a picture of the problem area, might not be the door, could be poor quality rubber, whether you mean between the front of the vent assembly and the front post of the door, or the door and the opening - and note that the dogleg area is always a problem, even when using an original door from a different truck - is the rubber from Steele Rubber or Chinese?

Bill

I will get a pic and try to post it. I've never done that before. The gap is on the exterior side and is between the front of the vent assembly and the front post. And the rubber is Chinese.

to put up a pic you need to have it hosted somewhere and then link to it - info here

Steele rubber might fix the problem, someone here some time back had a similar misfit because the rubber didn't have a correct width flange to 'flap' out over the door post

Bill

Bill, I hope you are still monitoring this topic. I have been out of town a few days and it's taken a while to get back to this. Anyway, here are a few links to the pics of the vent window. I'd love your opinion (or anybody else's) as to whether you think it's a door or rubber problem. (This is the first time I have ever tried to post pics, so I apologize if anything is done improperly.)

http://media.photobucket.com/image/59TruckWindow/RayFischer/59TruckWindow/window5_zpsef248a7f.jpg

http://media.photobucket.com/image/59TruckWindow/RayFischer/59TruckWindow/window2_zps0f539356.jpg

http://media.photobucket.com/image/59TruckWindow/RayFischer/59TruckWindow/window4_zpsc2e498ff.jpg

http://media.photobucket.com/image/59TruckWindow/RayFischer/59TruckWindow/window3_zps9189a67f.jpg

This is my 4th attempt tonite. It worked this time I hope. At least on the preview it did. This is wearing me down
Ray

yes links are fine, black truck makes them look like negatives I'm not sure there's a problem at the bottom, the rubber below the pivot post should fit tight to the slot in the door, not really flap out over it - above/forward of the post that can work too, but most are tight enough the rubber flange can barely lay on the face of the opening, maybe the problem is the rubber isn't thick enough rather than the 'flap' not being long enough, but I've never seen other than the Steele rubber parts - see here the rubber is barely longer than the outside of the vent frame ... can't really say which is the problem, I've seen the repro doors used with very good results for the fit of everything -assuming yours are the Dynacorn ones- so it may be a problem with the vent assembly itself just not fitting that particular door well, and that sort of thing was common on the assembly line

also, re-reading your original post, there is no way to prevent water entering the door, that's why they put drains in them, make sure your doors have them and they're clear - see X here

Bill

Thanks so much for those tips. I really enjoyed both of your links. I wam trying to figure out whether LMC sells Dynacorn doors. It could be a door quality problem. I am debating whether to just start over and buy new doors, or perhaps go back to the old doors and patch them up and re-use them. But you gave me a few really helpful tips and I appreciate it. Thanks.

call or email LMC and ask who makes the doors, they should tell you .... as to fixing the originals, you've already bought the repro, if it can't be made to work, cut it up for patches!

Bill