Door alignment

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alg

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Had someone told me about this I would not believe it. But I did this myself and have a reliable witness. The driver side door of my '71 Demon is low at the end opposite the hinges. I looked around and spoke with the man who did the body work on the car. This morning a friend of mine and me put a jack at the door handle end of the door and I broke, by that I mean barely loosened the bolt at the top hinge that goes from outside into the post. I did not touch anything else. Being aware I had to proceed slowly, we let the pressure off the jack and checked to see if anything had changed. The lower six inches if the door at the front had moved forward about a quarter inch. If I try to close it it will cream the fender. I was dumbfounded. I have stopped and am seeking advice as to how to proceed. The car is assembled and I have been driving it.
Thanks,

Alg
 
Can you loosen all of the bolts that hold the hinge on and "scoot" it back a smidgeon???
 
Also, did the latch/handle end of the door drop a lot after?

I have used a floor jack a crapload of times to adjust a door, but never had that happen.
It does sound like you need to move the bottom hinge toward the back of the car though, in any case.
 
Am I correct in thinking that the holes are oval so that the door can be moved without taking everything apart. At least that's what I remember. I am sitting here and can't believe the door moved like that with merely breaking one bolt. Thanks guys.
 
Sounds like the door was bolted on in a bind from the top to the bottom hinge
unless it was the jack that made it jump?
To get that kind of movement from cracking one bolt loose I would first
check to see if the hinges need rebuilt before proceeding with the door
alignment. If you have a parts car usually the passenger door hinges
are in the best shape and may not need to be rebuilt. It will fit the driver side.
 
Just a guess... Lower hinge wasn't properly tightened before or was damaged by the jack. So when the jack went down the door did too.
If the lower hinge has bushings in it and the jack shattered them, that'll let the door drop. If the bronze bushings crack they weren't properly installed.
To put a jack under an open door with any pressure at all, then sit down in the seat would be a DOH! move.
 
alg said:
Am I correct in thinking that the holes are oval so that the door can be moved without taking everything apart. At least that's what I remember. I am sitting here and can't believe the door moved like that with merely breaking one bolt. Thanks guys.
Click to expand...

Correct.
 
The hinges are new. I just put enough pressure to secure the door. No weight was put on the seat. If I loosen the hinges to move the door back, what are the tricks for moving the door. Failing that, should I remove the door and rehang it? How do you go about hanging the door from scratch?
 
alg said:
Am I correct in thinking that the holes are oval so that the door can be moved without taking everything apart. At least that's what I remember. I am sitting here and can't believe the door moved like that with merely breaking one bolt. Thanks guys.
Click to expand...

Wrong the holes are square and IMO all bolts except for one needs loosened
 
Ddge71demon
Yes you are correct, I saw the squared holes on the inside. So if you loosen only two bolts per hinge, which ones? Or does it matter? Will one bolt left tight allow me to move the door back?

Thanks
 
You'll probably have to lightly loosen all the bolts on the hinge you want to move.
The bolts on the door side of the hinge let you move the door in and out in relationship to the body, and the bolts on the body side of the hinge allow up and down adjustments.

(for the most part anyway) as you will see when you start moving things around.
 
alg said:
Ddge71demon
Yes you are correct, I saw the squared holes on the inside. So if you loosen only two bolts per hinge, which ones? Or does it matter? Will one bolt left tight allow me to move the door back?

Thanks
Click to expand...


if you tighten up a ((1) the easiest to get to) top bolt on the top hinge to let the door (sortof) pivot on that bolt you can move the lower front portion of the door back into position using a floor jack on the rear portion of the door. tighten a ((1) the easiest to get to) bolt on the bottom hinge and test to see where you are with the door. close door gently and repeat till you have the door slightly higher then you think it is needed. the door will drop a little bit even if it's got new hinges and bushings since you took the weight off from the rear corner.
 
Think of it this way if you have two bolts tight and the material is slotted no matter the distance apart will the item move (NO) if only one bolt is tight will the item move (YES)
 
Thanks to all you guys for your help.
Today using all your advice we got the door raised in the back without any paint damage!
So we addressed the issue of in and out adjustment.
I think my door is alive
I loosened The bottom bolt on the bottom DOOR hinge and the door moved forward about 1/4". So the door was right back where we started.
I placed the jack only enough to take pressure off and loosened the lower door side hinge bolts.
Placed a thick shim on that hinge and we could close the door. The alignment at the striker side seems improved.
The door sits out about 1/8" from the front fender.
I think that if I can correct that, the clearance will be greater when opening the door.
My question is, can you guys, who obviously have experience with this, tell me how to correct the outward condition that I have?
You all told me that loosening one bolt would move the door. I'm a believer!
But how the hell does that happen?
 
Does anyone have any advice as how to approach this issue? I am aware I must loosen, move slowly, etc, but anything more specific?
 
alg said:
Thanks to all you guys for your help.
Today using all your advice we got the door raised in the back without any paint damage!
So we addressed the issue of in and out adjustment.
I think my door is alive
I loosened The bottom bolt on the bottom DOOR hinge and the door moved forward about 1/4". So the door was right back where we started.
I placed the jack only enough to take pressure off and loosened the lower door side hinge bolts.
Placed a thick shim on that hinge and we could close the door. The alignment at the striker side seems improved.
The door sits out about 1/8" from the front fender.
I think that if I can correct that, the clearance will be greater when opening the door.
My question is, can you guys, who obviously have experience with this, tell me how to correct the outward condition that I have?
You all told me that loosening one bolt would move the door. I'm a believer!
But how the hell does that happen?
Click to expand...

wear, stress on the door and flexing along with old age. cause it to move with only one bolt loosened plus a whole lot of other things that could cause it too.

yup just like you did the door to align it.
if it's the whole bottom of the door out about 1/8th the adjust just the bottom hinge. (rotates the bottom in or out. mostly the front 2/3rds part of the door) and see where you are
if it's the front or rear (on the bottom ) you will have to play with the top hinge also. make sure to have at least one tightened up good on the bottom when you loosen the top.

there are some bolts that you can see from the fender opening (if your splash shields are off). Leave one on top tight. Slightly loosen the other top bolt. then go to the bottom hinge and loosen them. gently tap it loose with your hand to break the paint if they are stuck to the door or have been sprayed with the door on the car.

you would be surprised at how large the gap is at the top of the door/fender/hood. most I have seen that were not restored or going down the assembly line were 3/8th or larger.
 
alg said:
Does anyone have any advice as how to approach this issue? I am aware I must loosen, move slowly, etc, but anything more specific?
Click to expand...

I'll give it a shot. This works for me but, others may use a different procedure. Sometimes it just takes a bunch of lifting pushing and pulling to get a door aligned. Constant watching for door/fender collisions at all times is required.
1) First if your hinges are worn, you may be wasting your time. The door will sag and you won’t get the gap from front of door to fender even at the top to bottom.
2) Remove the striker post on the body side of the door frame
3) Loosen the door side and let the door drop to its natural position. What you’re doing is taking the slack out of it. If your hinges are worn, someone has already lifted up on the door and you may have too if you can’t get the door to fender gap even. Tighten the bolts
4) Loosen the frame side bolts outside of frame and the inside ones.
5) Close and hold the back door even with top body. This is a little tricky. You have to also get the fender to door gap even or what looks correct. See step 3 if needed.
6) While holding the door, have helper crawl in from other side and tighten inside bolts.
7) Open slowly watching door to fender, then tighten outside bolts.
8.) Loosen door side bolts open and pull the door away from body. At this point the door may drop slightly. Don't worry you're not there yet. Tighten the bolts just enough that the door still can be move inward with some pressure.
9) Close the door slowly and push in until you're satisfied with the level surfaces.
10) Slowly open door and tighten all bolts.
11) Check door and if satisfied, install striker and the door should close like new.
12) If door doesn't close like butter, See step 1.
 
tip for future adjustments:
use masking tape around the edges before you start. do a clean job taping it will help you see the gaps better as well as protect the paint in case of a mishap
 
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