Question for Gee Emm or other guru - The 1947 - Present Chevrolet & GMC Truck Message Board Network

red71cheyenne · 08-31-2005, 11:20 AM

I'm at the point of lining up my body lines, and I have a little problem. My drivers side door gap between the vent window frame and windshield is really tight. The passenger side is way loose. I have the doors lined up so the body lines are really close as far as horizontal, but I'm worried about the way the doors are fitting. Is there some way I can tweak the windshield frame to get it more square? Or even a suggestion as to how I can measure square on it? Tearing it down to parade rest may have been a mistake as far as realigning. Thanks for any help or suggestions. Jeff.

71jimmy · 08-31-2005, 12:12 PM

Not an expert on this but from what I've read on other posts, make sure your body mounts are good, and you may need more/less shims for the body mounts at position 1 and 2 ( front floorboard and rear of door). My .02, let us know what helped.

71RestoRod · 08-31-2005, 02:07 PM

Do you have the vent windows installed? That can suck the door frame down a little. Is it already painted?

71Jimmy is correct that the body mount shims make a big difference in aligning the door and windshield frame. Also, the frame may be swayed in the middle which can complicate things.

I was actually amazed at how much movement I got around the doors while hanging the front clip. The doors were perfecly aligned, and then I hung the fenders and hood... doors still perfectly aligned. Installed the inner wheel wells and behold.... the door alignment changed. Couldn't believe it. Had to start again to get it right. Bottom line... if you are super consious of all of your gaps, do a lot of pre assembly to get a feel for how it's going to move around. It can be a lot of work.

Good luck!

red71cheyenne · 08-31-2005, 03:38 PM

All body mounts are new and shimmed to make the door gaps line up right. Matter of fact, the whole thing is together except for the top and the hood. I've got the lines straight with the shims and thats what is throwing my gaps off I guess. Vents are installed and the whole nine yards. Would it make sense to shim the passenger side radiator mount to move the windshield frame back in? That will probably throw my hood lineup off. Any other ideas?

jhow66 · 08-31-2005, 04:35 PM

Hey Red' we (orangeuavol) tweaked the window post by loosing all the attachments points and bending the frame and then retighten the screws. We didn't get them concurs but probably as good as they came from factory. (never saw a new one so that statement is a guess.) You can see here:

71RestoRod · 08-31-2005, 05:48 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by red71cheyenne

Would it make sense to shim the passenger side radiator mount to move the windshield frame back in? That will probably throw my hood lineup off. Any other ideas?

It will mostly throw off your door and fender alignment... but it might also help your gap issue.

I agree with jhow66 that you can loosen the vent window and cheat a little hear and there.

If that doesn't work, try loosening the mounts under the front of the tub (#2 & #3 w/ radiator being #1) and temporarily jack and shim the tub around a little bit to get a feel for how your gaps change.

Did you replace the rockers? Could be that one or both of the rockers are out of alignment.

**Classic Heartbeat** · 08-31-2005, 06:55 PM

I am going to watch this thread carefully, because I will be doing the same thing to my Blazer some time. It would make sence to me to bolt the top on, then align the door. If you tweek the windsheild frame around to much, you might create top alignment problems.... WES www.ClassicHeartbeat.com

LUV2XCLR8 · 08-31-2005, 07:00 PM

I have given up on mine at the moment, passenger door looks be a u ti full,
the drivers door looks like ass, I've messed with it off and on for a month

Huck · 08-31-2005, 07:15 PM

Just spent a ton of time with alignment issues. You can get the front and rear of the door to body and fender alignment with shimming body under mount #2 butttt. The biggest movement of the windshield frame came from the inner and outer fender mounting to the firewall. THAT changed the angle more the body shimming. Try using a strap wrapped over the top of the windshield frame and tighten it to someting up front that wouldn't move. With the inner and outer fender to firewall mounting bolts loose, you can get a good 1/2" of movement out of the firewall/windshield frame. Once moved tighten and let it sag back to original---it will come into alignment but may or may not stay that way depending on how stiff your body is. By the way, you have a fender mounting bolt on the bottom of the fender as well as the inner fender to firewall!! Loosen them all, pull the windshield frame forward and retighten. (:>)

red71cheyenne · 08-31-2005, 08:57 PM

Huck-Ya, I noticed that when I had the front clip on and off, the whole windshield frame angles changed a lot! That might be the way to go as far as final alignment.
Jhow66-How much difference are you seeing between the doors now that it is all together?
Wes-If I had it to do again, I would have went the way OrangeUAVol went. That is, not breaking it down to parade rest splitting all the seams and stuff. I got a lot of piece of mind that all the metal is good and well coated, but it was Very labor intensive.
Luv-I can't believe that you have much to go on GQ! You got to have that thing ready to get out on the road and get DIRTY!!!!!

jhow66 · 08-31-2005, 10:29 PM

Red' we got both doors to come out about the same. When my son put in the roll cage he made a couple of brackets that are welded to the roll cage and bolt to the windshield frame where the sun visor did.(see photo- circled area)
We used a angle finder on the windshield post to get them the same by using shims between the roll cage bracket and the windshield frame.Then we adjusted our door post to fit the windshield. The bracket really made a differance in the feel of door when you shut it as it feels like you are shutting the door on a pickup. Top now will no longer have to help support the opening between cowl & bed.

red71cheyenne · 09-01-2005, 10:49 AM

Thats a really good idea. I had thought about going with cross braces across the door openings, but that would have made it hard to get in and out. May have to consider the roll bar idea. I hadn't thought about putting one in until you pointed that out. Thanks, Jeff.

**pound41** · 09-01-2005, 06:22 PM

The top on both my blazers makes and hugh difference in the way the body and doors align. One of my blazers take the top off and the doors hit and the windshield drops. Yes it needs the body mounts replaced and rocker boxes. But when I put the 400 plus pound double wall back on it. Everything goes right back in line the windshield straightens up the doors reveals go back to perfect, This taught me the importance of the top and how all that weight on the back flexes the body back out by weighting the tail end down. You want to be careful of doing all your alignments without a top on and then having to start over if the top goes back on

08-31-2005, 03:38 PM	#4
red71cheyenne Back in the sticks Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Fordland, MO Posts: 3,188	All body mounts are new and shimmed to make the door gaps line up right. Matter of fact, the whole thing is together except for the top and the hood. I've got the lines straight with the shims and thats what is throwing my gaps off I guess. Vents are installed and the whole nine yards. Would it make sense to shim the passenger side radiator mount to move the windshield frame back in? That will probably throw my hood lineup off. Any other ideas? __________________ 1971 Cheyenne C-10 w/700R4 and Tuned Port Injection 1969 K5 Blazer w/Tuned Port 2010 2SS/RS Flaming Orange Camaro 2011 K1500 Suburban 2014 K1500 Pickup 2008 Nissan Altima? The wifes' hoopty

08-31-2005, 04:35 PM	#5
jhow66 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Knoxville Tenn. Posts: 3,058	Hey Red' we (orangeuavol) tweaked the window post by loosing all the attachments points and bending the frame and then retighten the screws. We didn't get them concurs but probably as good as they came from factory. (never saw a new one so that statement is a guess.) You can see here: Attached Images __________________ 56 Chevy Bel-Air 2dr. HT (purchased new) 71 Chevy Cheyenne SWB PU (502HO) 65 GMC short bed step--work in progress and my gofer Last edited by jhow66; 08-31-2005 at 04:37 PM.

08-31-2005, 06:55 PM	#7
Classic Heartbeat Project Junkie! Fishing Poor!! Join Date: Dec 1999 Location: Olympia,Wa. 98512 Posts: 10,766	I am going to watch this thread carefully, because I will be doing the same thing to my Blazer some time. It would make sence to me to bolt the top on, then align the door. If you tweek the windsheild frame around to much, you might create top alignment problems.... WES www.ClassicHeartbeat.com __________________ On-line catolog Classic Heartbeat Pickup Parts WEHEPP@comcast.net Call us Toll Free (888) 338-2502 Like Us on Facebook No appointment necessary. 72 BB Chevy Custom Deluxe / Custom Camper 67 I-6 (Soon to be 5.7 LS1) Panel 68 BB Chevy Short Bed 72 6.0 LQ9 Short Bed Chevy 4X4 Olympia's fastest growing truck parts supplier. Olympia's home for Wayward Chevys Last edited by Classic Heartbeat; 08-31-2005 at 06:55 PM.

08-31-2005, 07:00 PM	#8
LUV2XCLR8 The LuvShack Garage Join Date: Jan 2004 Location: Maple Grove, TN (West Side) Posts: 30,484	I have given up on mine at the moment, passenger door looks be a u ti full, the drivers door looks like ass, I've messed with it off and on for a month __________________ Owner/Op: "TN Classic Transport Carriers" The Toy: "Square Vette" 72 Hybrid Blazer Toy Barn: "LuvShack" 40 x 60 x 20 Shop Tow Piggy:"Maddy" 88 Silverado 3500 Hauler: "Feathers" 14 Aluma 8218T

08-31-2005, 08:57 PM	#10
red71cheyenne Back in the sticks Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Fordland, MO Posts: 3,188	Huck-Ya, I noticed that when I had the front clip on and off, the whole windshield frame angles changed a lot! That might be the way to go as far as final alignment. Jhow66-How much difference are you seeing between the doors now that it is all together? Wes-If I had it to do again, I would have went the way OrangeUAVol went. That is, not breaking it down to parade rest splitting all the seams and stuff. I got a lot of piece of mind that all the metal is good and well coated, but it was Very labor intensive. Luv-I can't believe that you have much to go on GQ! You got to have that thing ready to get out on the road and get DIRTY!!!!! __________________ 1971 Cheyenne C-10 w/700R4 and Tuned Port Injection 1969 K5 Blazer w/Tuned Port 2010 2SS/RS Flaming Orange Camaro 2011 K1500 Suburban 2014 K1500 Pickup 2008 Nissan Altima? The wifes' hoopty

08-31-2005, 11:20 AM	#1
red71cheyenne Back in the sticks Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Fordland, MO Posts: 3,188	Question for Gee Emm or other guru I'm at the point of lining up my body lines, and I have a little problem. My drivers side door gap between the vent window frame and windshield is really tight. The passenger side is way loose. I have the doors lined up so the body lines are really close as far as horizontal, but I'm worried about the way the doors are fitting. Is there some way I can tweak the windshield frame to get it more square? Or even a suggestion as to how I can measure square on it? Tearing it down to parade rest may have been a mistake as far as realigning. Thanks for any help or suggestions. Jeff. __________________ 1971 Cheyenne C-10 w/700R4 and Tuned Port Injection 1969 K5 Blazer w/Tuned Port 2010 2SS/RS Flaming Orange Camaro 2011 K1500 Suburban 2014 K1500 Pickup 2008 Nissan Altima? The wifes' hoopty

08-31-2005, 12:12 PM	#2
71jimmy Registered User Join Date: Mar 2004 Location: Sacramento, CA Posts: 1,084	Not an expert on this but from what I've read on other posts, make sure your body mounts are good, and you may need more/less shims for the body mounts at position 1 and 2 ( front floorboard and rear of door). My .02, let us know what helped. __________________ '71 Jimmy, 350, SM465, NP205, 2in Tuff Country lift, 33s on rallies, TBI, softtop and hardtop "If life was fair you'd be able to afford one of each and a garage large enough to house them all."

08-31-2005, 02:07 PM	#3
71RestoRod Registered User Join Date: Sep 2003 Location: Evergreen, CO Posts: 494	Do you have the vent windows installed? That can suck the door frame down a little. Is it already painted? 71Jimmy is correct that the body mount shims make a big difference in aligning the door and windshield frame. Also, the frame may be swayed in the middle which can complicate things. I was actually amazed at how much movement I got around the doors while hanging the front clip. The doors were perfecly aligned, and then I hung the fenders and hood... doors still perfectly aligned. Installed the inner wheel wells and behold.... the door alignment changed. Couldn't believe it. Had to start again to get it right. Bottom line... if you are super consious of all of your gaps, do a lot of pre assembly to get a feel for how it's going to move around. It can be a lot of work. Good luck! __________________ 71 Blazer / GMPP ZZ383 / MPFI / 700R4 / 4-Wheel Disk / Ground-up frame off almost completed resto-mod

08-31-2005, 07:15 PM	#9
Huck Senior Member Join Date: Jun 2001 Location: Shelbyville, KY Posts: 3,269	Just spent a ton of time with alignment issues. You can get the front and rear of the door to body and fender alignment with shimming body under mount #2 butttt. The biggest movement of the windshield frame came from the inner and outer fender mounting to the firewall. THAT changed the angle more the body shimming. Try using a strap wrapped over the top of the windshield frame and tighten it to someting up front that wouldn't move. With the inner and outer fender to firewall mounting bolts loose, you can get a good 1/2" of movement out of the firewall/windshield frame. Once moved tighten and let it sag back to original---it will come into alignment but may or may not stay that way depending on how stiff your body is. By the way, you have a fender mounting bolt on the bottom of the fender as well as the inner fender to firewall!! Loosen them all, pull the windshield frame forward and retighten. (:>)

08-31-2005, 10:29 PM	#11
jhow66 Registered User Join Date: Jun 2002 Location: Knoxville Tenn. Posts: 3,058	Red' we got both doors to come out about the same. When my son put in the roll cage he made a couple of brackets that are welded to the roll cage and bolt to the windshield frame where the sun visor did.(see photo- circled area) We used a angle finder on the windshield post to get them the same by using shims between the roll cage bracket and the windshield frame.Then we adjusted our door post to fit the windshield. The bracket really made a differance in the feel of door when you shut it as it feels like you are shutting the door on a pickup. Top now will no longer have to help support the opening between cowl & bed. Attached Images __________________ 56 Chevy Bel-Air 2dr. HT (purchased new) 71 Chevy Cheyenne SWB PU (502HO) 65 GMC short bed step--work in progress and my gofer

09-01-2005, 10:49 AM	#12
red71cheyenne Back in the sticks Join Date: Jan 2001 Location: Fordland, MO Posts: 3,188	Thats a really good idea. I had thought about going with cross braces across the door openings, but that would have made it hard to get in and out. May have to consider the roll bar idea. I hadn't thought about putting one in until you pointed that out. Thanks, Jeff. __________________ 1971 Cheyenne C-10 w/700R4 and Tuned Port Injection 1969 K5 Blazer w/Tuned Port 2010 2SS/RS Flaming Orange Camaro 2011 K1500 Suburban 2014 K1500 Pickup 2008 Nissan Altima? The wifes' hoopty

09-01-2005, 06:22 PM	#13
pound41 Registered User Join Date: Dec 2002 Location: Northern Virginia Posts: 1,268	The top on both my blazers makes and hugh difference in the way the body and doors align. One of my blazers take the top off and the doors hit and the windshield drops. Yes it needs the body mounts replaced and rocker boxes. But when I put the 400 plus pound double wall back on it. Everything goes right back in line the windshield straightens up the doors reveals go back to perfect, This taught me the importance of the top and how all that weight on the back flexes the body back out by weighting the tail end down. You want to be careful of doing all your alignments without a top on and then having to start over if the top goes back on

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