The most frustrating part of the build? Door alignment?

[lyrikz]

I have spent all day screwing with this door. I have a feeling that its the door itself that is screwed up. Its a 72 door, it does have some rust on it. Can you guys take a look at these pics and let me know what you think i should adjust or if i need to cut out some spot welds and readjust the door frame area itself??? Bad hinges a cause maybe? There are some play in the hinges. IDK if that would cause this.

Here is the issue. On the top left corner it touches. No matter what i do, i cant get it to not rub there. WIth EVERY single alignment gap where it should be it touches in that area. If you look at the pic you will see that the door kind of sags at that upper right area. Ther eis a good .5 inch gap there and touches on the left side. I can get it to where the door shuts nice, all the gaps are nice, but that ONE area in the upper left touches. ANYONE have any suggestions????

see the gap difference???







Also, you see there is a tiny gap. ONLY way i could get that gap was removing the door jamb striker itself. The door hits on the door jamb so i cant maintain that gap... Door sits to low.

[JimKshortstep4x4]

Have you mocked up the front fender yet to see what it fits like?

A friend of mine used to bend the window frame to make it fit. I never learned how he did it but you may want to consider it as a last effort.

I have the same corner problem but my problem is caused by a PO changing out the roof so I will have to grind my corner as it hits the top and the post at the same time.

You will want to repair the hinges as loose hinges can cause the clearance problem on the rear of the door.

Jim

[Painter D]

In the second pic it looks like the bottom of the door is out too far. You might try moving the bottom of the door in ,and see if that helps. If that doesn't work ,another option is to longate (make longer) some of the holes in the hinges to give you more adjustment. I had to do that on mine. I've seen people bend the door frame also. Hope this helps.

[ChevLoRay]

These doors didn't fit like a Lexus door. In order to get an even gap, you gotta do some tweaking (no, not drugs) of the body to get the fit "right". The windshield post frequently will come into contact with the forward edge of the door frame.

What about using some shims (carpentry shims) to position it as you want it to be, then tightening the bolts on the hinges?

Friend of mine says he shoots for a 1/8-inch gap, and does whatever he has to do to get it there. I'm thankful for his expertise, since he's gonna do mine.

Best I can tell, it's gonna take a pair of people to do it.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by JimKshortstep4x4

Have you mocked up the front fender yet to see what it fits like?

A friend of mine used to bend the window frame to make it fit. I never learned how he did it but you may want to consider it as a last effort.

I have the same corner problem but my problem is caused by a PO changing out the roof so I will have to grind my corner as it hits the top and the post at the same time.

You will want to repair the hinges as loose hinges can cause the clearance problem on the rear of the door.

Jim

Well, im going to buy some new hinges and then retry it. See how that goes. If it doesnt work then i will start with the metal work.. Not that i know what i can do to fix that. ahah..

[Botietruck]

I know it's not what you want to hear right now, but that cab really should be bolted to the frame to get the correct gaps. They don't flex alot, but we're talking 1/16" & 1/8"gaps. If using the frame is not an option at this stage, make sure the cab is sitting level on all 4 corners. I used my original doors and all original sheet metal and still had to tweak the doors. They were very close in that same area. I used a 2X4 and placed it between the door/window frame and the cab post at the uppermost corner, while giving it gentle quick tugs. It worked for me. But, as stated earlier, I would rebuild the hinges first. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

[19673ontree]

the door's ! the fender's ! the hood ! the TAILGATE ! none of the body panel's line up on these truck's !

I would be ashamed to tell you what all I did to get good gap's and body line's on my 67 THE PAIN !!

[CG]

Have you checked out Rokcrln's build threads? I think he had some door alignment stuff in one of em.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by CG

Have you checked out Rokcrln's build threads? I think he had some door alignment stuff in one of em.

I have read ALOT of rokcrlns stuff. I dont remember where he had that. I absolutely suck at searching. i cant seem to find anyone who sells hinges. ahaha..

[67mater]

I can't believe the similarity in our problems. i am putting doors from my 67 on a 72 cab (but can't say with any certainty where the doors are form). In my case, the contact at that upper corners concerns me less than the gap between the top of the door and the seal area (like there is none). maybe that helps the door seal, but right now they touch, which make sme think it'll be hard to shut with weatehrstripping. hand in hand with that is that like it LOOKS here the bottom of my door is out to far (I have the top out as far as it goes and teh bottom in as far as it goes). I have my cab on a wooden frame, so although not sitting only ont he four moutning points, it's sitting on the outriggers so I would think that would be noe different. I test fit a front fender last night, and in addition to being too tight to the fender (and consequently a big gap at the rear; ie doors needs to go backward despite being as far as it goes) I also determined a very interesting thing; despite the bottom bing too far out,. the front is too far in!!! Perhaps the door is twisted, perhaps things walked on me as i repared the rot, or perhaps my saggy hinges are part of it. So, let me know on the new hinges ($35 a piece from LMC) while I try bending the froward elbow on trhe bottom hinge to bring the forn tof the door out and back in, and hopefully by bringing the back bottom corner in, I can get the top forward corner out and not touching.

Also, I have the strike plate out because I can get that later. One final thing, on mine, the bottom of the window lines up perfect, so somehow I gotta pivot off of that. the problem is I am out of adjustment, so i will be bending, grinding, shimming to get right.

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by Botietruck

I know it's not what you want to hear right now, but that cab really should be bolted to the frame to get the correct gaps. They don't flex alot, but we're talking 1/16" & 1/8"gaps. If using the frame is not an option at this stage, make sure the cab is sitting level on all 4 corners. I used my original doors and all original sheet metal and still had to tweak the doors. They were very close in that same area. I used a 2X4 and placed it between the door/window frame and the cab post at the uppermost corner, while giving it gentle quick tugs. It worked for me. But, as stated earlier, I would rebuild the hinges first. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.

Its bolted to a wood frame, i see no difference in that then the frame.

Originally Posted by 67mater

I can't believe the similarity in our problems. i am putting doors from my 67 on a 72 cab (but can't say with any certainty where the doors are form). In my case, the contact at that upper corners concerns me less than the gap between the top of the door and the seal area (like there is none). maybe that helps the door seal, but right now they touch, which make sme think it'll be hard to shut with weatehrstripping. hand in hand with that is that like it LOOKS here the bottom of my door is out to far (I have the top out as far as it goes and teh bottom in as far as it goes). I have my cab on a wooden frame, so although not sitting only ont he four moutning points, it's sitting on the outriggers so I would think that would be noe different. I test fit a front fender last night, and in addition to being too tight to the fender (and consequently a big gap at the rear; ie doors needs to go backward despite being as far as it goes) I also determined a very interesting thing; despite the bottom bing too far out,. the front is too far in!!! Perhaps the door is twisted, perhaps things walked on me as i repared the rot, or perhaps my saggy hinges are part of it. So, let me know on the new hinges ($35 a piece from LMC) while I try bending the froward elbow on trhe bottom hinge to bring the forn tof the door out and back in, and hopefully by bringing the back bottom corner in, I can get the top forward corner out and not touching.

Also, I have the strike plate out because I can get that later. One final thing, on mine, the bottom of the window lines up perfect, so somehow I gotta pivot off of that. the problem is I am out of adjustment, so i will be bending, grinding, shimming to get right.

Im not going to buy the hinges, im going to rebuild mine... Cheaper.. ALOT cheaper. ahaha.. I will let you know how it goes... I think i have an idea as to what is going on with mine. As the hinges are ALLLL the way up the top of the door frame touches and the rest fits fine. That means its sagging backwards... So if the hinges are tight, i wont have to have the door as high which will cause the door not to touch in that top area... I will let you know how it goes. The hinges are on back order.

[Wreckless_71]

Yepper... the doors are deffinitely one of the biggest PITA's on these trucks! My '71 has probably the best alignment on the doors I've ever seen... except that damn top front most corner! Everywhere else seems to fit like a glove. I don't get it maybe, like these guys were saying, you have to bend the frame a little bit but that seems kinda extreme?!

[lyrikz]

Originally Posted by Wreckless_71

Yepper... the doors are deffinitely one of the biggest PITA's on these trucks! My '71 has probably the best alignment on the doors I've ever seen... except that damn top front most corner! Everywhere else seems to fit like a glove. I don't get it maybe, like these guys were saying, you have to bend the frame a little bit but that seems kinda extreme?!

How do you bend the frame.. Bend it DOWN???? I dont see that being possible. ahha...

My thought is this. Picture a box. The box is held by hinges. If the hinges are solid the box will be held straight. Well, if those hinges are loose, you would have to adjust the hinges higher to get that box to sit straight....

[bad6772]

I would need to see a fender mock up to give my 2 cents. on sweet pea....i had to cut,grind,ream tweak......On a Tri pro door i had to remove the whole upper door frame and then set my factory where i wanted it....Just hang in there.......If it was easy everyone would do it....

[67ChevyRedneck]

Start with new hinge pins and bushings.



It would still be possible for your cab to "tweaK" on a homemade wooded frame.

What Kevin did (if I remember correctly) is slice the window frame where it meets at the top of the wing window and "pulled it in" to make a door fit. Only a 1/16" could make a huge difference.

They are a pain! The hood is the next biggest pain!