Door gap issues.... I'm lost! *BIG pics*

[leftybass209]

I have a drivers door gap issue. I understand the gaps aren't great from the factory, but this one is ridiculous. With the door adjusted all the way rearward, there was still a LARGE gap between the door and the rear of the cab. As I ran out of room, and out of time to get it put together for registration, I used washers for spacers between the hinges and the door. Even so, with these spacers, there is an unacceptable gap between the leading window frame edge and the A pillar.

The cab mounts are new, the door is original, the rockers are original and rust free, and i'm lost as to what is wrong. The passengers side is as to be expected and acceptable for OEM fitment.

Any ideas or suggestions? Anyone run into this issue?

I DO NOT want to put money into this cab, because I'd rather utilize the money to switch back to a 69 cab to avoid this truck staying as an special construction vehicle. Basically I want the most cost effective way to fix this issue. No welding or fabrication skills either

[toolboxchev]

I am in no way an expert.

I am thinking how would I go about diagnosing a fix. Would it be possible to change out the door hinges, that being of course if another set were available.

How is the Frame? Any Twisting??

HMM????

[57taskforce]

Are you 100% sure that no one has ever been into the floor/rockers? (They sure as heck do look original from the pics you posted) That looks to me like it has signs of a spread door opening from not bracing things up before doing rust repair. If they are definitely oe, Than I'd be looking for other signs of crash damage. Maybe you could take some measurements of the door opening and compare them to the passenger side or even post them up here so we can see how far off you are.

[Grumpy old man]

Hi , Looks like too many spacers in the door side of the hinge Take the washers out and and start over to realign , Those spacers are just shoving the door back when it's closed , The bolts on the cab side of the hinge control forward and back the door side of the hinge controls in /out and tilt of the door by using the bolts on the cab side of the hinge you should be able to getter done ! . the door looks like it's almost hitting the rear side of the cab opening ? How are the cab mounts ?

[Jrainman]

fitting these doors takes time ,and there is really no short cuts . I played with my doors yesterday for about 4 hours to get them where I like the gaps ,and I most likely will play with them a bit more .

I would take the fende rand door lock plate back off and start over ,make sure your hinge pins and bushing are good and have no play , then start your process

[hugger6933]

Are the gaps [up and down] even? To me t hey look tighter at the bottom front and that means they would be bigger at the top front and tighter at the top of the back door. They leads me to think the door hinges need to be loosened at the body side and the door twisted in the "pocket" [Pocket is the term we use in a body shop for door opening]. Now if indeed you have been working on this door all this time and not have loosened the body side of the hinges, well I'm afraid you have wasted some of your time as a lot of the adjustment needed for this case is there.
The door adjustment works as follows.
The DOOR SIDE bolt loosened will allow adjustment in and out in the opening. I t also allows some amount of twisting in and out to finalize the fitment to cab corner and fender edge.
Now when you loosen the BODY SIDE this allows you to move the door forward and backwards in the "pocket". In some cases I have had to die grind the body side hinges ever so slightly to get the rearward pull that was needed to slide the door back far enough to have an acceptable gap.
I hope this may help someone. Jim

[Jrainman]

Originally Posted by hugger6933

Are the gaps [up and down] even? To me t hey look tighter at the bottom front and that means they would be bigger at the top front and tighter at the top of the back door. They leads me to think the door hinges need to be loosened at the body side and the door twisted in the "pocket" [Pocket is the term we use in a body shop for door opening]. Now if indeed you have been working on this door all this time and not have loosened the body side of the hinges, well I'm afraid you have wasted some of your time as a lot of the adjustment needed for this case is there.
The door adjustment works as follows.
The DOOR SIDE bolt loosened will allow adjustment in and out in the opening. I t also allows some amount of twisting in and out to finalize the fitment to cab corner and fender edge.
Now when you loosen the BODY SIDE this allows you to move the door forward and backwards in the "pocket". In some cases I have had to die grind the body side hinges ever so slightly to get the rearward pull that was needed to slide the door back far enough to have an acceptable gap.
I hope this may help someone. Jim

Thanks Hugger this is excellent information on fitting a door..............

[leftybass209]

Originally Posted by hugger6933

Are the gaps [up and down] even? To me t hey look tighter at the bottom front and that means they would be bigger at the top front and tighter at the top of the back door. They leads me to think the door hinges need to be loosened at the body side and the door twisted in the "pocket" [Pocket is the term we use in a body shop for door opening]. Now if indeed you have been working on this door all this time and not have loosened the body side of the hinges, well I'm afraid you have wasted some of your time as a lot of the adjustment needed for this case is there.

Great information, thank you! The Gaps are not even top and bottom, but I have made them even previously, with little help on the A pillar gap. I did read plenty on doing the door gaps before I started to assemble the front end. The original issue was, with the body hinge that adjusts for left and right movement adjusted ALL the way back, I mean all the way, influenced with a rubber mallet and a pry bar, there was still an unacceptable gap at the rear door position, close to 1/2". I shimmed the door after hours of fitting and adjusting to no avail. As I said before, i'm not looking for great gaps, just good enough, from the factory style gaps. I will take your advice, and readjust this door as necessary. Worst case scenario is I replace the cab.

Originally Posted by Jrainman

fitting these doors takes time ,and there is really no short cuts . I played with my doors yesterday for about 4 hours to get them where I like the gaps ,and I most likely will play with them a bit more .

I would take the fende rand door lock plate back off and start over ,make sure your hinge pins and bushing are good and have no play , then start your process

I agree with you, and I've probably got double that time (NOT bragging) just getting this door to sit as good as it does now. I'll start over I think, to make it easier.

Originally Posted by Grumpy old man

Hi , Looks like too many spacers in the door side of the hinge Take the washers out and and start over to realign , Those spacers are just shoving the door back when it's closed , The bolts on the cab side of the hinge control forward and back the door side of the hinge controls in /out and tilt of the door by using the bolts on the cab side of the hinge you should be able to getter done ! . the door looks like it's almost hitting the rear side of the cab opening ? How are the cab mounts ?

There is 1 too many washers, and the door is slightly closer to the rear than I would have liked, but if I add the 1/8-1/4 inch to the A pillar, it still has an unacceptable gap. Cab mounts have been replaced with parts from truck shop. I kept the old washers and spacers if I need them, but the passenger side door is great.

Originally Posted by 57taskforce

Are you 100% sure that no one has ever been into the floor/rockers? (They sure as heck do look original from the pics you posted) That looks to me like it has signs of a spread door opening from not bracing things up before doing rust repair. If they are definitely oe, Than I'd be looking for other signs of crash damage. Maybe you could take some measurements of the door opening and compare them to the passenger side or even post them up here so we can see how far off you are.

I'm confident enough to say, if someone had fit replacement rockers to this truck, they were straight from the assembly line using the exact equipment the OEM assemblers used! Unfortunately I purchased the cab from a longbed that had no front sheetmetal on it. The frame didn't look damaged at all, the guy said he already sold the front clip so i'd assume it wasn't damaged, but who really knows. The only measurement I could take that made any sense was below the a pillar, there was an upside down L shaped notch. I measured from there, to the underside of the drip rail where it ends. I got 38 7/8" there. It's hard to measure with any consistency. If you're off at all, it makes a big gap difference.

Originally Posted by toolboxchev

I am in no way an expert.

I am thinking how would I go about diagnosing a fix. Would it be possible to change out the door hinges, that being of course if another set were available.

How is the Frame? Any Twisting??

HMM????

Frame is from a different truck. In fact, the cab that came off of this truck was in the best shape as far as unmolested and dent free, that I've ever seen. Doors shut like a dream, gaps were incredible, drip rails were laser straight. Unfortunately it would have cost more in rust repair than made sense. It had rust through in the firewall gutter, around the heater, fresh air vents, rockers, cab corners, windshield frame, floorboard, and beneath the lower door hinges.

Thank you everyone for all the advice so far. I appreciate all the help!!!!!!