Door fitment experts please 55-59

[hotrod1]

Trying to fit doors and have a problem with the window frame of the door matching the cab and need help/suggestions. This truck in not a restoration, it will be a hot rod.

The drivers door (#1) sits too low in the area in the pics. The entire door fits well except for these places.

There is a seam where the front cowl (#2) meets the window frame. Do you guys weld this seam or just take care of the misalignment? By the way, I rounded the door corner, so you understand what you are looking at.

The passenger door's (#3) window frame sticks out quite a bit.

Any suggestions on taking care of all this stuff?

Thanks in advance.

[dwcsr]

That all looks like hinges adjustment to me.
Are these doors original to the truck?
have you done any structural work to them. IE door bottoms. skins
Are the hinges in goo shape, new or used?

[hotrod1]

Originally Posted by dwcsr

That all looks like hinges adjustment to me.
Are these doors original to the truck?
have you done any structural work to them. IE door bottoms. skins
Are the hinges in goo shape, new or used?

I dont know of they were original. When I got the truck they did not fit good. Should have taken before pics.

Rebuilt hinges and bottoms, inside and out. The entire door fits good except for these places. I have seen a lot of these trucks with fitment issues in these same places. It is more slice and dice to get them to fit?

[dwcsr]

Originally Posted by hotrod1

I dont know of they were original. When I got the truck they did not fit good. Should have taken before pics.

Rebuilt hinges and bottoms, inside and out. The entire door fits good except for these places. I have seen a lot of these trucks with fitment issues in these same places. It is more slice and dice to get them to fit?

If you can place the door in the opening ( hinges removed) with a paint stick in four places and it looks good then its not the door. Most all door issues are hinge problems and slicing the door up makes it worse looking when its painted.

door adjustment

See if this link helps it works on AD and TF doors

[MARTINSR]

There is a lot of adjustment in those hinges that is often overlooked. The pin is way back in the hole the hinge sits in. Moving the hinge where it mounts to the jamb isn't nearly important as where the pin moves. If you look down deep in the hole you will see a hole. As I remember those trucks don't have a bolt down inside, but the hole is there. I know the AD trucks do this. The hinge in the photo is a 55 passenger car, you can see the bolt in there.

But if the bolt isn't there you can put a bolt, I did this on my truck. You can enlarge the hole and make it move a lot more, in or out way back there, way more than using the bolts out on the outside of the hinge (phillips screws you see in the photo.)




Give that a try to move the top of the right door in, and then the left door out. Remember, often it's a "dance", when one area is a mile off like that top of the right door, instead of trying to make every line perfect, you make a few "ok" and go with that.

Remember, you can move that top in, by moving the top hinge in, or moving the bottom hinge out.

Brian

[hotrod1]

Thanks Guys. I sure appreciate it. The problem is that the entire rest of the door, both sides, is good. If it were a hinge issue, would this be the case? If I move anything, everything else will be out of alignment. Maybe I am missing the big picture.

[my56chevytruck]

Originally Posted by hotrod1

Thanks Guys. I sure appreciate it. The problem is that the entire rest of the door, both sides, is good. If it were a hinge issue, would this be the case? If I move anything, everything else will be out of alignment. Maybe I am missing the big picture.

Hotrod, I've gone thru hours and hours of moving the doors, fenders, etc. to attempt in getting the gaps consistent. I had to get the assistance of friends to help hold, align and retighten all bolts. Here's a few thoughts I have.
#1, these are 50years and older, this wasn't an important issue when they were new, these were trucks. #2, as said, remove bolts from hinges to doors and see again if the door fits and gaps are what you want, #3, you may have to do some welding and grinding to get what you want, #4, you also may have to go to body filler to fill gaps to make consistent, even Chip Foose has had to do this on old cars,#5 you may have to drill out some holes for more movement for adjustment. Yes there is a lot of adjustment in hinges, BUT, they will only move so much so do what is your best and enjoy your ride.

[hotrod1]

Originally Posted by my56chevytruck

Hotrod, I've gone thru hours and hours of moving the doors, fenders, etc. to attempt in getting the gaps consistent. I had to get the assistance of friends to help hold, align and retighten all bolts. Here's a few thoughts I have.
#1, these are 50years and older, this wasn't an important issue when they were new, these were trucks. #2, as said, remove bolts from hinges to doors and see again if the door fits and gaps are what you want, #3, you may have to do some welding and grinding to get what you want, #4, you also may have to go to body filler to fill gaps to make consistent, even Chip Foose has had to do this on old cars,#5 you may have to drill out some holes for more movement for adjustment. Yes there is a lot of adjustment in hinges, BUT, they will only move so much so do what is your best and enjoy your ride.

Thanks. I think I remember someone on here saying that they had to take a 2x4 to the top of the door window frame to fit. I wonder how that worked out? The entire door fits great. It's the window frame that sticks out.

[_Ogre]

1) tight gaps on these trucks makes for chipped paint. these doors move a lot as the cab flexes. it pains me when a builder painstakingly makes all the gaps 1/8''. all i can foresee is a lot of chipped door edges
2) since you rounded the door edge you have committed to welding the seam. the offset will be easy to fix then
3) you'd be surprised at how easy the top of the door will bend in. sometimes hinge adjustment won't fix everything. but looking at the bottom edge where the a-pillar curves, you need more hinge adjustment

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by my56chevytruck

Hotrod, I've gone thru hours and hours of moving the doors, fenders, etc. to attempt in getting the gaps consistent. I had to get the assistance of friends to help hold, align and retighten all bolts. Here's a few thoughts I have.
#1, these are 50years and older, this wasn't an important issue when they were new, these were trucks. #2, as said, remove bolts from hinges to doors and see again if the door fits and gaps are what you want, #3, you may have to do some welding and grinding to get what you want, #4, you also may have to go to body filler to fill gaps to make consistent, even Chip Foose has had to do this on old cars,#5 you may have to drill out some holes for more movement for adjustment. Yes there is a lot of adjustment in hinges, BUT, they will only move so much so do what is your best and enjoy your ride.

Right at the body line on my AD, the drivers door is a QUARTER INCH shorter than the passenger door!

NO, these trucks were not perfect is an understatement! Compared to the late model cars and trucks I work now daily, it is mind blowing the difference! A Hyundai Sonada will have 1/8" perfect caps on every panel!

Brian

[OrrieG]

The door gaps were not that consistent from the factory, most farmers just wanted them to stay shut and not leak when it rained. Here is a support I made for my floor lack to make it easier to adjust the hinges. I probably spent 6-8 hours on mine to get them right, very small changes result in large movements on the opposite and diagonal sides. MartinSR article is a great help.

[hotrod1]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

1) tight gaps on these trucks makes for chipped paint. these doors move a lot as the cab flexes. it pains me when a builder painstakingly makes all the gaps 1/8''. all i can foresee is a lot of chipped door edges
2) since you rounded the door edge you have committed to welding the seam. the offset will be easy to fix then
3) you'd be surprised at how easy the top of the door will bend in. sometimes hinge adjustment won't fix everything. but looking at the bottom edge where the a-pillar curves, you need more hinge adjustment

Thanks Ogre

Originally Posted by MARTINSR

Right at the body line on my AD, the drivers door is a QUARTER INCH shorter than the passenger door!

NO, these trucks were not perfect is an understatement! Compared to the late model cars and trucks I work now daily, it is mind blowing the difference! A Hyundai Sonada will have 1/8" perfect caps on every panel!

Brian

Thanks Brain

[my56chevytruck]

Hey Hotrod, you asked about using a 2x4, well I can't say I've used a 2x4 but I've used a 1x6 and it worked out great. where I used it at was at the top edge along the outside of the door frame since my doors would close great along the inside, but not along the window frame in this one area. after doing this a little at a time, it lays good. Don't do what I did first, push on it don't bang the door against the wood. a little at a time. good luck.

[hotrod1]

Originally Posted by my56chevytruck

Hey Hotrod, you asked about using a 2x4, well I can't say I've used a 2x4 but I've used a 1x6 and it worked out great. where I used it at was at the top edge along the outside of the door frame since my doors would close great along the inside, but not along the window frame in this one area. after doing this a little at a time, it lays good. Don't do what I did first, push on it don't bang the door against the wood. a little at a time. good luck.

Thanks my56chevytruck. How exactly did you do it? Leverage- prying- door on truck or off?

[my56chevytruck]

did you say your door frame at the top sticks out moreso than the rest of the door?? If this is the case, then using any piece of wood will not work at least to the application I was assuming. Maybe you need to put some pressure against the outside of the upper edge of your door and press inwards.

[OrrieG]

[QUOTE= A Hyundai Sonada will have 1/8" perfect caps on every panel!
[/QUOTE]
Yeah but will the girls on the corner turn and look when it cruises by? I love it when the ricer kids are hanging around and the guys look away while the girls look at the old fart in the old rumblin 4wd driving by.

[Kim57]

Originally Posted by hotrod1

Thanks. I think I remember someone on here saying that they had to take a 2x4 to the top of the door window frame to fit. I wonder how that worked out? The entire door fits great. It's the window frame that sticks out.

I did this to mine.
It was too far in at the top and no amount of adjustment fixed it without making other parts worse.
I little tweak on the window frame and it fits fine all the way around.
You may need to push yours in a little at the top.
When the doors are off and moved it's possible to get them a bit out of shape.
Kim

[MARTINSR]

Originally Posted by OrrieG

Yeah but will the girls on the corner turn and look when it cruises by? I love it when the ricer kids are hanging around and the guys look away while the girls look at the old fart in the old rumblin 4wd driving by.

I live in an city that has the Tesla factory, they are all over, there is a lot of money here, I see Maseratis, Rolls, Mclarens on a regular basis. And I have to chuckle that my 59 Rambler daily driver gets more attention, or should I say more positive attention. It puts smiles on peoples faces. Unlike the ones mentioned where people look at them as rich snobs.

Damn I love driving that Rambler every day!

Brian