55.2-59 Alignment options doors mostly

[FAKKY]

Hey guys

What options do you have to adjust the doors apart from remocing the bolts on the Apillar and adjusting/shimming.

Same with front fenders too I guess.

Everything's close ... but just not quite

[FAKKY]

well got that mostly fixed by shimming the base of the door piller as well as tghe right fender panel.

The door seal is kinda a PITA in terms of it pushes a little against the door closing. It has little white trim plastic threads that go into the door ....... do people do anything here with sealer as well to help hold down better ?

[dsraven]

I know you are probably done already but usually you fit the door to the cab/body door opening and then fit the fender to the door. it's common to shim the rad support, rear of fender at cowl or front of cab to achieve the proper alignment for body line. body shims on a panel would be a little more involved since it is so much longer than a pick up. it's a good idea to start with new body mounts and new rad support mounts although I'm not too sure what a panel uses for body mounts. a couple of magnets holding a string line from the front to the rear along the body line will help you ensure that everything lines up, space the string off the body with a couple of thin office erasers so the string can be free of touching the body and you get a better line. a strong light set to the side will help cast a shadow where the string is if you find it hard to see. a laser would be great too but I find it hard to see up close. a couple of pieces of tape on the front and rear of each body panel works pretty well to see if the panel is lining up with the string line or laser. sometimes the lines on the panels are not that crisp so using the tape on each panel at the front and rear and marking the body line, without regard for the other adjacent panels, helps you be unbiased. find the happy medium. shim as required.
here is a link to the assembly manual that will tell you where the rubbers are glued and also the correct way around to install them. a lot of guys get them on backwards.
check section 1 sheet 82

https://www.trifive.com/d1/55-59Assy.pdf

[FAKKY]

Thx DSRAVEN.
I never took the doors off ....... and I assumed when putting all back together since everything had to go back in same holes .... would align pretty good. I guess it did but did find that

*) Front drivers door now very slightly clipped the front panel back edge.
*) Larger gap on passenger side fender to door.
*) Hood closes well but appears a little raised on both gaps ( L & R) on the front panel join.

I probably need to shim the front panels to raise up a little to close the hood gap. Not sure on how to move the passenger side panel 1/8th inch ... maybe shims as well. lol.

[FAKKY]

Went out and looked at the orientation of the strip .... looks correct ...... but think I need to put some weatherstip adhesive down.

[dsraven]

the last one I took apart had shim packs under the front fender top mounting bolts at the cowl to raise the fender slightly at the hood and the body line was good against the door. there were also shims under the rad support, pretty normal.
these truck's doors didn't fit well from the factory and I have found doors from different trucks fit differently as well. check the door hinges first to ensure they don't have play. open the door, grab the door at the bottom rear and lift slightly. there should be very little play. if there is determine where the play is coming from and fix that before going forward or it will drive you crazy because of door sag. take the latch striker part off the door post and close the door slowly to ensure the body lines line up by themselves and the striker is not what is bringing the door into alignment. adjust as required then install the striker and adjust the striker to get the door to close flush with the body. then install the weather stripping. after the door fits the cab then fit the fender to the truck and adjust to get the fender gap and height proper. lots of guys use wooden paint sticks to get the gaps the same all around.
just some thoughts. hope you get it right. maybe post a few pics, we all like pics.

[FAKKY]

How about a "crappy" video
Be ready to tilt head

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjHP1BdGs08&t=30s

[FAKKY]

well I pulled pretty much every bolt on the drivers side ....... and lifted from front of truck whilst shimming teh inside ... and had the wife tighten the main bolt by the cowel.
Its not perfect ...... but its 10x better than what it was in video ....

[_Ogre]

if the door gap looks good at the back of the door
looks like you need to raise the radiator support

[dsraven]

that's what I was thinking as well, low in the front so rad support shimming may fix the problem. like Ogre said, as long as the rear door gap is correct. if you look at the rocker panel below the door you will see that the door is about even with the front "ending point" of the rocker. that is where the front fender butts up against and could have a bit of a gap instead of a tight metal on metal fit. adjusting the rad support to be a bit taller may fix that. if you place a gap tool (like a wooden paint stir stick) in that spot to create a gap and then adjust the rad support accordingly you may win. watch how the hood fits when you adjust the rad support so you don't inadvertently have parts contacting each other when you close the hood.
all things being good otherwise, (straight and no sag in the frame, the rest of the body mounts are in good shape, the front cab mount brackets under the floor are in good shape etc), then lifting the rad support may fix the problem. one cab I had the floor and cab support brackets welded to the underside of the floor were so bad that the weight of the cab actually bent/flexed the floor ahead of the seam forward of the seat. those support brackets get tied into the hinge pillar and rocker/step brackets so it all works together. check your floor to ensure it is flat like it is supposed to be. also the integrity of those front cab support brackets. below is a link with a pic of the bracket. pretty common part to replace.
https://www.cmwtrucks.com/product/55...-cab-mount-rh/

water and debris get into the cowl vent ahead of the windshield, plugs the drain holes in the inner cowl vents on each side, then water is allowed to build up to the point where it drains into the cab through the kick panel vents. this rusts the floor and related areas of the hinge pillars and fender mounts/steps/rockers/cab mounts. below is a link to a pic of the cab. the inner cowls are the bumps on each side behind the fenders. there is a drain at the bottom with a small piece of sheet metal screwed on to partially occlude the hole for some reason. varmits and bugs maybe?
https://www.tuckersparts.com/1955-19...evy-truck.html

[FAKKY]

Originally Posted by _Ogre

if the door gap looks good at the back of the door
looks like you need to raise the radiator support

I think so too ...

Originally Posted by dsraven

that's what I was thinking as well, low in the front so rad support shimming may fix the problem. like Ogre said, as long as the rear door gap is correct. if you look at the rocker panel below the door you will see that the door is about even with the front "ending point" of the rocker. that is where the front fender butts up against and could have a bit of a gap instead of a tight metal on metal fit. adjusting the rad support to be a bit taller may fix that. if you place a gap tool (like a wooden paint stir stick) in that spot to create a gap and then adjust the rad support accordingly you may win. watch how the hood fits when you adjust the rad support so you don't inadvertently have parts contacting each other when you close the hood.
all things being good otherwise, (straight and no sag in the frame, the rest of the body mounts are in good shape, the front cab mount brackets under the floor are in good shape etc), then lifting the rad support may fix the problem. one cab I had the floor and cab support brackets welded to the underside of the floor were so bad that the weight of the cab actually bent/flexed the floor ahead of the seam forward of the seat. those support brackets get tied into the hinge pillar and rocker/step brackets so it all works together. check your floor to ensure it is flat like it is supposed to be. also the integrity of those front cab support brackets. below is a link with a pic of the bracket. pretty common part to replace.
https://www.cmwtrucks.com/product/55...-cab-mount-rh/

water and debris get into the cowl vent ahead of the windshield, plugs the drain holes in the inner cowl vents on each side, then water is allowed to build up to the point where it drains into the cab through the kick panel vents. this rusts the floor and related areas of the hinge pillars and fender mounts/steps/rockers/cab mounts. below is a link to a pic of the cab. the inner cowls are the bumps on each side behind the fenders. there is a drain at the bottom with a small piece of sheet metal screwed on to partially occlude the hole for some reason. varmits and bugs maybe?
https://www.tuckersparts.com/1955-19...evy-truck.html

Had no idea there was a "drain" in there ..... thought it just flowed down the inside of the pillar and fell through ..... but that makes sense on why they routed out there and the floors.

I was thinking of pulling the cowel vent on top of the windshield and welding a solid piece in its place ... not 100% sure of ramifications of doing so though. Dont think it will matter as I have removed the kick panel vent cables ..... and have AC

[dsraven]

here is a pic of what it looks like behind the cowl.

lots of guys close the cowl vent grill in. some simply remove the vent grille and weld a panel over the grille part and then screw the part back on. that way it is easily removed later if you need access for some reason. I will not be using my kick panel vents either so I will likely screw a sheet metal panel over the inside and seal it up. not sure about the cowl vent grill yet. thats a waize down the road.
the other pic is a replacement panel but if you look at the lowest point on the new part you can see a little flap of sheet metal hanging out there. that is usually bent inwards to restrict access to the vent drain hole in the area. check yours for debris by looking up from the bottom side. wear safety glasses.
hope that helps.