Door alignment question

[HoupPhotography]

Is it possible for the door to "un-adjust" while it's on? My drivers door never hit, but now it is hitting on the bottom third part of the door, can I adjust just the bottom of the door? What else can cause this and can I adjust just the bottom of the door or could it be the fender?

I also can't get my damn hood to alighn since I took it off to pull the motor. Is it possible that something shifted, are they linked problems and did driving it with no hood create or assist in the problem?

[HoupPhotography]

Ttt

[LockDoc]

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I'm guessing you mean that the bottom front edge of the door is hitting the back edge of the front fender.... I would guess that the door hinges have worn enough that it's causing the problem. I don't think anything you did caused it but a lot of things can affect it, like problems with the rubber or metal body mounts, cab shift, or hitting something with the front bumper. You should be able to loosen the bottom hinge bolts on the cowl and adjust the bottom of the door back a little. It will definitely take two people to do it. For the amount you need to move it you shouldn't have to loosen the top bolts at all. The mistake most people make when trying to adjust doors and hoods is that they move them too far at one time. When adjusting a door or a hood, 1/16 of an inch can make a lot of difference in the overall fit.

As far as the hood is concerned, I don't think anything has moved. Believe it or not there is a lot of adjustment in the hood, and again, a small amount of movement at the bolts can be a large amount of movement at the front of the hood. You will just have to work with it until you get it right. This will also take two people to do it right and it would be easier if one of them had some experience with adjusting doors & hoods.

Here's the procedure for getting the back of the hood down if it is sticking up. (posted by Huck):

"To get the back down with existing hinges---open hood----loosen the three bolts that attach hinge to fender (both sides). Now push the hood up till the hinges stop moving, ---now push it open a bit more to preload the hinges. Tighten hinges. (two people make it a lot easier--hehehe) now carefully lower the hood--this may take a few adjustments to get it to sit just right (height wise). You may need to adjust the hood front to rear to allow for proper clearance with the cowl."

Be sure and watch the sides & back closely when closing the hood after doing this as it may hit.

If everything is tight, driving it with the hood off shouldn't make any difference....

LockDoc

[dan42]

I don't think that driving without the hood would cause that problem - my hood is a little off on the driver's side since I changed motors as well, and I can't get it right either. Depends on where it's out - mine's fine in the front, just a little high in the back, and I couldn't get it to lay flush. As for the door, I just went through that this weekend - only thing I can think is either the lower pin or both pins are worn out or you had bolts that weren't quite tight enough and the alignment has shifted. If that's the case I would go invest in a door hinge wrench (I'm going to) to see if everything is tight, or at least adjust it. If it's the pins (you can tell by lifting up on the door when it's open - there should be no play) then I would just replace the hinge entirely - about 80 bucks. Hope that helps.

[Sammy]

Open the door thats dragging. Get someone to gently lift the door up & down. If there is play say 1/16 th or more that could be your problem. Go to the parts store ask for a door hinge repair kit. Around 10-$12. Remove the doors repair the hinges. Look for cracked door near the mount hinge on the upper hinge. Bead a weld if cracked.

[HoupPhotography]

You guys are AWESOME, I appreciate all of the information!!