Door alignment '57 Chevy truck

[thenatural2]

I'm having a heck of a time installing my doors. I scribed around the hinges before I removed them and have them placed exactly where they were when they were on before, but wow - not even close. Body men - is there a beginning-to-end prescribed process for this, or do you just hunt and peck for a few days? Thanks for any help.

[Mac the Yankee]

There was a great article a little while back in Custom Classic Trucks that went through 55-7 door alignment from beginning to end- it might be on their website by this point.

[sqrlnts]

Our doors are cursed. I did the same thing but also replaced the door hinge bushings. Use a jack to help move the door in/out, up/down if your doing it by yourself. Good luck if your using new door rubber, my doors would not even get close with the new rubber installed. Here is the article from Custom Trucks.

When you see perfectly setup truck you can bet your ass that they have spend many weeks welding/grinding to get perfect door/cab/fender alignments. Stick with it you will get there.

[Russell Ashley]

I found it to be easier if you remove the latch plate off of the door post. Then you can open and close the door while you are adjusting it. I didn't have the rubber seal on mine which made it easier. I used my engine hoist to install the doors but then used a floor jack to help lift as needed after I got all of the bolts in. It's just a matter of trial and error to get the door adjusted to where it fits best. Notice I said fits the best, as they usually don't fit perfectly without a lot of massaging to the edges.
One other caution: I don't know if this has happened to anyone else, but when I was removing my doors the first time I was using a socket on an extension to remove the three bolts in the top hinge. When I pulled the extension out my socket hit the edge of the hole and came off and fell into the door. It's difficult to get it out so after that I duct taped it on to the extension.

[thenatural2]

Good stuff, all of ya. I'm finding that an 1/8th of an inch adjustment at the hinge equals a 1/2 inch at the upper rear corner of the door. I'm still at it and a lot closer thanks to some of the above tips etc. Much obliged.

[OrrieG]

I made this support to fit my floor jack. I used rebar so I can adjust the height. The wood is the right width and offset to support the door flat bottom, not the skin edge.

The procedure I use is to align the head and jamb for even gaps and to align the body lines since they are connected on the body and the most noticeable. The sill may or may not have a good gap. Then fit the fenders to the door front edge.

[thenatural2]

This is too cool..

[_Ogre]

nice jig orrieg.

reminds me when i needed my door adjusted on my 97 dodge ram with welded hinges
our body guy put a 2x4 in the hinge and slammed the door a couple times
worked great after that

[magicoolbus]

Orrie, you are a clever man!