Door Gap Adjustment

[61BISCAYNE]

I hung the doors back onto my '61 two-door sedan this afternoon.
I am in the final stages of block sanding, so I wanted to double check
the bodyline alignment. I rebuilt the hinges while the doors were off
with new pins and bushings. Also, before removing the doors
a year ago, I drilled 1/8" holes thru the hinges and into the body
to aid in realignment.
Here is my question / concern. Just how well did the doors
line up with the body back in the day when these cars were new?
My car shows no signs that it has ever been in any kind of wreck
that would cause a problem.
I feel like I am fighting a futile battle trying to get a perfectly
aligned and even gap all the way around the doors.
They are not too bad by any means, but they are not anything near as nice
as my wife's Honda Accord sitting next to it. My guess is that
The manufacturing methods in the early sixties did not offer the close
tolerances we see today.
What is considered acceptable for an original width gap.
Any input will be appreciated!

 

[Brian Thompson]

LOL!!! Sorry, didn't mean to laugh. I am right there with you!! It seems that it is next to impossible to get them perfect. I just went through this and used paint stir sticks for the door to quarter gap measurement. The bottom gap is slightly larger, so I just pulled up on the stick.

Brian

 

[tripower]

61, Please don't compare your 61' to a Honda...

 

[gearhead409]

Tripower

what do you mean. Hondas and Toyotas are the new chevys of today. honda has taken over the Indy cars, toyota will soon take over nascar and they are made right here in the USA. we use to say baseball, apple pie and chevrolet, i'am not sure that's true today. Man, i will surely get beat up on this one!!!!

 

[Ronnie Russell]

Loren, I will agree that some Hondas and some Toyotas are built in the USA,,,, but where do the Corporate profits go? Japan. Oh shoot, guess it doesn't matter anymore, foreign companies own must of America now anyway. How depressing.

 

[gearhead409]

Ronnie, i guess i just had to blow off a little steam. i work on late model cars everyday, i'am just disappointed in the GM quality nowdays. there are alot of hondas and toyotas in my area, i very seldom get one in for a major repair. the little suckers run forever! rememder our old chevys ran forever back in the day ( as long as you kept oil in them ) hee hee.

 

[Old School]

The cars you see with perfect door alignment in car shows are the results of many hours of welding, grinding adding too and taking away metal hand fitting the seams so they are flat and even.

At GM, the door alignment guy on the assembly plant used a long 2 x 4 wrapped in cloth and tweaked the doors to the eye. :

 

[gearhead409]

61biscayne

when new the gaps weren't real great. shoot for .150-.180. get the body lines looking good with the rear quarter and front fender. the gap at the bottom of the door will be larger but should be even with the rocker panel front to back. if it doesn't look right to you, now is the time to fix it. if not you will be the first one to see it after the car is painted.

 

[gearhead409]

the cars i've built for car shows with perfect alignment was done just like Old School said and all panels block sanded on the car. ( lots of hours! )

 

[Ronnie Russell]

Certainly no show car, but I had to make door gaps as tight as possible to hide the 4dr look. Incredible amount of time spent on it. 4dr h/t was the worst for huge door gaps.

 

[DaveFoster]

Door gap info
first make sure all tires are equal air pressure, a different sized tire on one side or underinflated tire will make a difference.
next check for worn hinges, know what you're working with before you waste time, if they're junk replace them first.
start with aligning your door to the quarter panel, quarters don't move, they are welded and you must make everything fit starting right there, also check to see if the quarter panel has been replaced. bad gaps could be from the last wreck that wasn't fixed correctly.
aligning doors with no weatherstripping is much easier but can give you nightmares later when you add it. I've simply added new weatherstripping to a nicely gapped customers car and fought a long battle realigning the whole car.
after you get the sheet metal aligned where you like it you might have to completely change all window alignment on hardtop and convertible cars. it takes lots of experience, and there are many tricks that help.
many cars have twisted doors, and or weak or broken welds, this will cause you extreme grief if not fixed before the expensive paint work, as cracks will appear in that beautiful paint before you make the first carshow, also make sure all the rust is patched with metal, rust normally starts on the inside of the door and can be thinner than you think, check it early with a sharp object at the earliest stages of your dream build and eliminate all of it.
aligning doors without all the hardware, such as locks, latches, window regulators, handles, upholstery, etc. etc. could also cause a need for a final adjustment, so keep that in mind.
some of the major aligning methods tend to chip paint, so get it close long before it gets near final stages.
I align doors without any front sheet metal installed, then I completely assemble the doors taking plenty of time to adjust all the vent window frames and door glass properly, next comes fenders, but until the hood gets installed you're just guessing. as you might already know this is a major project if done correctly and don't expect to get it done quickly.
if the gaps are consistant and the doors open and close easily without rising, dropping, or violently popping open, your next test should be for air noise and water leaks.
last, if you need my help, I'm in Riverside California, I have special tools for door alignment.

 

[mac1]

Good info

Dave, thank's for taking the time to write this. Lot's of good info here.

 

[rstreet]

Dave: great post..I am saving that one
robert

 

[61BISCAYNE]

WOW!! Thanks for all the valuable information!
All you guys are so helpful.
Oh, and I'm sorry for the reference to the Honda.
It is sad though that the Japanese automakers
are beating us at our own games these days.
But I guess that is a subject for a whole new thread.
Anyway, thanks again!