Door Alignment Issues

[bigmal 225]

Hi Guys, I had difficulty closing my passneger door. (the one on the left) so adjsted the striker out a little and it now closes fine. The problem is the front of the door is aligned top and bottom but the rear of the door sticks out at the bottom. The top is fine. Has anyone else had this issue? What suggestions do you have? Thanks.

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

69 -70s are very prone to door twist .they can easily be twisted back ,kid you not ,i have done a lot of them. The door glass is usually off a bit because of this.

[bigmal 225]

1 minute ago, Ridge Runner said:

69 -70s are very prone to door twist .they can easily be twisted back ,kid you not ,i have done a lot of them. The door glass is usually off a bit because of this.

Thanks for that. Can it be twisted back while still on the car? How have you done them in the past?
 

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

Yes i twist them on the car . It is best to remove the door panel ,although i have tristed them with it on . Inside the door at the topback you will see a bolt ,looks like it does nothing ,loosen it first ,sometimes they will twist just by grabbing the top at the end and pull out while pushing in at the bottom . Once you get a good fit ,tighten the bolt back again.you may need to readjust the window at that end after

[bigmal 225]

11 minutes ago, Ridge Runner said:

Yes i twist them on the car . It is best to remove the door panel ,although i have tristed them with it on . Inside the door at the topback you will see a bolt ,looks like it does nothing ,loosen it first ,sometimes they will twist just by grabbing the top at the end and pull out while pushing in at the bottom . Once you get a good fit ,tighten the bolt back again.you may need to readjust the window at that end after

Fantastic. Will give that ago. thanks.

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

I was going to take a picture of the bolt in the end of the doors but it looks like the later 69 and 70 does not have it .the early doors have the bolt but the newer doors are just spot welded. I have the later 69 doors and 70 doors.it is usually were the picture shows you can see the spot weld where the bolt usually in this 70 door

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

Yep ,only the early 69s have the bolt in the end of the door like my 69 

[bigmal 225]

1 minute ago, Ridge Runner said:

Yep ,only the early 69s have the bolt in the end of the door like my 69 

Thanks for that. As mine is an early 69 hopefully it has the bolt.

[aslanefe 333]

Even if yours don't have the bolt, roll the window down a little and twist by holding bottom and top of the door at the back. It may take some muscle but it works.

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

It will take a bit more force to twist if it doesnt have the bolt but i think you will be able to do it,you may need a little help though

[RPM 1,190]

Thanks for the tip and pics Jim. 

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

Not sure why Ford bolted the door here ,may have been hard to spot weld or somthing . I have 2 early 69s that have bolts ,my CJ is spot welded here and so are the doors i picked from a 70 coupe .the spot welded ones are tough to twist ,but the bolted together ones are simple just by loosening the bolt and tightening it back once you have twisted it 

[bigmal 225]

Unfortunately mine did not have the bolt. Managed to get it to align a lot better. Thanks guys. Appreciate the help.

Unfortunately have to slam the door pretty hard to get it to latch. Have tried moving the striker out but then the door is not flush. I may have to live with the door out a little as I found a broken bracket inside that I had to replace. I suspect from all the door slaming.

Luckily Sydney Mustangs had a second hand one in stock.

 

[Reaper69 1]

Way oldn but the best could be to align the back by the latch.  Then if the front is off at the bottom adjust the fender in or out.   2 bolts at the bottom.

[bigmal 225]

7 minutes ago, Reaper69 said:

Way oldn but the best could be to align the back by the latch.  Then if the front is off at the bottom adjust the fender in or out.   2 bolts at the bottom.

That sounds like a plan. Thanks.

[Shep69 149]

I did what Reaper69 advised when I put my 69 back together Bigmal.  I just came from dropping my focus off for a service at my local Ford dealership and was talking to one of the guys . He was telling me about the new mustangs and how many are going straight to panel shops to get the panels aligned . Some panels are up to 10mm out from the factory.  You would expect that back in the 60s but not with brand new cars coming straight of the ship. Now thats shit!!!.

[Shep69 149]

2 hours ago, bigmal said:

Unfortunately mine did not have the bolt. Managed to get it to align a lot better. Thanks guys. Appreciate the help.

Unfortunately have to slam the door pretty hard to get it to latch. Have tried moving the striker out but then the door is not flush. I may have to live with the door out a little as I found a broken bracket inside that I had to replace. I suspect from all the door slaming.

Luckily Sydney Mustangs had a second hand one in stock.

 

When I had my brackets out I found the threads to be pretty average probably due to being aluminium and overtightened at some stage. I ended up putting helicoils in all the brackets. Those things work great. 

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

Wondering if the door glass may be tilted in to far at the top ,does the door close easier if the glass is rolled down?

[bigmal 225]

Just now, Ridge Runner said:

Wondering if the door glass may be tilted in to far at the top ,does the door close easier if the glass is rolled down?

Now I have replace the alloy bracket the glass is definately too far in at the top. I wish I noticed that before putting the door trim back on. I will need to adjust it. Haven't done that before but assume it's not too difficult.

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

Pretty simple ,it is the bolt under the door ,loosen it and with the glass about half way up it should move when loosened . Some times the cage nut hangs up in the bracket and you may need to loosen the top bolt also

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

I think what may be happening is the door glass and end seal is hitting to tight to the quarter vent window making the door close hard

[bigmal 225]

3 minutes ago, Ridge Runner said:

Pretty simple ,it is the bolt under the door ,loosen it and with the glass about half way up it should move when loosened . Some times the cage nut hangs up in the bracket and you may need to loosen the top bolt also

Sounds too easy. I will try to get to it tonight. Thanks

[Ridge Runner 1,112]

Some times it is ...sometimes ,not verry

[Jan 12]

G'day bigmal,

I am certain you can get a better door fit.

You need to start adjusting the hinges so that you get the rear of the door to line up. Then go on to adjusting the front of the door.

In your case I would move the door out at the top hinge so you get the rear good.

Then you can move the front in or out equally (both hinges) so it lines up down at the rocker panel.

Next thing you have to do is the adjust the mud guard (fender) so it lines up with the door front.

You will now probably have to move the bonnet (hood) to the left as you now have a bigger gap there and possibly the front of the guard to obtain parallel gaps.

The glass can be adjusted as follows:

The whole glass can be moved back and forth with the nut at the front of the scissors (rear bolt loose).

The glass can be tilted up and down by moving the bolt holding the rear of the scissors up or down.

Then you have the tilt as explained earlier.

Another adjustment is also possible and that is to move the quarter window back and forth a little to get the rubber flush. (less noise)

 

It's not difficult as someone pointed out but is does take patience.

 

Hope this helps and good luck.

[bigmal 225]

15 hours ago, Ridge Runner said:

Some times it is ...sometimes ,not verry

Took two seconds and the issue with the window is fixed. Thanks.