Topless69GT 28 Report post Posted August 21, 2019 I am finally getting around to all the little projects that drive me crazy on my car. One of those projects is the drivers door alignment. My car was a rust free CA car when I started so rear quarters etc have not been replaced. The panels fit fine when I took the car apart. I have everything lined up but cannot seem to get the drivers door to fit right. The rear edge of the door where it lines up with the rear quarter is the area of issue. At the top it is flush with the rear quarter but as you follow the door edge down towards the rocker panel it slowly is kicked out and is not flush. I cannot seem to get this corrected. It is not out much but drives me crazy. If I push in on it just a little bit it goes where I would like it to be. I attached pictures but not sure how good they are. Not sure what to do next. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Midlife 840 Report post Posted August 21, 2019 Sounds to me like the door latch and/or striker needs some tweaking to bring the rear of the door in. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aslanefe 352 Report post Posted August 21, 2019 Open the door, hold the top aft with one hand and bottom aft with other hand and twist the door (bottom in, top out). That's how I lined up my original undamaged door which was exactly like yours. 2 mwye0627 and RPM reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aslanefe 352 Report post Posted August 21, 2019 Warning I forgot to include; on the bottom, don't hold at very aft, hold about 5 inches forward where the door cross section is thicker. If you push from the very aft, you may fold the edge. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barnett468 418 Report post Posted August 21, 2019 don't twist anything before you send a photo of the front fender to rocker and front fender to door alignment. your door did not twist out of shape all by itself while it was laying around off the car. A photo of the top of the fender where it meets the cowl panel may also be useful. Is the front fender original with no repairs? Did you install aftermarket door rubbers? Is the door a little hard to latch when you close it now? 1 SWPruett reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ridge Runner 1,202 Report post Posted August 21, 2019 Yep ,check it with a fender in place ,you may have the top front in to far ,or the bottom front out to far . Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
JET 445 43 Report post Posted August 21, 2019 You probably just need a tiny adjustment of the hinges, due to the length of the door a small adjustment at the hinge equates to quite a large movement at the rear of the door. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mustangstofear 608 Report post Posted August 21, 2019 Really need to see the front edge of the door at the rocker. Most of the time everyone tries to line the doors up with the lock and striker installed , and use the striker to bring the door up or down. This is the wrong way, if adjusted properly it should float dead on. You either don't have the bottom hinges pulled in far enough or you have a thicker weatherstrip than before. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Topless69GT 28 Report post Posted August 21, 2019 Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
aslanefe 352 Report post Posted August 22, 2019 I had to twist a 66 few years ago, and a 69 last year. Both original undamaged doors where the bottom rear sticked out like yours while other 3 corners fit right. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barnett468 418 Report post Posted August 22, 2019 Is the door slightly hard to close from the new door rubber? It looks like you could move both the lower front edge of the fender and the lower part of the quarter panel in maybe 1/16", but this obviously still wont fix tthe back completely, but the top of the door and fender may be in just a hair too far as well. I can't tell by the photo but in theory, there should be at least 3/16" gap between the top edge of the door and the pillar post, but if you already have at least 1/8" gap between the fender and the cowl panel, it is just about as far out from the body as it should be. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Topless69GT 28 Report post Posted August 23, 2019 Door is not hard to shut. I am going to work on it this weekend to see if I can get it to fit better. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barnett468 418 Report post Posted August 23, 2019 54 minutes ago, Topless69GT said: Door is not hard to shut. I am going to work on it this weekend to see if I can get it to fit better. Ok, since it is not hard to shut, the door rubber "should" not be causing a problem, which just leaves adjusting the panes and as a very last resort, trying to twist the door. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1969_Mach1 335 Report post Posted August 23, 2019 Before twisting of any kind. I think I would try adjusting the striker inward a little. Maybe that will get it close enough. Isn't the typical method, adjust the door to fit the quarter panel and rocker, then adjust the fender to fit the door? 1 RPM reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Topless69GT 28 Report post Posted August 28, 2019 I tried a little bit of all the suggestions and it fits much better. It was a bit of a pain but worth it. I still have a little bit of tweaking to do on it to make it perfect. Thank you for all the suggestions. The photo makes it look like it is out a little bit at the bottom but it really is not. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mustangstofear 608 Report post Posted August 28, 2019 Adjusting the striker will do absolutely nothing to correct his problem. The striker should be completely removed to see how the door is fitting. All he has to do is twist the door and if the inner shell is moving he could have an upper spot weld broken like on Craig's car. 1 mwye0627 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Topless69GT 28 Report post Posted August 28, 2019 The striker adjustment is what really made the biggest difference on the door alignment. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mustangstofear 608 Report post Posted August 28, 2019 The striker is only designed to adjust the door for in and out, not up and down. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
1969_Mach1 335 Report post Posted August 28, 2019 Most are aware the striker will only control the inward and outward position of the rear edge of the door. But there looks to be a slight twist in a finished painted door because the front fender and rocker alignment are fine. Either that, or the front fender also needs more adjusting after the door is correct. By adjusting the striker Topless69GT might be able to obtain a compromise that is acceptable. These cars are 50 years old and panel gaps were not very good to begin with. Sometimes you have to pick your battles instead of loosing more hair trying to make something better than it was when new. 1 RPM reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mwye0627 44 Report post Posted August 28, 2019 On 8/20/2019 at 10:10 PM, aslanefe said: Open the door, hold the top aft with one hand and bottom aft with other hand and twist the door (bottom in, top out). That's how I lined up my original undamaged door which was exactly like yours. My best friend has owned and operated a Body Shop since 1965 in the same location. In the 40+ years I have known him, he has always twisted doors like you describe to get the correct alignment. It is an industry standard to adjust many different things. If you have 3 points which are correctly spaced and aligned but the 4th point is off, a simple twist can fix the problem and save many hours of labor trying to readjust hinges, etc... I even seen on a episode of "How It's Made" where a factory worker performed the same technique to align a door on the assembly line. Many new cars have welded hinges and the bolted side typically does not have slotted holes these days. Sometimes a 'Twist' is necessary... 1 RPM reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mwye0627 44 Report post Posted August 28, 2019 6 hours ago, Topless69GT said: The striker adjustment is what really made the biggest difference on the door alignment. Since the top rear corner of the door was already correct, by moving the striker in you are allowing the lower rear corner to close in further, but since the top rear was correct, you are still 'Springing' the door each time you close it. If you had twisted the door to correct the alignment, then the door would close in the proper position and would not have uneven pressure against the door seals. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Ridge Runner 1,202 Report post Posted August 29, 2019 I had a friend that worked the assembly line from 65 -70 he said your best tool was a 2 pound sledge hammer and a 2 x 4 block of wood . Hoods that were to flat and sat below the fenders got the 2 x 4 under the middle of the hood as you closed the hood to make the bow match the fender . Doors that would not flush fit to the quarter were twisted ,some times by closing the door and pushing with the block of wood at the lowest corner . Some times a door post needed to be knocked in at the hinges because they would not adjust in far enough ,the block of wood came into play again with the 2 pound sledge ,this was all done while the new car was painted . 1 mwye0627 reacted to this Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barnett468 418 Report post Posted August 29, 2019 On 8/28/2019 at 9:30 AM, Topless69GT said: The striker adjustment is what really made the biggest difference on the door alignment. Glad you were able to get it much closer using the various adjustments. As I mentioned, twisting is the LAST resort, not the first one. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
barnett468 418 Report post Posted August 29, 2019 21 hours ago, mwye0627 said: Since the top rear corner of the door was already correct, by moving the striker in you are allowing the lower rear corner to close in further, but since the top rear was correct, you are still 'Springing' the door each time you close it. Not necessarily. Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
mwye0627 44 Report post Posted August 29, 2019 2 hours ago, barnett468 said: Not necessarily. Please explain... Quote Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
