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I have the body back on the new frame, but have not bolted it down yet. Both doors open and close nicely, but the passenger door seems misaligned at the front. The upper front seems low and inward compared to the fender. Can this be corrected with body shims, or does this require hinge adjustments? Thanks for your help. Barry
Should be some vertical adjustment at the hinges to bring the front of the door up. After 60 years of who knows what (?), it's possible the adjustment may be topped out. But sometimes some filing of slotted hinge mounting holes can correct for that but if there is a captured nut plate that floats in the frame, it may be harder to get the adjustment you need.
I agree that the bottom front lower door gap looks pretty tight. I have had my doors on and off about 10 times during my bodywork phase. As I have come to know the pillars and hinges, I don't think any type of shimming inside the door-to-hinge is a very practical or reasonablepproach to move the door in and/or out. You would have to do this type of adjustment with the hinge-to-front pillar mount. If you cannot get enough to move the front door edge in or out then I would elongate some holes on the hinge where it attaches to the front pillar. Up or down, you can achieve this by the three bolts to each hinge inside the door and/or the two holes that attach to front pillar. I have used my round file to take areas out of door hinge and bumper bracket holes and you don't necessarily have to remove a lot to make a big difference. When you get there and you will (patience/patience/patience), think you will conclude that "shimming" hinges isn't necessary. Hope this helps somehow?
I reread your post and realized you where talking about body shims and not hinge shims. I think you have a door hinge adjustment and not body shims.
Last edited by tgtexas02; Jun 8, 2019 at 05:12 PM.
Thank you. Yes, it is a new frame, so I did not use the old body shim count which made me unsure of which area to focus on. With it being hinge adjustment, along comes another thought, and more work.
I have new weatherstrip to install and I want to paint the door jambs, so I may as well remove the doors and realign them from there. This scope creep has a hold on me, but I am not sure how to logically avoid it. I may need an intervention if I’m ever going to drive this thing again.
You probably already know this but just to remind you, don't depend on the rear latch and latch mech to support or assist the door whatsoever in the up or down direction. Make the door hinges do this. Just use the latch/latch mech to securely latch the door after it is aligned and to keep the rear door edge and quarter panel profile like you want it. Take your time when you start and walk away and come back whenever you get frustrated or overwhelmed. I find that a beer or bourbon helps me...just not too much.
Be carefull adjusting the doors upwards without the windshield frame in place. As the doors go up, so do the door posts. Without the windshield frame in place, you have no way of knowing if you will still have adequate clearance at that point when the door closes. I was able to adjust mine a little better (and they close with one finger) but the gaps are still a best compromise. They were far from perfect when originally built.
Another thing, if you do try to adjust your doors upwards, make sure the stiker plates are free and can be adjusted if you want the doors to close smoothly. Frequently the screws are rusted from the back side and wont come out without a fight. I had to drill mine and remove the rear reinforcing plates to get them out. Do ALL of that if needed before painting your door jambs in case anything gets damaged in the process.
Thanks again for the great input. I was not aware of the striker, so glad you mentioned it. Sounds like it would be best to reinstall the windshield before making adjustments like this.
I’m filling a hole in the center console and repainting it, so once complete I will embark on the dash pad.
Thank heavens Pilot Dan mentioned the door and windshield posts alignment. It just never ends so pace yourself and be very methodical. Thought I had all my bodywork nearly completed and then: need my windshield in place to make sure door posts align, send windshield post to corvette central because tabs are broken off, might as well buy windshield gasket/seals and glass so I can ,put my windshield back together now, better straighten and polish windshield stainless at this point, better buy that new dash pad because it goes under the windshield frame, and now I cannot find my door end caps. This might be a night where I quit working on her and just have several bourbons! We all love it so stay focused and positive.
Last edited by tgtexas02; Jun 9, 2019 at 07:26 PM.
F Y I, I found a post on this Forum that was extremely helpful when the body was first sitting on the chassis
and when I followed the directions the doors were back to factory specs - the drivers top hinge & pin that had too much slop
He had you concentrate on the 4-floor mounts until the F & R needed 1 shim, from what I remember last year
when I dropped the body back on a new chassis
I found it helpful to have the rear tires setting on the ground so you can check fender to tire all the way around
.........I think I missed a part of that step, as 1/2" is noticeable with Large tires!
Don't forget all the creep that was mentioned above about the windshield "components" and the dash pad
Good luck
Last edited by solidaxel; Jun 9, 2019 at 07:50 PM.
Funny thing is, I bought the dash pad shortly after bringing the car home thinking that was going to be one of the few “big” things I needed to do. It’s been a domino effect since discovering the rusted frame, but I’m enjoying it all.
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Door/Body Alignment Help
