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I’m working on the body work part of my C2 convertible project and I’m looking for some ideas on indexing the doors. I’ll have the body completely dialed in and then I’ll blow it apart to paint. Re-hanging doors is never fun. On steel cars I’ve done, I’ll drill 1/8” pilot through the hinge and car/door to line it all back up. On these C2’s the hinge is super thick, then shims, then the door.
Is my only option to drill through all that to index the door? I feel like I’m missing something obvious. Searched and didn’t find what I was looking for and the body forum doesn’t look very well traveled.
From: Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
St. Jude '03 thru '24
A vert door is simple compared to a coupe.. Although you really need to have the body firmly bolted to the chassis. Also replace the hinge bushings before making the adjustments for door gaps. I used a rattle of white or a contrasting color to the door interior to lightly hit the door side bolt heads. This will be a good starting point when reinstalling.
I am with you here! I replaced bushings with what ended up double depth bushings. Pressed first set in then ground off lip and pressed in a second set. Used original pins, some never seize and pins are tight. One other discovery rivets that attach door skin to metal frame were loose.
I’m not sure indexing will be successful on a Corvette convertible unless the body is first raised and new bushing installed and tightened down, it’s verified the hinge reinforcement in the doors is tight, hinges are re-bushed and an expendable set of new weatherstripping are installed (less important on a convertible). Then it might be worthwhile to drill the hinge. You could remove the hinges during all the prep work and pre-drill them in a drill press to ease the work - shim the doors and adjust and then finish drilling through the shims, the nut plate and hinge reinforcement. The trick would be getting the shim(s) and loose nut plate all shifted around upon reassembly to get the index holes in line with the hinge strap and door reinforcement. I’m thinking this would be more work than simply adjusting the door the old fashioned way upon assembly.
Everything is good to go. Hinges rebuilt, door rivets are good, all aligned now, just trying to make it as simple as possible to reinstall the door with fresh paint.
Contrasting color to mark bolt location is interesting. Only issue I have with that is the hinges are bare metal right now. I would end up painting over the marking paint.
I going to start the removal and forward vertical rivet replacement on my coupe's driver side door. I was planning to scribe a line around both hinges from inside the door panel, as a sort of template to reposition the door to the hinge........The fact that I have never removed a door, although simple with help, I would like to return it to its original position. I'm not at all concerned about painting over any indexing marks......I have touch up paint that could be used......
I'm pleased to not read about the 2x4 method. Some guys on here swear on the assembly line, Chevrolet used 2x4's on coupe doors.
Have a good holiday's kids!
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I'm pleased to not read about the 2x4 method. Some guys on here swear on the assembly line, Chevrolet used 2x4's on coupe doors.
Have a good holiday's kids!
From: Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
St. Jude '03 thru '24
Originally Posted by 69L48Z27
Contrasting color to mark bolt location is interesting. Only issue I have with that is the hinges are bare metal right now. I would end up painting over the marking paint.
Umm you can tape over the bolt head marks, then remove said tape after painting.
Also to dismount or mount a door IS a two person job. However once a few bolts are installed and snugged, I use a 4x4 under the door frame and a bottle jack to assist with supporting the door while making small moves while adjusting. My biggest surprise was two fold. 1. Aligning the door without out the gasket installed will create more work after the gasket is installed. 2. I use three bolts per hinge, during adjusting. However, there will be an alignment shift when all 12 bolts are tightened.
YMMV
.
Last edited by JrRifleCoach; Dec 24, 2021 at 02:03 AM.
There’s no paint on the hinge right now at all, bare metal. I should have epoxied them before I installed, I’ll need to paint them completely..
Car is in bare glass and I’ve already hung doors and aligned. Now I’m body working them in. I can always start from zero after I paint, just trying to see what others have done to rehang freshly painted doors.
On my coupe, I delivered it to the painter with the doors still attached but completely empty. He removed the doors to shoot the color and rehung/aligned the doors perfectly. Aligned perfectly until I added the weight of the door innards (glass, vent glass frame, regulator, etc.) and even though my hinges are rebuilt and there is no play in the door rivets it lost it's perfect alignment. I am going through this now but not without someone else to help wrestle those heavy and freshly painted hulks around.
On my coupe, I delivered it to the painter with the doors still attached but completely empty. He removed the doors to shoot the color and rehung/aligned the doors perfectly. Aligned perfectly until I added the weight of the door innards (glass, vent glass frame, regulator, etc.) and even though my hinges are rebuilt and there is no play in the door rivets it lost it's perfect alignment. I am going through this now but not without someone else to help wrestle those heavy and freshly painted hulks around.
Ray
Great information! I am logging all the things that are going to happen to me when I pull the Driver's side door........You may see me driving without one this Spring.
From: Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction.
St. Jude '03 thru '24
dcamick,
Originally Posted by JrRifleCoach
I use a 4x4 under the door frame and a bottle jack to assist with supporting the door while making small moves while adjusting. However, there will be an alignment shift when all 12 bolts are tightened.
Considering the additional weight, this technique may help. After a few adjustments, you may find the tape method easier.
I'm pleased to not read about the 2x4 method. Some guys on here swear on the assembly line, Chevrolet used 2x4's on coupe doors.
Have a good holiday's kids!
Seems like an eternity ago that I worked for GM. I was told by my boss that there was a huge guy at the end of the line whose job it was to use his weight to bend the doors into place. This wasn't specific to any model but I wouldn't be surprised if Corvette had a bender at the end of their line.
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knows how to do it will help you.
Door Alignment
