'71 Door alignment
Thread Starter
Racer
Joined: Jul 2005
Posts: 433
Likes: 14
From: GA
'71 Door alignment
I have my '71 up on stands and the doors are hung but not aligned.
I had read (long time back) that you could align the doors by putting a piece of cardboard on the sill plate and could then move the door forward/backward to get the gaps. Has anyone aligned thier doors this way? If so; how thick should the cardboard be? I looked in the AIM to see if a 'clearance' was specified between the sill and door but didn't find anything. I have to do this alone, so I'm looking for the easy way.
Thanks,
I had read (long time back) that you could align the doors by putting a piece of cardboard on the sill plate and could then move the door forward/backward to get the gaps. Has anyone aligned thier doors this way? If so; how thick should the cardboard be? I looked in the AIM to see if a 'clearance' was specified between the sill and door but didn't find anything. I have to do this alone, so I'm looking for the easy way.
Thanks,
Team Owner
Joined: Jul 2004
Posts: 40,359
Likes: 787
From: Redondo Beach, California
Can't answer the precise question, but maybe it'd be a help to know that Eastwood sells a door alignment tool. It snaps onto the body latch pin. It allows you to align the door with it slightly open. When you align the door to fit into the tool, it then means your door is aligned with the body latch pin.
Last edited by 68/70Vette; Mar 24, 2008 at 04:24 PM.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Aug 2004
Posts: 971
Likes: 7
From: roanoke va
You may want to adjust your doors with the wheels on and resting on the floor. The door gaps will change, I know on my coupe if I raise the car on my lift the door gaps change (it tends to open up at the top rear of the door).
On adjusting the doors you may try to loosen up all but one bolt at each hinge location and loosen the last bolt one at a time and walk the door the direction it needs to go. Then retighten the one bolt and move to the next hinge.
If you don't know what I'am trying to describe you have four bolts at each end of the hinge you will be loosening three of these and leaving the fourth bolt tight until you go to adjust that part of the door. Then you will walk the door in the direction you want. It will not move much but you can get it done like this. The hinges on the door provide the up and down adjustment and the other end on the door post provide the back and fourth. The up and down is the hardest to do in my opinion.
Hope this helps.
On adjusting the doors you may try to loosen up all but one bolt at each hinge location and loosen the last bolt one at a time and walk the door the direction it needs to go. Then retighten the one bolt and move to the next hinge.
If you don't know what I'am trying to describe you have four bolts at each end of the hinge you will be loosening three of these and leaving the fourth bolt tight until you go to adjust that part of the door. Then you will walk the door in the direction you want. It will not move much but you can get it done like this. The hinges on the door provide the up and down adjustment and the other end on the door post provide the back and fourth. The up and down is the hardest to do in my opinion.
Hope this helps.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Feb 2004
Posts: 758
Likes: 14
From: Ville de la Baie Quebec. A winner is just a loser who tried again.
Cardboard sounds like an excellent idea,, I did mine using a puttyknife under the door resting on the sill, it work good also. You don't need any special tools, just patience. I do agree with the above to take the car off jacks. You may encounter a little more problems with the right side because when tightening the bolts the motion is working against you, just lift the door slightlly higher than you want,, it will fall in place.
Advanced
Joined: Jul 2006
Posts: 51
Likes: 0
From: Wayne NJ
You may want to adjust your doors with the wheels on and resting on the floor. The door gaps will change, I know on my coupe if I raise the car on my lift the door gaps change (it tends to open up at the top rear of the door).
On adjusting the doors you may try to loosen up all but one bolt at each hinge location and loosen the last bolt one at a time and walk the door the direction it needs to go. Then retighten the one bolt and move to the next hinge.
If you don't know what I'am trying to describe you have four bolts at each end of the hinge you will be loosening three of these and leaving the fourth bolt tight until you go to adjust that part of the door. Then you will walk the door in the direction you want. It will not move much but you can get it done like this. The hinges on the door provide the up and down adjustment and the other end on the door post provide the back and fourth. The up and down is the hardest to do in my opinion.
Hope this helps.
On adjusting the doors you may try to loosen up all but one bolt at each hinge location and loosen the last bolt one at a time and walk the door the direction it needs to go. Then retighten the one bolt and move to the next hinge.
If you don't know what I'am trying to describe you have four bolts at each end of the hinge you will be loosening three of these and leaving the fourth bolt tight until you go to adjust that part of the door. Then you will walk the door in the direction you want. It will not move much but you can get it done like this. The hinges on the door provide the up and down adjustment and the other end on the door post provide the back and fourth. The up and down is the hardest to do in my opinion.
Hope this helps.
The car MUST be resting on the suspension to properly align the doors.
