Door Shim Installation Help
Thread Starter
TheCorvetteBen
Joined: Feb 2007
Posts: 4,987
Likes: 144
From: Van Alstyne, TX
Door Shim Installation Help
Here is the story. I am currently installing doors on an 81 Corvette. When I bought the car, the doors were already removed from the body, So I have no idea how many shims were placed on each hinge.
My question is how do you gauge the number you will need top and bottom? I'm sure it was different on each car and on each door. Any help would be appreciated
My question is how do you gauge the number you will need top and bottom? I'm sure it was different on each car and on each door. Any help would be appreciated
Drifting
Joined: May 2005
Posts: 1,258
Likes: 38
From: springtown Texas
when i pulled the doors off my 82 for the first time there was no shims. and it lines up fine. i would first put the doors on without shims and see how they line up. and i would pull the striker out the door jamb and get the door to line up perfectly when closed then put the striker back in. you want the striker to only limit how far the door closed and not any up and down movement. it's pretty easy to align the doors but very time consuming.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Jul 2009
Posts: 3,264
Likes: 3
From: Vero Beach FL
I have seen it to where there are 0 to 5 per hinge. I would start with two on each hinge and work from there adding or subtracting. Start with the bottom bolts leaving the top out of each hinge. This will allow you to add and subtract shims easier. Note that there is a front and back to the shims and if you are only using the two bottom bolts to start the alignment you can put them in backwards and this will prohibit you from moving the door forward should you need to. You cannot put the top bolts in for the final fitting should they be backwards though. 
Last edited by Roco71; Oct 4, 2011 at 02:05 PM.
Racer
Joined: Jun 2003
Posts: 368
Likes: 1
From: Lititz PA
One that I learned is to line the door up correctly fore/aft and height wise and use paint to outline the bolt heads on the inner doors. It is such a long process of adding/removing shims to get everything perfect; being able to line up the bolts first time right saves a ton of time.
Andy
Andy
