When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
The doors on my '73 both tend to hang too low and to the back. Both are very close to touching the body, but don't—yet. However, the passenger door glass DOES hit that metal t-top plate and I'm sure it msy chip or break the glass if it hit it just right.
My questions are...
Has anyone ever adjusted their door "hang?"
Are C3 doors difficult to adjust and/or repair the hang?
How would you know if you have to replace hinges, etc.?
Should I wait and let some Corvette "expert" place do the work instead?
My body shop guys didn't fill me with confidence. They shook their heads a lot, before giving me an estimate of about $1,500 total to adjust both doors.
I told them I'd ask for help here first. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance for your help!
Mark
Last edited by Mark Otnes; Mar 9, 2021 at 09:07 PM.
Do the doors move up and down if you try to pick them up at the latch side.....? If so the hinge pins / bushings may be worn and need replaced. If that is all that is needed $1500 is way too high. If someone took the doors off and didn't get them back on correctly that could be the problem, was it recently painted....? A more serious problem could be a pillar rust....Not an easy or cheap fix....Closer to 15,000 than 1,500.
Do the doors move up and down if you try to pick them up at the latch side.....? If so the hinge pins / bushings may be worn and need replaced. If that is all that is needed $1500 is way too high. If someone took the doors off and didn't get them back on correctly that could be the problem, was it recently painted....? A more serious problem could be a pillar rust....Not an easy or cheap fix....Closer to 15,000 than 1,500.
Brian
Thanks for the reply, Brian. You clearly know your stuff. Yes, there is a little "play" up and down when you move them. And yes, it was recently repainted. And they DID mention they thought the hinge pins / bushings may be worn and need replacing. No pillar rust. It was thoroughly well-painted, but it does sound as if they missed something with the doors. So... where should I go? I know you can't answer that, but any thoughts?
Last edited by Mark Otnes; Mar 9, 2021 at 09:19 PM.
Is there enough movement up to make the doors align...If so I would start with new pins and bushings. That job isn't that hard just tedious and it really takes 2 people....That said I built a door bracket and did mine by myself. See photo below I took during that process.
C3 doors are long and heavy so it's not surprising they have this wear tendency - especially the '73(?) and up doors with the metal crash reinforcement bar in them. To check this, have someone lift up on the open door in different degrees of open and observe the pin and bushing on the upper hinge. (A video, if working alone, would work too.) You can see the pin moving side to side in the worn bushing. Replacing the pin bushing is fairly easy.
Last edited by barkingrats; Mar 9, 2021 at 11:00 PM.
I'm with WEE, most likely hinge pins/bushings. This is a relatively easy DIY fix, toughest part is controlling the weight of the doors. I made a door holding fixture very similar to his to use on the floor jack. I got the pin/bushing set at Advance Auto, although the pins were a mile longer than the originals. I could have cut the new pins down but, after measuring the diameters of the old ones I found they were within .001" through the whole length so I just cleaned them up and reused them. So, really, I just changed the bushings.
Working slowly and carefully, cleaning and lubing everything as I went, took me about 4 hours for each side and the doors fit great afterwards. I should point out that I left the hinges on the car, used some light colored spray paint inside the doors to mark where the hinge bolts started out so I could put them back in the same place. I slid the doors off the hinge and popped out the pins on the car. That prevents having to get at the body side of the hinge, which is difficult to access. It might sound a little intimidating but it's not particularly technical. Best of luck
Peter
My passenger door was hanging low at the back. Moving the upper door hinge forward raises the rear end of the door. The nuts you need to loosen are behind the kick panels. A tiny amount forward raised the back of the door more than expected. Be extra careful the door will bind with the body if you go a little too far. The glovebox and air duct below it need to be removed for access. The driver side has a few more things in the way. A jack and 2x4 were enough to hold the door up for adjustment.
The doors on my '73 both tend to hang too low and to the back. Both are very close to touching the body, but don't—yet. However, the passenger door glass DOES hit that metal t-top plate and I'm sure it msy chip or break the glass if it hit it just right.
My questions are...
Has anyone ever adjusted their door "hang?"
Are C3 doors difficult to adjust and/or repair the hang?
How would you know if you have to replace hinges, etc.?
Should I wait and let some Corvette "expert" place do the work instead?
My body shop guys didn't fill me with confidence. They shook their heads a lot, before giving me an estimate of about $1,500 total to adjust both doors.
I told them I'd ask for help here first. Any thoughts? Thanks in advance for your help!
Mark
reading your post it seems you may need to be careful. Wind your windows down and do as others have said with the hinges. Sounds like if you level the doors the widow may hit. You may need to readjust the glass once the doors are level.
Door hang adjusting
