I posted earlier, but didn't have pictures. So here they are.

Driver's Door Front - gap on top. Perfect at the bottom.
Driver's Door Back - gap perfect all the way down.

So, I didn't post pictures of that since it seems very normal.

Passenger Door Front - gap on top. Perfect at the bottom.
Passenger Door Back - Tight on Top, Tight on bottom, butting up to quarter in the middle, and sticking out slightly away from the car in this middle section

I pulled up on the back of the door, and there was no up/down movement. The bond looked ok, as far as I could tell.

Any ideas/suggestions?

 

There are various ways of adjusting the doors covered in the AIM manual and the service manual.

Truthfully the doors are the least of the problem....the real problem is was and always will be (because it's not adjustable) is the entire front nose clip.
Chevy did a **** poor job....and all the door gaps basically flow from the trailing edge of the front fenders.

Whilst looking at a 77 for a friend of mine, we looked at a supposed 34k mile unit. The gap at the leading edge of the door , top, and the trailing edge of the fender pass side was so wide I could get my entire THUMB in there. The car had not been wrecked.
We didn't buy it because it looked SO BAD.

Adjust the door as best as you can....it's fiberglas!

Unkahal

 

I think you are right. If I could just nudge the nose forward half an inch, it would allow the door gap to be really good. As it is, I'm wondering if I can't just grind down the bottom half of the fender to make room to move the door forward. Makes sense... grind down the only part that lines up correctly.

 

Could also try removing a shim or two (if there are any) on the body mount that is directly under the firewall

 

I don't know why, but it makes me nervous messing with the body mounts. Is it possible to just remove the one mount under the firewall to remove that shim? Or would I have to remove all the body mounts on the passenger side?

 

Each car is different, if there is shims or more than on, yes you can remove or add them as needed to set up door gaps.

Make sure you have the doors and hood open when attempting this:
and yes you can lift up the body carefully at the body mount (after removing the bolt) enough to pull out a shim to make that corner of the door gap to go down making the bottom of the gap bigger and the upper gap smaller

 

Now I'm going to mess with your head(s)!

In your case Mr Belknap.. .get your best 280 lbs. buddy, give him a beer and put him in the pass seat. Shut the door and measure the front top of door gap.
Guess what it, closed up about 1/4 ".....the frame flexes, the body mounts are rubber...everything is moving in relation to the door which is bolted to the birdcage!

It's like an old wooden ship!

Unkahal

 

WalleyFisher - Thanks for the information! I'll give it a try!

 

What does the back of the door look like where it meets the top of the rear fender? I can't tell if the door is slightly lower than the rear fender at top. Just by seeing your gaps I would try to lift the entire door up slightly. The reason I would try this first is that it will close the front gap up at the top and will open both the rear door gap up and the door gap at the bottom of the front of the door. My preferred method of setting the door gap is to use wood shims, yes like the ones you use to shim doors in your house, by making two stacks. Make one stack towards the front of the door and another at the rear. Slide the two stacks in between the bottom of the door and the rocker area from the inside of the car. Then loosen the 8 bolts that hold the door to the hinges inside the door. Those holes in the door are slotted to allow the door to move up or down. Once you are happy with the gap, tighten the bolts back up again. Another tip, set the rear of the door slightly higher than the top of the rear fender because after you tighten everything and removed the shims, the rear of the door will drop down slightly from the weight of the door. Big thing here too is to remove the door striker bolt, otherwise it will prevent you from moving the door up or door. Mark it where it is but more than likely it will need to be raised slightly to match the door if you raised it. Been doing it this way for years and has always worked great for me. Oh and by doing it this way you do NOT have to open and close the door while doing this. Just pick up the door slightly and slide in or remove a shim as needed to set your door gap. Just an FYI, the hinge mount points on the A-pillar are slotted front to back of the car which allows the door to be moved front to back.

Also what does the radiator core support look like? There is some adjustment in it that can close up the top gap like you are seeing.

 

FWIW, over the course of time, my wife owned 2 C-3s, a '76 and a '79, both purchased brand new. She had the '76 when we first met, and traded it shortly thereafter, for the '79. Consequently, I didn't really have the opportunity to scrutinize the '76 closely, however she kept the '79 for about 18 years, so I got to know it quite well.

Having said that, I have to agree with what "L-46man" said in an earlier post.....the door fit/body alignment on the '79 was HORRIBLE, right from the get-go. And in all honesty, I doubt that it could have been made any better, without an EXTENSIVE amount of labor and re-fitting of components.

 

Worn hinge pins?

 

Door gaps were far from good from the factory.

 

You could have all of the following issues going on at the same time:

1) Collapsed Front Body Mounts: Did anyone mention yet that the front body mounts may have compressed and dilapidated causing the front of the clip to droop (raising the back of the fenders)? That's the first thing to check. In fact, check all of the bushings. Bad rear bushings can cause the back-end to sag too.

2) Failed Fender Adhesive At Base Of Windshield Framing: The top/rear of the front fenders by the windshield may be (probably are) detaching from the metal framing (below the windshield). Real common. This can push up the tops of the fenders. Rust gets in there ....the adhesive is very old and brittle by now, and there might be a gap. There's a rubber trim piece you need to remove to see it. I had to use a flexible sawzall blade to remove the old cracked adhesive on mine ...and push new adhesive into the gap.

3) Worn Door Hinges: This is pretty self explanitory. C3 doors are relatively heavy given the smallness of the pins and bushings. This was real common on cars of the 70'/80s. Esp the lower bushing as it gets stressed by the detent rollers and the lower spring. But the hinges can be rebuilt really easy.

4) Cracked Door Body: This isn't as common on C3's but bears checking. Some cars can develop a crack around the base of where the lower hinge bolts to the door. What causes this is when the lower hinge rollers become difficult to turn and the lower hinge puts a lot of stress on the door body (around the lower hinge bolts). Also that spring can wear, or it's seat can wear. If you have this the door should be removed and welded.

5) Worn Door latch and/or Striker: Pretty self-explanitory. Look it over and replace worn parts.

6) Doors Incorrectly Aligned: C3 doors are among the most difficult of any car I've worked on (and I used to work at a bodyshop) to get aligned 'perfectly'. Sometimes a guy gets them right real quick, sometimes it can take a lot of persistence and time. Always realign with all 4 tires on the ground, not jacked up on jackstands where the front/rear of the frame can 'sag'.

All of the above factors have to be 'correct' to get really good door alignment.

Good luck

.

 

I'm going to show these gaps once more. This is exactly what they looked like new, when I took delivery on 5/6/76.
The door has always shut perfectly, and more than one body guy over the last 45 years has told me to just leave it alone.
It's never been wrecked, bushings are fine & the body mounts are still soft. This car is an original paint time capsule.







And even though the door looks like it has dropped, the last pic shows it's almost even with the bottom of the dog leg.
The door edge and rear quarter panel at the top have never matched up, I swear......

 

If I were working on it I would raise the entire door 'up' and move the top hinge 'forward' but check the following:

1) Rebuild door hinges (unless they're pretty tight). Open the pass door 4" and lift on the bottom of the door up and down. Can you feel some 'freeplay'? You can actually cut the door pins with a hack saw, air saw (carefully) or slow small grinder. Then tap out the pins, back the door off a little and install new pins and bushings without removing any wiring. (door supported with 2 floor jacks and a helper so it doesn't fall off the jacks!). You can drive the top (cut) bushing downward (then install the new pin from the bottom 'up' with a one-way retainer to hold it). Maybe they've been replaced before and you can just tap them out easily. Generally the lower hinge is the one that wears first and most. The bushings are hat-shaped brass. If the 'hat' wears down it tends to drop the door down, which could be part of your problem. So you want to verify that the bushings are good. If the hinge/s are in good shape then you can leave it.
You can also choose to leave the hinges as they are, even if they are worn a little ...and still adjust the door to close the gaps. Proceed to step 2:

2) Put a floor jack (or two) under the door to support it, and a 2x4 between the door and the jack/s (with a folded shop rage to protect the door). One jack is ok.

3) Start Adjusting: Begin by putting a little pressure on the jack/s to put a slight amt of 'up-pressure' on the door. Just a little. Loosen the hinge bolts on the door and very gently tap them down just a little, like 1/16" to start with. Check your height (adjust the door with the window down). Ultimately what needs to happen (in my opinion/experience), is the whole door needs to be raised 'up' somewhere between 1/16" - 3/32" (1.5mm-2.5mm). It should be raised to match the height of the front fender ...and if it's ever-so-slightly higher that might be ok too. Moving the entire door 'up' will help close that front gap.

Then, the front of the top hinge where it bolts to the body needs to be loosened and tapped 'forward' a very small amount. This will also help to close that top door/fender gap a little more AND raise the rear of the door to match the height of the rear fender (and even out the rear gap). This sounds easy but it might take a few tries to get it right. A lot of people eventually just 'quit' because it can take a while to get the door perfect. You're just going to have to work with it, but you'll eventually get it with enough effort and you should be able to get it to look great.

You make those adjustments and the door will appear to fit much better! You should readjust the door striker bolt up a little too since the back of the door is raised. The door should actually go 'up' slightly as the latch enters the bolt.

Let us see your finished results!!

.

 

That's EXACTLY how my wife's '79 looked, from day 1!!

 

I appreciate all the replies! And sorry for the very slow response. I've been down with pneumonia.

I will get out and try you all's suggestions. I do know the door does not move much, if at all, when I pull up on the back of it. With the bottom gap on the front and back being non-existent, I am thinking it has something to do with the body shims, which several people have mentioned, or the bonding strips, of which I have little knowledge.

Thanks again!

 

It's I good you are feeling bettrer
just looked at the pics...that's some really weird stuff going on!
Moving the clip/cap forward would be a DRASTIC painful option.
I would study some threads in which the clip gap was sanded to get the correct clearance in the tight spots, and the gap was built up with fiberglass and body filler to "tighten" the large gaps on the rear edge of the CLIP.

The rear edge of the DOOR could be slightly sanded to enlarge the tight gaps to look correct.

BUT....THAT convex bulge at the rear of the door is double weird.. Rookie guess would be to build up the quarter panel with fiberglass & body filler to match the contour of the rear part of the door (not an ideal repair....but it would be safer/easier than messing with the door skin
(imho)

 

OP, your nose has dropped in front. Possibly rad support rust or hit and put together wrong.

 

I wondered about that. Although, there were no signs of damage when I stripped it down to factory primer. I think over the weekend I'll jack the nose up and see if the gap lessens. Someone recommended having a 280 pound friend sit in the passenger seat. But the heaviest friend I have is... well... I guess I'm the heaviest out of all of us. And I'm only 187.