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.
I'm working on installing my driver's door and I've been able to get the door and the fenders flush all the way around (highlighted by red in the first picture) except the lower rear edge. It's out by a county mile, is there an adjustment/shim/something to to fix this? Or would building up fiberglass layers be the best way?
If all those other areas are perfect. Any further adjustment to get this lower corner correct will knock those other areas out.
Perhaps it's always been this way? Very, very few C3's left the factory with perfect gaps and panel fitment. My passengers side door upper front corner is shocking! But it left the factory this way.
So perhaps if you are seeking perfection on a car that never was. Building it up to match may be your only good option.
I had exactly the same problem (almost) on my driver door down there.
The lower part of the quarter panel was 1/4" IN...I built up the area with fiberglass to avoid a pile of body filler there.
You could do the same to the low spot on the door...or build the skin up with 1/8" thick layers of body filler over several days to give each layer time to cure.
BUT I'm a rookie so do what seems best for your level of body work.
Myself, I wouldn't touch the fiberglass, especially if it fit before. If you've achieved perfection in any of the red areas we can't see, then you've overachieved.Spread the misalignment in the area of concern everywhere else. If everything is just a little off, it won't bother you so much as the portion that is really off. It's an old trick.
And this advice pertains only if you haven't done something else to the car that really messed up the body work. For instance motor out. Or a frame problem. Or jacked up on one side. You have a nice flat tire there, what is up with that? These cars are quite flexible.
Another old trick for anybody contemplating taking a door off. Drill a small hole, say 1/8" through each hinge prior to removal. If you can get the drill bit back in, the door is where it was.
I had the same issue. I ended up just getting some SMC and building up the low area behind the door to match the door. If everything else is where you want it, that would be the easiest thing to do. IMHO.
Thanks everyone, I appreciate all the responses. The door fit like that since I purchased the car, it was a basket case so I always thought it was just improperly installed. I ended up separating the door skin from the metal frame in the area that was giving me a problem. The metal frame in that area is just a flat section that I just tapped on with a hammer and that straightened the whole thing out. I then used an adhesive to bond it back together. I wonder if in the past the door was opened into an object and just bent that area in?
Door adjustment
