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I have a '68 and the top of the driver side door has a gap that I can fit my finger in to. I originally thought that it was misaligned but I went and realigned it. I also replaced the brass insets at the hinges thinking it may have been those. The passenger side fits fine. I started to think that maybe somewhere in the last 60 years someone may have swapped out a door from a different car. Would a door from a later car fit the same on a '68 or could that ne the issue?
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A later door wouldn't have the '68 button. My gap is on the right side. Everything is original & I bought it new. The door has always shut just fine...
These cars are known to have panel fitment issues.
A friend on mine who does complete Corvette restorations says that most of his clients don’t want him to make the gaps perfect for more originality.
The door on my 73 fit the same as yours.
Here is part of an image from the official 1969 Corvette Brochure. Even in the brochure you can see how poorly the parts fit together. Either they didn't notice the poor fit or they didn't care.
One of my doors to front fender doesn't look like I would want, but I am not going to change it.
Hello RT,
That's a very odd photo.
What's going on with the hood, wiper grill and wiper door.
Plus the seam between the door and fender is vertical... which the actual seam is not.
????
Regards......
The gaps are typically not great.
The one in your photo (the passenger's at the top) is typically the worst. Even fixing it is a problem because of all the curves and slopes coming togather.
If the gap is made nice and even the door edge hits the back edge of the fender pretty easily.
Here is the complete picture from the brochure. It was the lower half of pages 4 & 5. Maybe the Marketing people did not know what the Engineers were doing.
I remember reading that GM would cut the body to match the doors during assembly. And 68's Had variable size doors until they could really get the hang of making them. I think that there is a good chance that the door was replaced to have that bad of a gap. My opinion. Lou.
A later door wouldn't have the '68 button. My gap is on the right side. Everything is original & I bought it new. The door has always shut just fine...
Yours actually looks like bad door bushings the way it's sagging. My drivers side door looked like yours until I replaced the bushings and now it lines up evenly. Something to check.
Yep...been there...opened that can o' worms....if it really aggravate you, add material to the DOOR to get a nice gap. The door gap (front and rear) would be easier to repair if the door hinges are in good shape.
The door can be repainted for much less than the quarterpanel.
OR leave it alone since the door closes good.
Keep us updated if you change your mind.
Pet peeve of mine is poor door gaps. I spent a week fooling around with the gaps on my 1975 Coupe. This was a one owner 40K mile car when I bought it a couple of years ago.
- You do have some adjustment up/down and back/forward, but you must be really careful with the way the door glass fits at the leading edge, and how parallel the door window glass aligns with the rear vertical trailing edge. There are many variables in adjusting these.
- You must also be cautious about the leading edge of the door as you can hit the trailing edge of the fender when closing the door.
- I believe the factory fit was not all that great to start with. On my car, the hinge pins are fine and I didn't use the door latch mechanism to adjust the door alignment to the bodywork..... just in/out for a good fit and easy closure.
Did the same thing on my 1956 Chevy 210 Delray sedan when I bought it several years ago. Quite time consuming, but I have the time, enjoy getting things right, and was pretty satisfied with the results.
Hope this helps
I must be the only one wondering what the light colored area is at the top of the door --- or else I'm the only dense one who doesn't understand what I'm looking at. Is the fiberglass frayed or something? Protective tape while adjusting?
Post a photo from the side showing the entire door and window in the opening.
The door and panel gaps on my 68 were all over the place. The door, the convertible lid, the hood. when I had the car repainted, the body shop matched all the panels and rationalized the door gaps. I understand panel/gap mismatches were common with the 68s.
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My 68 is all over the place as well.... I dont know how bad a coupe sags when you jack it up but you would have a heartattack if you had a convertible and watched the door gaps when it was in the air.....
Someone years ago likened the corvettes as factory kit cars....the door gap issues, panel fitment , interior assembly....its really true.
I have a '68 and the top of the driver side door has a gap that I can fit my finger in to.
You really should look underneath at the frame. Some 68's had no diagonal brace where the frame kicks up at the rear. Friend of mine had his frame break at that kick up and it looked very much like your picture.
Pet peeve of mine is poor door gaps. I spent a week fooling around with the gaps on my 1975 Coupe. This was a one owner 40K mile car when I bought it a couple of years ago.
- You do have some adjustment up/down and back/forward, but you must be really careful with the way the door glass fits at the leading edge, and how parallel the door window glass aligns with the rear vertical trailing edge. There are many variables in adjusting these.
- You must also be cautious about the leading edge of the door as you can hit the trailing edge of the fender when closing the door.
- I believe the factory fit was not all that great to start with. On my car, the hinge pins are fine and I didn't use the door latch mechanism to adjust the door alignment to the bodywork..... just in/out for a good fit and easy closure.
Did the same thing on my 1956 Chevy 210 Delray sedan when I bought it several years ago. Quite time consuming, but I have the time, enjoy getting things right, and was pretty satisfied with the results.
Hope this helps
don't forget to check interior gaps too.. trim , windows as mentioned etc..
Corvette door gap
