Door alignment help
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 74
Likes: 0
From: Gaithersburg MD
Door alignment help
Hello,
I'm trying to line up the doors on a '69 vert that has just gone through a body off. It has the same doors and everything lined up great prior. The body mounts were dust so there were no shims to count.
The problem is that the rear tops of the doors have a gap both verticaly and horizontaly. . i.e. they not only have a gap between the door edge and the rear fender, but the top of the doors jut out.
By adding shims to numbers 1 and 2 body mounts on one side perfectly aligns up that side's door (door gets pushed in and closer to fender) however it completely exagerates the opposite side (increases both gaps).
I have spent three full days adding/decreasing shims to all 8 mounts and i just cannot get both sides right at the same time.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks,
Mike
I'm trying to line up the doors on a '69 vert that has just gone through a body off. It has the same doors and everything lined up great prior. The body mounts were dust so there were no shims to count.
The problem is that the rear tops of the doors have a gap both verticaly and horizontaly. . i.e. they not only have a gap between the door edge and the rear fender, but the top of the doors jut out.
By adding shims to numbers 1 and 2 body mounts on one side perfectly aligns up that side's door (door gets pushed in and closer to fender) however it completely exagerates the opposite side (increases both gaps).
I have spent three full days adding/decreasing shims to all 8 mounts and i just cannot get both sides right at the same time.
Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated!!
Thanks,
Mike
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 74
Likes: 0
From: Gaithersburg MD
Yes, I have been playing with the hinges on the door (up and down) and the body (left and right). However, the only way to get the top of the rear doors pulled in towards the body is to jack up/add shims under 1 and 2 mounts.
I have already removed the windshield to reduce the cross link of the left and rights sides, but maybe by taking out the support brackets underneath the dash might also reduce their linkage and reduce the opposite effect that's going on. . that's all I got to go on for now - i'm running out of ideas.
Thanks again for any ideas,
Mike
I have already removed the windshield to reduce the cross link of the left and rights sides, but maybe by taking out the support brackets underneath the dash might also reduce their linkage and reduce the opposite effect that's going on. . that's all I got to go on for now - i'm running out of ideas.
Thanks again for any ideas,
Mike
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 74
Likes: 0
From: Gaithersburg MD
Well after four full days at it I can get the doors pulled in perfectly but i have to use so many shims under mounts no. 4 and no. 1 that it looks like a 4x4 
So i know something isn't right. . . the main problem is that it takes a lot of shims to pull in the top of the rear doors.
Has any one had a similar problem and was able to overcome??
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Mike
So i know something isn't right. . . the main problem is that it takes a lot of shims to pull in the top of the rear doors.Has any one had a similar problem and was able to overcome??
Any ideas would be appreciated.
Mike
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 876
Likes: 1
From: Same as our leaders Out of my mind
I have never done a frame off, but you DID ask for ideas.
Loosen or remove all body mounts to relieve all stresses on the body. Insert doors and adjust to desired position. Reinstall body mounts, but tighten gently and shim as needed.
Add salt to taste, poke it with a fork and see if it's done!
My .02
Loosen or remove all body mounts to relieve all stresses on the body. Insert doors and adjust to desired position. Reinstall body mounts, but tighten gently and shim as needed.
Add salt to taste, poke it with a fork and see if it's done!
My .02
Le Mans Master
Joined: Oct 2001
Posts: 5,943
Likes: 3
From: Wildwood IL
Originally Posted by lilgto
However, the only way to get the top of the rear doors pulled in towards the body is to jack up/add shims under 1 and 2 mounts. Thanks again for any ideas,
Mike
Mike
Is the door latch post out too far??
That's all I can come up with.
P.S. Don't feel bad...I grinded, pushed, pulled, and pryed & shimed my doors & hinges for a week before i got them aligned.
Eddie
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 2,008
Likes: 38
From: Space Coast Gator Territory
Sometimes it is easier to kick back with a cup of coffee and use the simplest approach at the start. If your doors were good before taking the body off, there is no reason they should need adjustment after putting it on. Assuming your bird cage is solid, just work on the #one and #four mounts first. If your cage is strong there shouldn't be any sag from just the body weight. Shim so that the body is level without rocking and good height all around. Next go to your door gaps, they should be the same as when you took the body off. If not, then the body was not supported properly while off. Use a piece of clay wraped in Saran wrap and put it on mounts #2-3 to measure the shim thickness in those areas. Stack the shims appropriately and when you bolt them down there will be no body flex. Measure the clay and shim pack with a caliper to get it right. Once you start randomly adding and removing body shims and throwing door shims into the mix you create a Corvette Rubix Cube that is a nightmare to solve. With any luck your cage might spring back if you loosen everything up. I hope you kept notes on the door shims. Remember, when you start changing door spacing it will have an affect on your door glass and top seal. Yes, it becomes the proverbal can of worms. Best of luck bringing it in.
Corvette Stories
The Best of Corvette for Corvette Enthusiasts
Top 10 Most Expensive Corvettes Ever Sold on Bring A Trailer
Brett Foote
10 Things Every Corvette Owner Needs (2026 Edition)
Michael S. Palmer
8 Most "Only Corvette Owners Understand" Quirks and Problems
Pouria Savadkouei
10 Reasons the C6 Z06 is Still A Performance Benchmark After 20 Years
Joe Kucinski
How Much Horsepower Every Corvette Engine "LOST" in 1972
Joe Kucinski
Top 10 DOs and DON'Ts for Protecting Your Convertible Top!
Michael S. Palmer
Top 10 Most Explosive Corvettes Ever Made: Power-to-Weight Ratio Ranked!
Joe Kucinski
150 hp to 1,250 hp: Every Corvette Generation Compared by the Specs That Matter
Joe Kucinski
8 Coolest Corvette Pace Cars (and Replicas) of All Time
Verdad Gallardo
Instructor
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 135
Likes: 0
From: Northern NJ
I did'nt pay much attention to it, but I think that the Assembly Manual has a number of point ot point measurements that you can make to help figure out where to add or subtract shims. Good Luck
Thread Starter
Advanced
Joined: Jun 2002
Posts: 74
Likes: 0
From: Gaithersburg MD
Thanks everyone for the responses.
When I first started the shimming process I did just shim for the body to the frame, both looking at the measurements to a level ground and checked for any gaps between mounts and shimmed as needed (didn't use clay, but that is a great idea) and ended up with just few shims here and there.
But it all went to heck when it came time to align the doors and had to throw in so many shims that it made the body shimming part worthless.
I haven't used additional shims in the hinge areas, just kept the few that were there before..i did experiment by adding and deleting there - but it really didn't make a difference.
Vette Dent mentioned that the mounts might be in incorrectly, good thought and i will double check that.
One other thing - the birdcage rocker sections (the metal parts that run under the door) are all new so hopefully they haven't drooped.
Again, any ideas/help would be appreciated. I'll keep tinkering away.
Thanks,
Mike
When I first started the shimming process I did just shim for the body to the frame, both looking at the measurements to a level ground and checked for any gaps between mounts and shimmed as needed (didn't use clay, but that is a great idea) and ended up with just few shims here and there.
But it all went to heck when it came time to align the doors and had to throw in so many shims that it made the body shimming part worthless.
I haven't used additional shims in the hinge areas, just kept the few that were there before..i did experiment by adding and deleting there - but it really didn't make a difference.
Vette Dent mentioned that the mounts might be in incorrectly, good thought and i will double check that.
One other thing - the birdcage rocker sections (the metal parts that run under the door) are all new so hopefully they haven't drooped.
Again, any ideas/help would be appreciated. I'll keep tinkering away.
Thanks,
Mike
Melting Slicks
Joined: Apr 2004
Posts: 2,008
Likes: 38
From: Space Coast Gator Territory
lilgto, here is a bump for your thread. You did a lot of work on that car, now I understand why you might have body alignment issues. You have gone beyond my scope of experience, so I can't offer any advice. I am interested in what a pro might have to offer. Good luck!
