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Does anybody know the difference between door shells in different years of c3?
I think my passenger side doors have been changed with the wrong ones since they don't allign as nice as driver side.
Hi PK,
When the bodies were being assembled at St.Louis the doors were installed on the hinges and the gaps were actually 'cut' to fit THOSE doors to THAT body.
So a door that fit well pretty well on THAT BODY might not fit as well on ANOTHER BODY.
There's no doubt though that it takes some work and skill to make an already painted door fit a painted body as well as it can.
I believe cars with really nice door gaps and smooth door/fender transitions usually have had the them fitted as part of the work done prior to painting.
Regards,
Alan
This work was done on a car with the doors it left St.Louis with and a no hit body to ensure nice gaps and transitions.
Hi PK,
When the bodies were being assembled at St.Louis the doors were installed on the hinges and the gaps were actually 'cut' to fit THOSE doors to THAT body.
So a door that fit well pretty well on THAT BODY might not fit as well on ANOTHER BODY.
There's no doubt though that it takes some work and skill to make an already painted door fit a painted body as well as it can.
I believe cars with really nice door gaps and smooth door/fender transitions usually have had the them fitted as part of the work done prior to painting.
Regards,
Alan
This work was done on a car with the doors it left St.Louis with and a no hit body to ensure nice gaps and transitions.
Thanks Alan!
My doors just don't allign good in the upper and middle area of the doors where they meet the rear fender. Also at the bottom the doors are almost cut straight and not at an angle, it is a very small angle but still. They close nice otherwise.
I'm sorry that I can't post the actual pictures. I'm not home at the moment.
I think the door skins are all the same from 69-82 with the 68 being the only different one.
The inner workings of the 79 door are quite different from what were on your 71. They'll fit but you'll have to use the 79 door panels and they won't look the same on the inside as your 71 doors. Personally I greatly prefer the look of the 79 door panels to the earlier C3 door panels. If it was me I'd get the 79 doors.
Hi PK,
The kind of panel/door/hood fit people found acceptable in the late 60s and early 70s is quite different from what is expected now.
We're spoiled!
Regards,
Alan
If you post actual photos of what you have going on. And PLEASE take these photos as if you are looking straight at the door ares in question. The reason being...taking a photo while looking down on it will not allow me to see what is going on. And at an angle like Alan has shown will not work either.
The front gaps and rear gaps are needed. So it may be 6 photos per side. Three at the front gap and three at the rear gap. Because the photos you take that are towards the bottom half of the door. I need to see the bottom horizontal edge of your door and how well it is matching up with your front fender and rear quarter. And the top edge of your door on how well it meets up and is lever with the front fender at the top of your rear quarter also. Then a photo right in the middle where your major body line is.
Keep in mind that correcting your doors can be done..and IF you buy these 1979 doors...you may be faced with another series of issues and they may need to be modified to fit.
I don't see a year mentioned or I can't read it in the language I don't understand. But once again, if its 78-82 door you'll have to use that year door panel with it or make extensive modifications to the insides of the door to make it work on your 71 with a 71 door panel. I would advise against buying it if its a 78-82 door and you want to use a 71 door panel, about the only thing you'd use from a 78-82 door in that case is the outer fiberglass skin.
If I understand you, you are only looking at replacing the passenger side door. If this is the case I assume you want the passenger door to use the same 71 door panel as the driver's door and so I would recommend you buy only a 69-77 door.
But even having said that, from what you're describing I would seriously consider that you may have less problem working your existing passenger door to get the gaps you want rather than buying a different used door that will almost certainly have gap issues anyway when you get it on your car.
Another possibility is that you buy just a new fiberglass door skin and put that on your existing passenger door.
Its tough to say what your issues are without seeing pictures of all the door gaps. But not knowing that, my guess is that you'd be time and money ahead to do the fiberglass work on your present passenger door to get the gaps you want because any replacment is almost certain to have gap issues as well.
I would gladly buy a new door skin if the shipping wouldn't be that expensive to Europe.
Will post a few pics in 2 weeks time when I get to my beloved Corvette after 8 months absence!
I would gladly buy a new door skin if the shipping wouldn't be that expensive to Europe.
Will post a few pics in 2 weeks time when I get to my beloved Corvette after 8 months absence!
I would think you can order a new door skin from the States and with the shipping cost it would not be any more than buying a complete used door and getting that shipped to you.
If you post actual photos of what you have going on. And PLEASE take these photos as if you are looking straight at the door ares in question. The reason being...taking a photo while looking down on it will not allow me to see what is going on. And at an angle like Alan has shown will not work either.
The front gaps and rear gaps are needed. So it may be 6 photos per side. Three at the front gap and three at the rear gap. Because the photos you take that are towards the bottom half of the door. I need to see the bottom horizontal edge of your door and how well it is matching up with your front fender and rear quarter. And the top edge of your door on how well it meets up and is lever with the front fender at the top of your rear quarter also. Then a photo right in the middle where your major body line is.
Keep in mind that correcting your doors can be done..and IF you buy these 1979 doors...you may be faced with another series of issues and they may need to be modified to fit.
DUB
Well after a long time (too long) I finally took pictures of my doors and what is wrong with them.
Here they are:
The top picture shows too much shaved off the body work, in my opinion on the door. In the middle picture to me it looks like the bottom edge of the door has been shaved off as well given the gap between the lower left corner of the door and the rocker/rocker trim panel.
I'm not too sure about the middle picture but I think it just needs the striker plate moved inwards a bit as the door looks like its sticking out too much.
If you want to get it perfect you will have to do fiberglass work on both the quarter panel and the door. IMO you're probably better off working with what you have than swapping to another door. The new door will also need work to fit right as all C3's are unique (I always call them 'the factory built kit-car').
Something is not right with the bottom of the quarter. Has it been replaced? See how the bottom is at the wrong angle to match the molding. Here's my '71:
The top picture shows too much shaved off the body work, in my opinion on the door.
Yeah, looks like most of the error is on the door. The edge of the door should come to a point, but it's been sanded off. It can be built back up with resin & mat.
It looks to me that fixing what You have is going to be way less work that re skinning or adapting another door. These are not Metal cars, Fiberglass can be added or subtracted fairly easy.
If you want to get it perfect you will have to do fiberglass work on both the quarter panel and the door. IMO you're probably better off working with what you have than swapping to another door. The new door will also need work to fit right as all C3's are unique (I always call them 'the factory built kit-car').
Something is not right with the bottom of the quarter. Has it been replaced? See how the bottom is at the wrong angle to match the molding. Here's my '71:
I have no idea if it has been replaced by previous owners. But as I looked underneath the only visible thing is that the fiberglass on the rear right wheel well was repaired from the inside on one small section.
I talked to my friend who did my paint job and is a professional painter and has a paint shop that we did some mistakes when prepping the car. We did too little research before painting and we didn't do the doors as was suggested in this thread. Also my was the very first corvette he ever painted so he was lacking experience too. Well we will have to repair those 2 bits wont we.
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