1965 Coupe door shimming
 

Guys,
I think my passenger door alignment would benefit from adding a shim to the bottom. My hope is that it will pivot slightly and make the gap tighter on the top while bringing out the bottom even with the fender.
My question is: Do I have to loosen the top hinge bolts as well? Also, does anyone have any recommended procedure? I was thinking of supporting the door with a floor jack ( 2 X 4 on the pad ) so the door won't slip down. Any comments or suggestions are welcome.

Here is the two pics!

Disregard the previous! Something is screwed up on my PC

I don't think you will have to loosen the upper hinge bolts to slip a shim in the bottom hinge position. Might have to gently pry to slip a shim in but shouldn't take much effort. Definitely support the door with a padded jack to take the pressure off of the upper hinge. You may want to mark the lower hinge position in case it somehow slips a little. Just wrapping a piece of tape around the hinge arm in front of the door as it enters the fiberglass (with door open) will give you a visual reference of the position of the hinge with respect to the door. And of course when done, close the door very, very, VERY slowly in increments and study all around, especially along the front fender and rear fender locations for any place the panels might hit.

Larry, Basically I made a cradle and mounted it on my big floor jack. It was about 2 feet long, higher on the interior side, with a foam tube split and placed over the exterior side. It was enough for the door to sit down in it.I had a picture but it won't load, sorry! :cheers: Dennis

For this job I use a piece of the thick black Styrofoam they use in shipping .... the good dense stuff. I have a piece I can put on the saddle of my floor jack and it allows the door to 'bite' into it when I use my floor jack for procedures just like this. No need to over think it IN THIS SCENARIO due to you are not removing the door....unless you just want to make something for this.

You should NOT need to loosen or mess with the upper hinge due to the amount of play you can get in order to slide a new shim in place.

AS previously mentioned Close the door very slowly and watch it at the fender area.

DUB