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I'm having a problem that I bet a lot of C2 coupes have faced and that is getting the doors to hang right. My 63 passenger door looks nice but the drivers door needs adjusting. As you can see from the pictures the door at the top needs to go in at least 1/16". The body lines do not line up. The fix to me would be adjusting the top hinge where it attaches to the body needs to go in but there are no shim plates to remove. It's almost like the face of the hinge that is connect to the door needs to be milled down 1/16". No shims there either. Any ideas of what to do.
You haven't looked at too many unrestored coupes have you. The factory worker would stand behind the door put his knee against the bottom and pull back to tweak it.
Not to hi-jack this thread but I have a similar issue with the driver's side door on my '66 roadster. The passenger door lines up perfectly but the driver side is too low at the rear edge.
So, I'll be quiet now and just lurk to see what the fix entails.
- Jeff
If there are no shims behind the hinge and the door still needs to move in a little, milling the hinge strap might be necessary. But before you do that check to see that the interior door hinge reinforcement is still secure to the door. Sometimes the aluminum rivets that secure it to the front of the door work loose so that it can move. Generally the front of the door will slip out from the fender as a result of the loose reinforcement. With the door open see if there is any looseness or movement of the rivet heads as you swing the door in and out. If there is than let us know. The fix involves removing the door and you will need to obtain some special fasteners to replace the rivets.
Moxie - While you wouldn't expect to consider milling the face of a hinge on a midyear, some of these early Corvettes have been hit before and may not line up correctly. If you're sure you've checked all the adjustment points and the hinge bushings, then it might be necessary to lightly mill the face of one (or both) of the hinges. I had to do that with my 66 Coupe. Had a friend take off .080 off the face and that allowed me to shim to suit to get it to fit right.
Jeff - With your roadster, it could be an adjustment but since it's the back of the drivers door that seems to be dropping down a bit, I'd suspect the hinge bushings are worn. Open the door about 6 inches or so and then lightly pull the end of the door up and then let it down. There shouldn't be much play but typically the drivers door get's the most usage and those bushings are the ones that wear out first. If you find no slop in the bushings, then move on to the adjustment points. Here's a pic of the old pins and longer GM bushings alongside the parts that GM was selling as of about 10 years ago. The shorter bushings, when lubed up, will last plenty long although I have found a source for the longer bushings but they are listed for Nomad tailgate hinges.
Mike T - Prescott AZ
[QUOTE=MOXIE62;1589798432]I'm having a problem that I bet a lot of C2 coupes have faced and that is getting the doors to hang right. My 63 passenger door looks nice but the drivers door needs adjusting. As you can see from the pictures the door at the top needs to go in at least 1/16". The body lines do not line up. The fix to me would be adjusting the top hinge where it attaches to the body needs to go in but there are no shim plates to remove. It's almost like the face of the hinge that is connect to the door needs to be milled down 1/16". No shims there either. Any ideas of what to do.
The body shop had to put in large pop rivet To push top in and get it close .They messed my stainless up doing it ,Door was on car
FWIW, one should make sure that they have a solid frame and bird cage before even thinking about tweaking body parts, without which one could waste a lot of time and trouble for no benefit.
Not to hi-jack this thread but I have a similar issue with the driver's side door on my '66 roadster. The passenger door lines up perfectly but the driver side is too low at the rear edge.
So, I'll be quiet now and just lurk to see what the fix entails.
- Jeff
Is the character line in the middle of the door lining up with the same line on the rear fender - or is it low too. If both the top of the door and the character line on the door are lower than the rear fender, the door and striker simply need to be adjusted higher. That involves removing the door panels and loosening all the hinge bolts in the door except for one top and one bottom. Remove the striker from the door jamb. It's hard to tell without seeing the car but I would try then to loosen the single upper bolt while holding the rear edge of the door and rotate the back of the door up to just a little above the rear fender, snug up the bolt and very carefully close the door watching for any sign of interference at the front or rear. If OK, then install the striker and adjust until the door smoothly engages it and it pulls the door in correctly. You will probably have to mess around with it awhile to get it correct.
Is the character line in the middle of the door lining up with the same line on the rear fender - or is it low too. If both the top of the door and the character line on the door are lower than the rear fender, the door and striker simply need to be adjusted higher. That involves removing the door panels and loosening all the hinge bolts in the door except for one top and one bottom. Remove the striker from the door jamb. It's hard to tell without seeing the car but I would try then to loosen the single upper bolt while holding the rear edge of the door and rotate the back of the door up to just a little above the rear fender, snug up the bolt and very carefully close the door watching for any sign of interference at the front or rear. If OK, then install the striker and adjust until the door smoothly engages it and it pulls the door in correctly. You will probably have to mess around with it awhile to get it correct.
'ppears to me the body needs to be shimmed to fix this properley if you look at the diminishing margin from the top of the door down. Again, not a big enough pic of the WHOLE door fit to determine. Just like the OP's query.
I decided to leave well enough alone. Like Mike stated, I would have to give to make up and that would just create more problems. Maybe someone could tell me. Like Dans post, he will probably have to shim body to fix his alignment. Are the coupe bodies rigid enough that shimming would have little effect on door alignment.
Shims have much less impact on coupe door fit than convertibles, but shims can affect them a little.
Before you give up completely you really should check to see if the inner door reinforcement is loose - or if the hinge bushings are worn as suggested above. You can check for both without taking anything apart. Basically there shouldn't be any up and down slop at the hinges, nor any movement of the hinge arms with respect to the door when opening the door.
I decided to leave well enough alone. Like Mike stated, I would have to give to make up and that would just create more problems. Maybe someone could tell me. Like Dans post, he will probably have to shim body to fix his alignment. Are the coupe bodies rigid enough that shimming would have little effect on door alignment.
You can kick the top of the door in by shimming the bottom hinge. It's hard to say though because you need to see how the whole door fits the whole opening.
I decided to leave well enough alone. Like Mike stated, I would have to give to make up and that would just create more problems. Maybe someone could tell me. Like Dans post, he will probably have to shim body to fix his alignment. Are the coupe bodies rigid enough that shimming would have little effect on door alignment.
From what I have seen there is adjustment. The top of the door on my corvette looked like yours we have to drill out the hinges and put new bolts in that would hold it in place take it to someone who does
this all the time and roll with it .
Is the character line in the middle of the door lining up with the same line on the rear fender - or is it low too. If both the top of the door and the character line on the door are lower than the rear fender, the door and striker simply need to be adjusted higher. That involves removing the door panels and loosening all the hinge bolts in the door except for one top and one bottom. Remove the striker from the door jamb. It's hard to tell without seeing the car but I would try then to loosen the single upper bolt while holding the rear edge of the door and rotate the back of the door up to just a little above the rear fender, snug up the bolt and very carefully close the door watching for any sign of interference at the front or rear. If OK, then install the striker and adjust until the door smoothly engages it and it pulls the door in correctly. You will probably have to mess around with it awhile to get it correct.
You can kick the top of the door in by shimming the bottom hinge. It's hard to say though because you need to see how the whole door fits the whole opening.
I've thought about shimming the bottom and I may give that a try. As mention above about bending the top of the door. In Nolan Adams vol 2 book he stated that on the first few 63 bodies workers had to do just that to get the door to fit. That is, grab a hold of the top of door and bend it in to fit contour of car. Hard to believe they would do that, looks like the fiberglass would crack or would not stay as bent. Is there a metal frame that surrounds the top of the door.
I've thought about shimming the bottom and I may give that a try. As mention above about bending the top of the door. In Nolan Adams vol 2 book he stated that on the first few 63 bodies workers had to do just that to get the door to fit. That is, grab a hold of the top of door and bend it in to fit contour of car. Hard to believe they would do that, looks like the fiberglass would crack or would not stay as bent. Is there a metal frame that surrounds the top of the door.
Bending doors to fit is only one small trick and is not a "fix all". If you simply bend the top of the door I/B, you'll throw something else out.
Good point on the weatherstrip if that's a new one. They can be really stiff and not compress and cause pressure O/B on the door. If the WS in new, you can run a ratchet strap through the car and over the roof and leave it that was for a couple of months and the WS will take a set to the door opening after awhile.
Bending doors to fit is only one small trick and is not a "fix all". If you simply bend the top of the door I/B, you'll throw something else out.
Good point on the weatherstrip if that's a new one. They can be really stiff and not compress and cause pressure O/B on the door. If the WS in new, you can run a ratchet strap through the car and over the roof and leave it that was for a couple of months and the WS will take a set to the door opening after awhile.
06-08-2015, 07:42 PM
Adjusting C2 doors, how
