1931 Victoria Door Alignment

[coachstaff]

Restoring my 1931 Victoria and both doors don't align with the raised reveal at the door handle area. They are 3/8" lower than the rear window reveal. I've removed all shims before painting the car and cannot align the doors now. I started at the firewall cowel area with a shim and the hood fits ok. The door alignment gaps at the front hinges are ok and match the hood reveal. How do I raise the back of the door up 3/8"? The Victoria's wooden frame runs the length of the body and seems to lack the flexibility that my roadster has with its various blocks.

[jw hash]

add a shim at the rear of the cowl where the two-carriage bolts are. the tighten down the front cowl bolts. it will tilt the cowl and lift the rear of the door.

[Bob Bidonde]

To fine tune the alignment after shimming the cowl, I have double edge razor blades under the door hinges.

[Kevin in NJ]

So that dovetail is the alignment point, or part of that alignment of the doors.

The potmetal sliders must be in proper shape and they must slide with moderate force of one finger. I have seen some pretty poor condition original sliders on restored cars. If the wrong reproduction parts are used the door will not close properly and it can damage the male dovetail.

Originally they also made offset dovetails to address alignment issues.

I am speaking from my experience with a cabriolet and what I have seen with sedans. I am not familiar with Vicky door posts to comment further about how the dove tail is located. On the 68c they are screwed to the wood and you have to position them properly when building the body. If I remember correct the sedans are spot welded to the post.

In any event, the dovetails are critical to the function of the body. They set the door position at the rear. They also prevent the door from beating the body to death as the body flexes with normal driving.

A&L dovetails parts are close to correct and should have correct springs. I can not speak to other reproduction parts because I do not have experience with them.

[Bob Bidonde]

When the doors are properly aligned, the dovetails should slide directly into their receptacles. The dovetails should not be raising / lowering the doors into alignment. In my opinion, the dovetails keep the door from bouncing when the car is underway.

[rotorwrench]

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Chassis frames flex and bend over many years of use and door hinges can be tweaked if too much downward pressure is applied anywhere near the rear of the door. A person has to check for both types of bend before making adjustments.