1928 Tudor Driver Side Door Alignment

[markwill]

I have a relatively rust free tudor that I'm restoring, however, the subframe underneath both "A" Pillars was rusted, so I cut out the rusted area and welded in a section of good subframe that came from another Model A tudor...all went well and the patches are flat and true across the length of the subframe. At the top of the "A" pillars, there was metal fatigue and the right angles that come off the top of the pillar that are normally riveted to the metal that forms the top of the door jambs were cracked off and missing. I rebuilt this area (see pic) with new metal and temporarily install a machine screw where a rivet is supposed to go to see how everything lines up.

The problem is the drivers side door is about a half inch too low (based on the belt line) at the latch. I can remove the temp machine screw I installed and spread the top of the door jamb and it raise the door so the belt line aligns, but this throws off where everything was originally riveted. I did this exact same repair to the passengers side and everything is in perfect alignment, therefore I'm clueless on how to go about solving this.

1 Should I go ahead and rivet the top of the "A" pillar so the original holes align and try to correct the door alignment with shims in the body mounts?

2. Should I expand the top of the jamb until the door aligns correctly and re-install the the rivets at the top of the "A" pillar in the new positions.

I should mention that the door was misaligned when I started, but I attributed that to the fact that there was nothing connecting the top of the "A" pillar to the cross brace at the top of the door jamb holding everything square.

I hope all this makes sense.

Thoughts??? Help!

Thanks, Mark

[Marco Tahtaras]

Is the body properly bolted to a straight frame? Is the gas tank still bolted in?

[markwill]

yes to both.

[Marco Tahtaras]

Ok, It DOES sound like a typical frame sag. In my experience there is no such thing as a straight frame except on very low mileage cars so I have to assume you've straightened the frame. If this was done without the rear engine mounts and flywheel housing bolted in place then much of the sag will return.

It would be a good idea to adjust the body block pads now to true up the body and see where it takes you. Additionally, it can be helpful to loosen all the gas tank mounting bolts during the process. The cowl can twist slightly so the left side can lean forward to some extent without negatively impacting the right side. A tightly bolted in gas tank makes the cowl very rigid which inhibits such movement.

[markwill]

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Marco,

Thanks for the reply back, but before I can do all that I first need to know how and when to secure the top of the "A" pillar that is one of the four corners that forms the basic door frame. As I mentioned in my original post, metal that is part of the "A" pillar and the header that form the top corner of the door frame had cracked completely off due to metal fatigue and were missing. Therefore, there was no connection between the "A" pillar and the cross rail in the upper left corner of the for that form top of the door frame, which is what I set out to correct. I rebuilt the area with new metal and now it needs to be re-riveted to the cross rail (see the picture in my original post). What I need to know is how and when to align to align this are so it can be riveted back into position. Without this being secured first, the weight of the door will pull on the top of the "A" pillar and sag (like any door would). To align this area, to I simply place a square in the top corner of the door frame, clamp everything in place, then re-install the rivets that hold everything in position and then try to re-align the door with shims at the body blocks. Assuming everything else is square on the frame, should I adjust the top left until the door aligns correctly and then re-rivet everything in place.

Thanks