door alignment

[Russ B]

Originally Posted by wingski

Russ, I’m having a problem aligning the driver’s side door. I’ve shimmed at the mid-body location at the back of the door and tightened the bolt. I’ve tightened the cowl bolts and now I have a door that still not closing, but is also not lined up. The back of the door is lower than the body by an inch, and I can’t figure out how to raise it without doing some major damage somewhere. Any and all ideas are welcome. Thanks!

I would take it all loose, lift the body a bit and slip in a couple thick shims under the body at the #2&3 bolt location on the drivers side. Then insert and fully tighten all bolts and measure the change in position at the back of the door. That would get you started.

Bodies are pretty flexible so I would not worry about doing damage.

[d.j. moordigian]

Originally Posted by SeaSlugs

if the frame has sagged its gonna be very tricky to get everything to align....

That was my first thought also,...it's the foundation..."ground zero" for everything else and noted for sagging...

[wingski]

John, I haven't read Marcos, but I've got the door lined up perfectly.

[PrairieA31]

I am new to posting on this forum so let me know if I should have started a new thread.

I have 31 S/W Cabriolet (68C) with door problems. The doors take an excessive amount of force to get them to close all of the way and latch. I don't recall that the doors required this level of "attention" to get them properly closed and latched until the last few years.

Know that my experience with car bodies and doors is really thin but my observation is that the outer lower edge of the rear part of the door comes in contact with the body before the outer upper edge of the rear part of the door ...and that prevents the door latch from travelling toward the interior of the car far enough to properly engage the striker mounted on the door post. The upper rear part of the door sits about ½” proud of the body (see attached pic A).

Wear on the dovetail is on the bottom surface. Perhaps this can be adjusted so it is removed as a suspected contributing factor. Should I just remove it for testing?

There is mention in some posts of some interior diagonal strap within the door for adjusting the curvature of the door. There is also mention of wooden pieces within the door. Maybe those were specific to the ’29 cab under discussion but my 68C has neither. It is all metal (see attached pic B). Is this door correct for a 68C?

SO…what adjustments would you suggest?

PrairieA31

[PrairieA31]

more info...

I received info from the cabriolet club indicating that this door is correct for a 68C ...and so any adjustment of an interior diagonal strap within the door remains an impossibility. Should I consider trying to slightly bend the door?

Also noticed that the bottom of the female dovetail mechanism on the door post is wearing. I took the dovetail off of the door and found that the effort to close the door was reduced...still significant effort was required but reduced. Can the female dovetail mechanism on the door post be adjusted downward a 1/16"?

[d.j. moordigian]

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Okay,...a few things to get you started...

1. Does the hood fit correctly with the radiator and the cowl?...NO taper?
2. Float-a-motor mounts?
3. Lift up and down on BOTH doors,...are the hings and pins good?
4. The body has a wood sub frame(I think) is the wood good?
5. Do the "hood hooks" latch too the hood easy?

What else doesn't fit well? Also,..post more photos, side view of the car, please..
djm

START A NEW THREAD...

[shew01]

I had a similar situation on my 1931 Victoria, and I was initially thinking it was a bad door hinge. I took it to a Model A mechanic, and he was able to fix the issue by tightening two bolts inside the cabin, next to the kick panel. That would never have occurred to me.



The bolts he worked on have a silvery color in the pictures.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[PrairieA31]

thanks shew01

I found those 2 bolts on both sides (driver and passenger) were not very loose. I snugged them up a bit more. The next frame bolts back (in front of the seat) on both sides were loose. I tightened them, went for a drive to bounce things around a bit and the tried the doors again. There was no appreciable change....still having to slam them shut.

[PrairieA31]

at d.j. moordigian's suggestion, I have started a new thread under "Cabriolet Door Alignment" for my issue