[GATOR427SC]

Looking for advice from those who have successfully aligned your doors with the body. I have been chasing my tail for the last few nights trying to get the doors aligned with the body. Here are some observations:

1. It appears that 6 of the 8 body bolts are too short, maybe need to be 1.5”- 1.75” long.
2. I can get most of the door edges to line up with the body but then the door latches will not line up or I can get the door to close beautifully but none of the edges are lined up. The rear edge droops when I open the door and would hit the body when closing if I did not lift up on the rear of the door. I don’t think that it is droop/ slop in the hinge.
3. The front edge (maybe ¼”) of the driver’s foot box can be seen when the body is mounted and screwed down.
4. The rear edge of the passenger’s door is right up against the body and I can’t adjust it away from the body. If I shim the latch then it sticks out but the rear edge is still up against the body.

Any help is appreciated.

Thanks
Chris

 

[BBC71Nova]

I have the same problems.

1. I am trying to get longer 5/16" X 1.5" stainless buttonheads like FFR uses but longer. Other builders have done similar.

2. IMHO doors won't be perfect from the factory. You must build them up, sand them down, etc to get the joints to line up good. I just adjusted as good as I could and I am now building up the door and the edges to make them close to even. As for the hinges, mine have slop but I plan to take it out with set screws like suggested here. The doors will drop some when opened due to the design of the hinges, i.e. doors don't open straight out but hang lower when opened. Mine doesn't appear to be nothing more than the hinge slop. However, I did grind some of the material from underneath the upper back lip of the driver's side door because it was rubbing a little even after I used all the adjustment. This is also the door that I have to build up because it is lower than the body corner. Others have had this issue as well I believe.
3. You can't hide the dropped footbox. Some recommend just painting it black so that it isn't so noticable. Sidepipes will hide most of it. 1/4" is good if that is all you can see. Mine is more like 1".
4. Not sure if I understand your problem here. If it is the edge then maybe your could use the adjustment in the door side of the hinge to move the door forward. It that is all used up then use a dremel to make them bigger. You should be able to do this up until you cause problems with the front edge. You may even have to sand the edges of the door. My doors from FFR were not square or rounded on the edges but instead were flared out. Just due to the mold I think. I just used a DA and sanding block to sand off the edge and round it over. That fixed some of my fitment issues.

John

 

[GATOR427SC]

John,
On #4 imagine trying to pull the door towards the front of the car but because of the door latch it prevents it from moving. This is what I need to do to get the back edge of the door away from the edge of the body. The other solution would be to move the back of the body rearward to move it away from the back edge of the door. Again not an easy solution. I may just have to sand the door edges down somewhat and monkey with moving the body rearward some.

One other question....

When I apply the weather stripping to the door it should push the door outward somewhat when closed, correct? If so then should I adjust the door lip (where the weatherstripping goes) to touch or get as close to the sealing surface on the body?

thanks
Chris

 

[Doug Huey]

I have been playing around with the doors myself over the last couple of weeks. Here is what I have found.

The body bolts are to short for the area below the doors, both front and rear. You can order new button head stainless bolts from Totallystainless.com. Get stainless washers to match if you do. The distance you shim the lower section of your body will greatly affect the appearance of your door seams.

Adjust your hinges so the doors latch is slightly above the door post when the door is open. This will help counteract the door droop. You may need to redrill the body mounting locations underneath the door hinges. I had to raise the holes in the body up approximately 1/4" to get mine to line up better. Adjust your doors with the roll bar out first. The roll bar will control the upper rear edge of the door seams by limiting how much the body will move back and forth. You may need to adjust the roll bar holes slightly. The mirror and windshield mounts will control the left to right position of the front edge of the door seams. I had to relocate the windshield mounting holes approximately 1/4" to get the doors and the body aligned.

The front lower edge of the footbox is normal. Paint it black and you will never see it once the side pipes are installed.

My passenger side door had essentially no gap when originally installed. You need to make sure that the rear quick jack bolts are good and tight, the rear fender is properly aligned to the aluminum trunk wall and the lower body bolts are properly positioned and tight. If you have all that where you think you want it, the shape the door to match the opening. I had to remove approximately 1/8" from the back edge of the door to obtain an even gap.

Good luck. Unless you have a million hours to spend on the doors, they are going to be a compromise.