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28 CAR CRAFT AUGUST 2019
Put the door into position on the car.
Lean into the door to hold it in place
and thread in the top two bolts of the
top hinge, then install the bottom hinge
bolts. Line up the hinges on the old
reference lines and snug down the
bolts. Tighten them enough to hold the
door in place, but not cranked down.
The bolts need to be free enough to
loosen with one or two turns.
Door alignment is all about minute
adjustments. There are four adjust-
ments on a car door: up and down,
forward and back, the horizontal tilt,
and vertical tilt. These are made by
moving each side of the hinges. The
hinge has two sides or flanges: the
flange that attaches to the door and
the flange that attaches to the body.
These are equally important. The
hinge-to-body flange will move the
door back and forth. It also changes
the vertical up and down positioning
and controls the horizontal angle of
the door. The hinge-to-door flange
allows slight up and down fine-tuning,
but it primarily controls the vertical tilt
adjustment: tilting the door in or out at
the top and bottom.The door is always adjusted to the
quarter-panel and rocker because those
are fixed. The fenders will be adjusted
to the door. Start by making the bottom
of the door parallel to the rocker. Then
work on the quarter-panel–to–door gap.
Check the tilt of the door and adjust it
to be flush with the surrounding sur-
faces. You’ll be going back and forth,
adjusting and readjusting the hinges.
Move the door one way, move it back,
then fine-tune. The changes will get- The door is placed on the car and held
by leaning into it while the top two bolts
are threaded in. The remaining bolts are
installed and snugged up. You need to be
able to adjust the hinges, but not lose all the
adjustments you’ll be making. The bolts need
to be tight, but free enough to allow for this. - Here’s the original passenger door.
Start by taking reference photos and
measurements of the gaps. Don’t forget the
door gaps inside the car. These gaps are
critical. There needs to be enough room for
the kick-panel cover, door panel, and the
windlace. - Remove the bottom hinge bolts first.
Next, hold the door in place by leaning into
it and removing the top hinge bolts. Then
remove the door and place it on a panel
stand or saw horses. - To access the bolts on the lower hinge,
you’ll need to open and close the hinge. Use
a large screwdriver or pry bar. Up is closed
and down is open. Draw a reference line
around each hinge and remove them. Clean
and chase the bolt holes on the body and
the door. - One of the mounting holes on the top
hinge needed to be opened up. After fitting
the hinges, install them on the door using
the reference lines for placement. Snug the
bolts, but don’t fully tighten them down.