Door Adjustment

[67mopar]

I need some help from all you people who know!
How do i adjust the door?, right now it is sagging and hitting the striker also there is no weatherstrip around the door, but will it close tighter when the weatherstrip gets installed?
JayCee is a 67 newport custom 2 door. Thanks in advance!

 

[azblackhemi]

Since you say the door is sagging the first thing I'd do is check to see if the hinges are worn. Open the door all the way and lift at the bottom of the door and see if it has up and down movement. If so until you replace or rebuild the hinges adjusting probably won't help.

 

[CBODY67]

When you lift up on the open door, a very little bit of "slack" is normal. If the door is low enough for the latch to drag, then the bushings in the hinge need to be replaced. As I recall from the FSM door adjustment, seems like when the door closes, it is supposed to "lift" up slightly?

UNTIL you get the hinges refurbished (hinge pins and bushings), as you close the door, lift up on the handle rather than just slamming it harder (which might also make it spring back as it resists closing).

We saw a LOT of worn hinge pin bushings on 1980s and 1990s Chevy pickups. Enough sales that they are even in the aftermarket!

When you get the bushings replaced, lube them, too, then LEARN to not push down on the inner armrest as you open the door. This seems to be an unintentional action, from what I could determine, as you want to get the door open and use more force with the forearm. While also pressing down on the armrest, too! Go ahead and use the forearm/elbow to open the door, just do NOT press down on the armrest as you do.

On a related note, as you approach a building door with a crossbar to push it open, almost everybody will use that crossbar to press down on the door, as they open it. As if they are expecting it to resist their opening efforts, so they press down with more force to ensure the door opens for them. In this case, just push through on a horizontal plane ONLY and see how much easier it opens, usually.

Just some thoughts and observations,
CBODY67

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

The striker is adjustable. You must loosen it and adjust it and then tighten it up in the new position. Regardless all the notes mentioned before if the door is sagging because of worn hinges then adjusting the striker is not going to do anything much, and may make it much more difficult to close the door even if it is holding the door in what looks like a better adjusted position.

The door itself is also adjustable at the hinge plates where they bolt to the body. Adjusting the door by loosening off the hinges is something that you need two people to do. The door is extremely heavy.

You must determine if the hinges are worn first because again compensating for worn hinges is going to be a losing battle, and typically the hinge adjustments are not used for anything but fine tuning the positioning of the door in the door opening, and won't necessarily give you much if any adjustment if the door is sagging by the latch. If you determine that the hinges are okay then perhaps the door was just installed poorly and not lined up. Mark the original position of the hinges BEFORE you loosen them off so that you can return them to where they were if things don't work out. Do this for every hinge that you intend to loosen and adjust. You will see that the bolt holes are elongated and you can slide the door in and out and up and down.

There are likely YouTube videos that show you how to generically adjust car doors.

 

[cbarge]

Get the weatherstripping on first!
Ditto the rubber door stops.
As already mentioned, determine if the hinges are fubar or not.
Loosen the striker just enough to move with a tap of a rubber mallet.
Then proceed to adjust the door itself.
It is important to keep the body lines aligned and door flush with the quarter panel and fender.
The vent wing can be adjusted if need be but only in extreme situations.
The hinges to cowl is mainly fore and aft and up/down adjustment and hinge bolts at door move in, and out.
Why did I say have striker loose? When adjusting the door the striker will move with the door and avoids getting jammed hard. (Been there) it also tells you which way the door wants to go.
Hope this helps.

 

[1970FuryConv]

NOT THE RIGHT WAY
When I worked for Penske, which had taken over all of the Kmart auto shops, there was a mechanic at our location named Sean. Sean would fix sagging doors by putting a block of wood on top of one of the arms of our car lifts. Then with the door open and the car on the ground, he used the car lift to lift the back corner of the car door while watching the door hinges and their attachment points at the body shell. I don't know how he did it, but after his car lift adjustment, every time the car door would shut perfectly. I remember many customers thanking him.

 

[Ross Wooldridge]

I agree - that would be a way that might actually work, but certainly NOT the right way for doors! What that's doing is bending the metal of the door shell. Interestingly, your guy Sean is not the only guy I've seen do that (old school body shops are notorious for that kind of approach), and in fact I've seen similar instructions written in factory manuals, where blocks of wood are placed between panels and what they fit to, and selective force is a applied to "form" the panels to fit.

The problem with that is that if you do it too many times, then the metal softens and sags again over time, and if repeated, will sag faster and faster. This is partly why the greybeard body guys say "Don't lean on the doors when you get in and out of the car".

 

[traintech55]

One point tp mention that no one has, NEVER ADJUST A DOOR WITH A CAR ON A LIFT IN THE AIR. The lift will twist the body, and when you set it back down, it will really be off. Make sure your hinges are not worn first, nine times out of ten, when the hinges are rebuilt, the door will go right back in place with the old mounting points.

 

[azblackhemi]

One point tp mention that no one has, NEVER ADJUST A DOOR WITH A CAR ON A LIFT IN THE AIR. The lift will twist the body, and when you set it back down, it will really be off. Make sure your hinges are not worn first, nine times out of ten, when the hinges are rebuilt, the door will go right back in place with the old mounting points.

This is particularly true with a convertible.

 

[Pax2001]

I need some help from all you people who know!
How do i adjust the door?, right now it is sagging and hitting the striker also there is no weatherstrip around the door, but will it close tighter when the weatherstrip gets installed?
JayCee is a 67 newport custom 2 door. Thanks in advance!

Loosen the mounting bolts on the pillar at the top hinge and lift/jack up the rear of the door a little the retighten the bolts (use a 2x4 under the door frame and BE Gentle) - never seen a door with no adjustment. If the upper hinge is at the most forward limit then loosen the bottom hinge and repeat the process. Using the bottom hinge will fit the door slightly further back, the top hinge will move it slightly forward and up at the striker. 2 door vehicles have long doors and sagging is to be expected over time.

 

[Pax2001]

Loosen the mounting bolts on the pillar at the top hinge and lift/jack up the rear of the door a little the retighten the bolts (use a 2x4 under the door frame and BE Gentle) - never seen a door with no adjustment. If the upper hinge is at the most forward limit then loosen the bottom hinge and repeat the process. Using the bottom hinge will fit the door slightly further back, the top hinge will move it slightly forward and up at the striker. 2 door vehicles have long doors and sagging is to be expected over time.

Also, if the hinges are very worn and have no adjustment left, you can remove the hinge completely and slot the holes a little using as rat tail file. Using these methods allows you a bit of time before replacing the hinge pins and bushes. Adjust the hinge on the pillar side to raise/lower the door, use the bolts on the door itself to adjust horizontal fitting (in and out). Adjusting the striker if the door has not sagged - check the gap at the bottom of the door to check this - the striker, once the door is closed will correct the gap, so you will need to check the 'drop' while opening and closing the door