Door fit problems - or worse. Options

[andrewb]

Hi - here are a few pics of my car which needs 'quite a lot' of work.



The immediate problem I'm trying to solve is this - the drivers side door gap - at the forward edge.



There is no adjustment that I can see (i.e. no shims on the hinge mount) which can only mean that the front wing (sorry, fender) is 'out'. As far as I can tell it is the original.

My questions are

1. Would it have left the factory like that ? I've read that tolerances were a bit slack by todays standards. The door gap on the drivers side is about 4mm more than on the passengers side. It hangs low by about 5mm when open but lines up perfectly when closed. There is no discernable play in the hinges. The door does shut with a liitle resistance but does not open and close as freely as the passenger side. Gaps on that side are a steady and even 2 to 3 mm front and back. Roll bar to windscreen frame dimensions are equal side to side within 1mm and do not change when the doors are open. The doors are the same size.

2. If it didn't leave the factory like that - what has caused it ? The car has had a light knock on the left front corner which I will show in my next post but the damage doesn't appear to extend any further back than where the inner wheel arch meets the bulkhead between the fuel tank and spare wheel well. The inner longs are completely shot both sides, the inner INNER longs are shot up to about 2" above the floor, the floors are fairly bad and the hell hole is good. I'll show all this with future pics.

3. Can I put it right and if so how ? Again - more pictures following will help you to decide.

Thanks in advance. The knowledge on this forum is priceless.

[charliew]

I also think Rick is dead on. You can probably just put a jack on the driver front suspension point and just jack up a little and watch the door gap get better. Rick's idea with the wire seems real good and accurate though and you will need it to brace the tub before you start. I would like to know it is straight as possible and well braced before I start. I know it will move a lot but at least you will know what moved it after you start and be able to correct it. If it is straighter after you finish than it is now you have really done a good job, this will not be easy and I have done a lot of body sheetmetal replacements and would never try one this bad.

It depends on when the stripes were put on but what do they look like with a long straight edge laid under them compared to the good side? Does it show the door to fender misalignment? If it does that means it's happened since the stripes were put on. I really think it's the way it is supported on the blocks though.

[andrewb]

I really think it's the way it is supported on the blocks though.

That is something that's crossed my mind - the problem was finding somewhere strong enough to take the weight that wouldn't get in the way of the work I needed to do. I'm not totally happy with it which is why I'm working on a jig that will pick up on suspension points - the good ones !. My concern there is that by moving the supporting points outwards the car will sag in the middle so I'll have to build in some floor support as well. So I end up with the kind of arrangement Rick shows under that Merc. Thanks for that input Rick - much appreciated.

The plan now is -
1. More accurate and even support under the whole car
2. Sort the longs
3. Do I then do the front suspension or do I still need to do the floor first ?

Thanks again to you all.