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TR2/3/3A 1960 tr 3a body panel allignment

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Tinkerman

Tinkerman

Darth Vader
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Afternoon All:
I'm at the point that I can start hanging sheet metal on the TR but don't want to do that until the doors line up correctly. By dumb luck the driver side door is perfectly alligned but not so with the passenger door. It is off by perhaps 1/8 of an inch at the rear of the door. The front curved portion of the door is looking very good so I don't want to mess with the door. So where do I start?
I am about to make some basic assumptions so correct me if I'm wrong. The car should be sitting on a flat surface with the wheels on, correct? I can loosen and or remove the body bolts and shim it with body washers to correct the misallignment?
Is that the general procedure? If not, I am open to any and all suggestions.

Thanks, Tinkerman
 
Adding shims will close the gap more at the top of the door than the bottom. Removing them will, likewise, increase the gap more at the top than the bottom. If the gap is already even top to bottom...you may find yourself having to work on the door anyway.
 
Dick,
If I understand you correctly, you want to try to make the gap at the rear of the door less without moving the door. There is no movement of the rear panel behind the door. So the only way to move anything is to move the door with shims and then you can move the front fender back to match the door. This is assuming that your gap at the rear of the door is even top to bottom. If the gap is wider at the top than the bottom then you might be able to use some body pads or washers to correct that.

You are not telling us if you did any major panel work or if you just took the car apart and are now putting it back together.
Charley
 
Thanks for your input fellows. This was a complete frame off restoration. Everything was removed from the frame and everything has been restored or replaced. The car went to the body shop with all body panels in place and braced with all the proper gaps. Currently there are no fenders hood etc. on it. It is running and drivable at this point. We are ready to start mounting fenders but I feel that it needs to start out with as much proper allignment as I can get to avoid problems down the road. So to speak, heh. I will see what I can accomplish with the door and go from there.
Again thanks for the input!
Tinkerman
 
The factory put in a lot of lead on the door post to achieve the desired fit.I suggest
that you start here and remove the excess(if present). If you have installed new inner
sills and forgotten to fit the door before welding, you have real problems that may involve
welding and cutting .........The sad truth is that the door itself has almost NO adjustments
it fits the aperture or it dont. A new sill is way too stiff to get any real changes with shims.
MD (mad dog)
 
I ran into the same problem a couple of years ago. I found another door that was 1/8 " longer. It was an earlier door with wood at the top. It fit perfect so I was good to go. Unless you can find another door, shimming the post to move it back is going to be about the only way.

Marv
 
The brass hinges could have been bent over the years by people getting in and out. Most likely the top one. I tweeked mine to get the best fit. I even removed some material from the back side of one. I also agree with MD about the amount of lead used on the back post. One post had a strip of lead almost 6" long coming down the edge of the post.
 
Well it does not sound too bad 1/8 of an inch and at leastthe door opening is not too small where the paint would rub off. I would keepmoving on and hanging the other panels and view the project as a whole. Like MDsuggest there is little adjustment and like others suggested the door mighthave to be made bigger or like suggested find a different door. It sounded likeat first you do not have the fenders on? But you must have the passenger front on,right. Anyways if the 1/8 gap is not consistently an 1/8 you can increase thelast small shim in the back at the rear bumper guard and push the B post upsome and get a consistent reveal of an 1/8, but I cracked a new paint job oncedoing that so be careful. I wish I could have seen Don E car new and looked atthe gaps to see how they left the factory.
 
Tinkerman said:
Thanks for your input fellows. This was a complete frame off restoration. Everything was removed from the frame and everything has been restored or replaced. The car went to the body shop with all body panels in place and braced with all the proper gaps.
Tinkerman
Click to expand...

If your gaps were good at the body shop, then you should be able to fix any issues on the frame with shims...
 
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