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fitting doors [BN-2]

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Jedi Knight
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Hello All,
I'd like to tap any experience that you may have had fitting doors. My problem du jour is that I have a pleasing fit, but I'd like to move the door forward a little less than an eighth of an inch (i.e. there is almost no gap at the rear and a excess of gap at the front). The only way I can think of to do that is to shave off some of the face of the hinge halves that mount to the door pillar. Has anyone had this particular problem? What was your solution? I have big hammers, welding gear, grinders, but since the shrouds and wings fit very nicely, (after all of my weld repairs) I am opposed to moving any structural members. I am nowhere near my wits end, but I am very much in favor of talking to folks who've "been there and done that". To further save time I can tell you that the doors are original and the hinges are correct parts. I also now see why my decision to paint with body panels off is not a good one and I have changed my mind and will do it with the panels bolted lightly in place. Thanks.

Jon Robbins
1956 BN-2
 
Hi Jon,
A couple of things to think about:
As the door swings open, the clearance between door & front fender decreases by about .090" right at the styling line. I think you need a gap of about .200" at the front to allow for this. Especially if there will be any additional paint build up on the parts. The gap at the back can be closer than this because the door swings away from the opening. Nothing worse than peeling the paint the first time you open the door.

Also the door to shroud gap behind the windshield & the aluminum trim gaps will decrease if you move the door forward. Is there room or will it create another problem?

My BN2 has front door gaps of .220" front & .180" rear. You don't say what your actual gaps are so I can only speculate.

You "could" shave a bit off the hinge faces, but they aren't very thick to start with.

Shims in the front fender to A post mounting could move the fender back a bit. Maybe a combination of fit changes will be required.

Kind of like a jig saw puzzle. Everything affects something else. These cars were pretty much hand fit at the factory, as no two body parts were exactly the same dimensions. From what I have read, the best fitting parts were selected by trial, from a pile of parts & then further modified as needed to get a final fit.

I would bolt the panels firmly in place, including all of the trim pieces, door trims, to check all fits, & then remove or loosen them for final paint. Check windshield mount posts for location & angle by mounting the windshield. The posts are often shimmed to make everything line up. If you torque the glass it will break sooner or later. Check windshield fit in the lowered position also to verify location/alignment of the forward sockets.

I hope someone has an easier idea. There are several folks on this board who have been through the entire operation. If you are already aware of all this, forgive me.
D
 
Dave,
Thanks so much for your thoughts, and in particular for your door gap measurements. I haven't measured my gaps yet as I'm still fitting the trim pieces etc. Your statement that it "is kind of like a jigsaw puzzle" is almost on the money but, I would say it is EXACTLY like a jigsaw puzzle. Going through boxes and pulling out parts that are unidentifyable until I get to the point where I need just that part, has been fun and frustrating. On the other hand, when you have the correct piece for a real jigsaw puzzle it always fits. If anybody has found a jigsaw puzzle of an Austin Healey, I'm sure it comes with a little mallet for pounding the pieces into place, and perhaps a file for trimming those that don't quite need the hammer. Thanks for the encouragment too. Any other door gap measurements out there ?

Jon
 
[ QUOTE ]
....is almost on the money but, I would say it is EXACTLY like a jigsaw puzzle.

[/ QUOTE ]

Except my world's biggest jigsaw was missing some pieces, had some that were mis-shapened, some too rotten to use, and with all of them a nice rust color making it impossible to use the traditional jigsaw method for seeing what went where.

And because of all that, the "5 years & over" on the box was an optimistic estimate of the time needed!
 
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