Healey Doors

[huntlu]

hry everybody. I am new to this forum. Hopefully somebody can help me. I started restoring an Austin-Healey 100-6 in 1996. When I got it, the doors where pretty far off fitting; it looked like the car sagged in the middle. I got it all taken apart, got all new outriggers, floors and rockers. My Father started welding the pieces exactly where they where instead of jacking it up in the middle first. Well, I finished the whole car until I got to the doors. They where so far off they couldn't be adjusted. My question is, Do I recut all the outriggers and rockers or cut the car in half and jack it up in the middle until doors fit. Any info would be greatly appreciated. Thanks a lot. huntlu.

 

[Griz]

Huntlu, welcome to the forum. I'm not a body work expert, but you should know that Healey frames are notorious for sagging over time due to weakening from corrosion. You will probably find at the very least that you have to cut the outriggers loose, then straighten the frame and reinforce it before you will get your doors to fit properly. Some frames are so far gone that people replace them altogether (my BJ7 has a new frame from Jule in Canada). Good luck.

Griz

 

[John Turney]

Welcome to the forum, huntlu. Unfortunately, you will have to do as Griz said, with the added point that when you redo the outriggers and sills (rockers), you have to account for the sagging caused by installing the drive train. As you may know, the body is pretty light without the engine and drive train installed. When it goes back in, it can cause the frame to sag.

 

[British_Recovery]

It may not be as bad as you think. With the front fenders in place, mount the doors. See if the gap between the door and the front fender is acceptable. Adjust to the best location possible. Then check how much of a difference there is between the door top and the rear fender. Check both sides and compare. Imagine raising the entire scuttle ( dash area ) along with the hinge pillars. If this could give you needed height at the rear edge of the door, separating the scuttle at the inner chassis rails, as well as the door hinge pillars from the inner sills, might give enough movement upward. The steering column should be loosened where it mounts under the dash. Bottle jacks between the front outriggers and the cockpit cross member above the footwells can be used to maintain the distance. When the doors can be closed properly, weld the cut parts back. The rear fenders may need some adjustment.
This works if the structure of the car is sound to begin with. Do some measurement to see how things compare - side to side, front to back, and " X " measurement from key points.
Remember that a small collapse at the base of the scuttle and hinge pillars will be exaggerarated by the end of the closed doors, so a small amount of gain up front can work at the rear.

 

[huntlu]

thanks a lot for all the info,will let you know how it turns out.

 

[Mike Tobin]

Had the problem with my BT7. I finally figure out the the scuttle had moved in relation to the sills - it had dropped a bit and tilted back. I cut the welds at the sill/scuttle joint and with a pipe clamp on one side and a comealong on the other was able the get perfect alignment before welding it back up.
My guess is that these things take a real beating (I sure gave my one) and stresses build up. Then when you start cutting out structural pieces the chassis goes "aaahhh" and relaxes. I'd left the engine and trans in hoping things would line up, but no dice.