68" a-body panel alignment from the factory?

[TTC]

Hi!

Last july I bought really rusty 68" Dodge dart 2d post and I have done massive sheetmetal work with it. Finally all the welding is done and I have been aligning body panels and door gaps.
The thing that I have been wondering is that how straight these cars were from the factory line? Because for example driver side door fitment is pain in the *** . When I manage to get the door upper body line in its place, the lower part of the door is sticking out. I have tried to hammer it down, but the inner door structure is quite solid and it is not easy to modify.
So many body panels have needed cutting and welding to get them fit properly and even gaps.

Funny thing is that all the time so many people are saying that their car has completely straight sheetmetal work and no filler....

 

[Woods74]

How about this: Chrysler had the WORST gaps of the big 3. Body and frame tolerances we're all over the place.

Make it work.. Alot of these guys you speak of have rose colored glasses because some one else did the metal work...

I know I had my fun with them, the word your looking for is 'compromise'.


Enjoy!

 

[RedFish]

My best guess, the door is low. Seen it before, although most often due to worn door hinges.
Radius alignment is a bit different from straight lines. Up/down has a in/out effect. If the gap at bottom of door gets a little larger than you would like, that goes back to the other members post above. As for the rest of the lines around this door, shim the fender up to the same height, etc..
The main and least obvious fudge it, feck it, spot is where door fender, and hood gather at the cowl. Don't even try to make the radius gap around the cowl pretty.

 

[TTC]

I have of course checked the hinges before alignment, so they are good I think that all the body panels I have been working with are little bit distorted. For example both doors are curving down after door handle mounting holes. I think I will try to find compromise between normal usage and showcar . After this much of rust repair, I have tried to make it as perfect as possible , so maybe my car is the monday car

 

[str12-340]

Top door hinge doesn't adjust so always start there, as it is a fixed point. Bottom door hinge adjusts in two planes. The one that moves the bottom of the door in are the bolts ON the DOOR through the hinge, as opposed to the bolts under the kick panel that holds the hinge to the door frame (the ones under the kick panel adjust the back of the door up and down in relation to the front of the door). If the bottom of the door sticks out, open the door, use a sharpie to draw a reference line around the hinge on the door, loosen the bolts and push the bottom of the door toward the back of the car the same distance that the door stuck out. The reference line keeps you aware of where the door was originally so that when you slip with the bolts loose you know where you started. It will take a few tries to get it right depending on how nice you want it. If the door fits in back but is now too far in or out in front, adjust the bottom of the fender to match using shim washers (called fender washers). to line up with the door.

Stop beating on your body panels...