Rebuilt hinges (Thanks Leo! Beautiful).. Hinges orig to the car/doors are not... They came from a 71 Duster.. As you can see from the pics at the jam I look decent, door gap consistent.. Lower corner could use a lil massage.. Problem being in order to get myself aligned to this point the front top is so tight its not correct. The front bottom corner is out a tad further than i'd like from the rocker but again alignment at the top of the door jam is good.. Where should I be landing up front gap wise and height wise from the door to the cowl? Aligning everything up to begin body work/metal adjustments if needed, Insight? Thanks
71 Demon door gap/alignment
- Thread starter Skezix
- Start date
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It appears that the corners need to be tweeked/bent into shape with a little muscle & a 2x4. All the other gaps look good. Remember, these cars were slapped together at the factory & most of the time the gaps were not great to begin with. It takes a little time to get them nice.
moving the bottom of the front of the door in might help up top - it's weird geometry... the pivot point is below the top of the door.
Thanks all, yes I brought it up as high as possible with both jam/door hinge still a tad low, was able to get 1/8" gap and should be able to massage the bottom of the door at the jam.. Might be as close as it gets, gap to cowl still seems tight.. Well tight as in, by the time I smooth in the lead, prime and paint that 1/8 gap will decrease..
Thanks Steve. I screwed around with mine for days........I don't even know what I did.
The alignment on these cars was never perfect from the assembly line. Trying to make the gaps perfect takes a TON of patience and even more work. I applaud you in your efforts and wish you a lot of luck.
Thanks all.. Ya i have worked many a gap on my chevelles generally adding metal.. This door seems pretty decent compared to some I have dealt with just want to make sure im as close as I can get before I start welding/grinding and the door being a bit low to the cowl and the 1/8 gap is a concern. If that is the best I can get I can make it better but didnt want to start in without getting opinions from those that have dealt with these doors forever.
340sFastback
Well-Known Member
I think he is concerned the 1/8" gap door to cowl is too tight is how I read it?
Sounds a bit tight. He will see when fitting the fender and hood.
That cowl height difference is very common on Dusters/Demons.
You can see it here on my Duster, original paint and all original panels, and even the passenger side with no significant door sag…
Yes the 1/8 is my issue.. If I attempt to pull it out anymore than that the bottom door sinks to far into the jam for me to massage it out, once I clean up the lead area/prime/paint that 1/8 will be even smaller. I may have to play with the bottom of the door.. I do not use much in the way of "mud" as a fix.. generally attempt to work with the steel/add/subtract.. Not looking for perfection as it is only an era correct 340 car.. I have spent the time making all gaps perfect on a few restorations and as many mentioned its not really worth the fuss.
Ahh thanks Blu, thats about right where I am riding atm.. so the height is not going to be an issue. I will have to play with the drop I get at the bottom rear of the door as I cannot stay with the 1/8 gap I have between the door and the cowl, its just not enough.
This fastback barracuda had a new passenger quarter.
It had probably sustained a blow on the passenger front at some point. I went through fairly great lengths to get acceptable gaps.
Split the rear quarter top to bottom on the front edge.
Moved the top forward and the bottom rearward.
Sectioned the front quarter a little to make the cowl/hood gap ...ok....meh, no one will know but me.... and now you.
Pics are not in the correct order... sorry.
Love GenX
It had probably sustained a blow on the passenger front at some point. I went through fairly great lengths to get acceptable gaps.
Split the rear quarter top to bottom on the front edge.
Moved the top forward and the bottom rearward.
Sectioned the front quarter a little to make the cowl/hood gap ...ok....meh, no one will know but me.... and now you.
Pics are not in the correct order... sorry.
Love GenX
No problem! Here’s the rest of the picture showing the whole door gap, and a picture of the drivers side as well. The drivers side has a little bit of sag but still not as much as compared to the cowl height difference. And no accidents or anything for the car, and all original panels at the time of these pictures. Definitely some shopping cart rash and door dings but nothing that should change any of the gaps.
These cars just were pretty loose when it came to body fits and tolerances. I looked at a lot of door/cowl/fender pictures when I fitted the ‘71 Dart front clip on my Duster, and came to the conclusion that the cowl height difference was a very common occurrence from the factory
This is what has to be done a lot of times, even on cars that have never been damaged. If you want really nice gaps, you have to do this kind of thing. Very time consuming, tedious work, but the results are worth it. Very nice work by the way clementine.
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