Hi All,

Just this weekend I finished installing all the components into the passenger door of my 52 f1. I hung the door and tried to close it like all of us do. Maybe I slammed it harder. It did not close all the way. I jumped right on the forum and read all the info on doors not closing and came up with the idea that it might be the new weather seals I put on. Well, of course it wasn't. It was the new dovetails I installed last year that is holding the door up from closing all the way.
Now what, well I don't know if i should cut down the female parts so the male part would slip into it so the door will close or what???????? What would you do? I found that the female parts inside the cab do not move at all. Are they suppose to? and if so which way? up or in or both?
Man, if I did not have bad luck I would not have any.

 

How is it preventing the door closing? Is the male hitting the back side of the female? As I recall there are shims behind the male for depth adjustment. And I do think the male is on a floating plate for adjustment.

 

Ross, Maybe I don't know how they should work together....I got this truck in many boxes so I really did not know about shims. It does not seem that any parts of the dovetail float.
The female parts in the cab have springs behind them and I thought they might move in and out (maybe float) because of the springs, but they don't budge. The male piece on the door just screws into the door without any adjustment as I can see. What can I be missing?

 

The dovetails are there for one purpose....to keep the door from moving up and down as the cab flexes. They are not adjustable but the female side is spring loaded, yours are likely just stuck. Likely your door is out of alignment. Are the gaps even all the way around? Body lines look close? Try to remove the male dovetail and see if the door closes, and how it lines up.
Also, if you have new rubber you may have to move the latch striker out to compensate for the thicker rubber. After it compresses some you can move them back in....

 

The female parts are spring loaded, the male is fixed. I had similar problems with my driver's side door. Close the door very slowly while watching the male side. Does it line up centered between the two female parts? If not the door needs adjustment. If you have a repro shop manual,it shows how to adjust the doors. You may need to loosen the hinges move the door and then retighten. Also the manual shows a method of ( I'm not kidding ) slamming the door against a large rubber mallet positioned between the door and the jam. Depending on where the mallet is, the door will be reshaped. If the mallet is at the top of the jam, slamming the door against it will bring in the bottom of the door. Make sure the top and bottom of the door is not making contact before the dovetails. Hope that helps

 

I hate to admit it, but I just caught that these are NEW dovetails... that brings up the possibility that they are not made correctly. Can you fit the male into the female if you take the male off the door?

 

I am going up to the barn tonight and get back to all later or tomorrow.

 

So I found out that the NEW dovetails were 1/8 inch thicker than stock. I cut them down to match the original ones and the doors close very nicely. Also the male parts do not hit the back of the female opening so all is good. Now for the drivers door.... I had to cut the original welds that held the hinges to the door hinge post to get the door to align correctly.
Now the male goes nicely into the center of the female on the latch post. What a chore but done. Thanks to all who contributed to this post and my problem.

 

Here is a picture of the finished product. Click on link.

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...id=243726&.jpg

 

https://www.ford-trucks.com/user_gal...photoid=243726

Picture of finished (maybe, nah never) 1952/48/49/68/72 truck.

 

Very pretty truck. I guess I must have missed some of your earlier posts. Why do you refer to it as a 48, 49, 52, etc.? Different parts from different years?

 

You forgot 51. The hood trim is from a 51 Five Star Deluxe.

 

You forgot 51. The hood trim is from a 51 Five Star Deluxe.
Yes, good catch. Had 2 hoods and fixed the one I liked the most.

Parts is Parts and I got them from all years. from hood spears to 9" diffy.

Thanks.