Rider, not to pile on, BUT gotta ask anyway - you’re a member since 2008 and still don’t have the factory shop manual? That is more than a bit perplexing. You should be able to use your 61’s manual, if you have that.

 

OK, JSYK.... I joined back when I lived in Hermiston OR. and I owned a 2000 Ford Super Duty XLT Extended cab 4x4 7.3l Manual 6 speed transmission - I ran 38x15.5 tires on it, it was a Beast.
Got divorced, had to start all over again in life - I bought this 1962 just to keep myself busy tinkering on something - I have the 1961 Shop Manual on its way to me right now. As long as I own this truck I will keep working on it, try to keep it Original as when I bought it. I think the only main change that has been done to it is a previous owner put this 390 in it and of course the PTO winch and solid steel custom Fabricated bumpers.
If I ever get that far... I hope to put original front and rear bumpers back on it, remove the winch and PTO drive-line and put a cover on the side of the transmission where the PTO unit is attached








Thank You

 

I wish you luck, and much enjoyment improving it as you go. I only ask, because there is a very consistent trickle of long time members that come here asking for Illustrations, procedures , etc from the shop manuals, that , to me, are the very first tool one should invest in when buying an old truck. Some have had their trucks 10 or more years and insist they don’t have the time or money to make this basic purchase - so they insist. Some of us do get a bit annoyed.

Anyway, cool rifle holder, I’m sure you’ll soon get the door adjustment sorted. Have fun with it.

 

From what you described, you could have a couple of problems you haven't addressed yet, and all the futzing with the hinges you've done is a waste of time. If you have up and down play in the hinges where you can actually lift up on the door, then your pins and bushings are shot. You must repair those before you're going to be able to satisfactorily adjust the door further.

After you do that and get the door to fit in the opening correctly, only then can you adjust the latch and striker for a proper shutting. The latch in the door is in a fixed position and has no adjustment. In and out on the door and catching is a matter of adjusting the striker. If you can't make that work, it's entirely possible your latch is worn out and will never close properly unless you replace that.

What part of Oregon are you living now?

 

I appreciate it - the driver door I can Slightly get it to lift up, and I mean Slightly, and grabbing from the bottom and farthest away from hinges corner, for its age I would say the Door Hinges are in excellent shape, no rust in any of the bolt mounting areas, I am pretty sure I can adjust this out once I have the repair manual and have a diagram or instructions, hopefully step by step, on how to adjust the door to get it into a position where I can just push it and it double clicks and shuts tight, this is my plan anyway.

and BTW.... I could not find one single vid on youtube for adjusting the 1961 - 1966 ford truck doors/hinges.
If I had found one with good detail on all the adjusting options I would have the doors closing like when they were brand new.

I am very good at fixing and repairing, the issue is if I do not know how on something, this is my first time on these old trucks. This truck WILL keep getting into better and better condition as long as I own it.

I was an aircraft maintenance specialist is the USAF (C-130-E) and i have three years of full time college so I Do Know how to learn LOL

When it is my first time on something this is when I ask a ton of questions. The only dumb question is the one not asked as a few instructors used to say.

I am located in the Metropolitan Portland area

(I am thinking it over quite often on how I am going to drive this truck very far on 4.56:1 gear ratio - I would be tempted to lift the truck 4 inches, fit taller tires under it so I would not have the engine spinning at 3000 - 3500rpm going 55mph).
390 cid at 3500 rpm = about 3 miles per gallon?

 

I'd imagine this is self-evident but I'll just mention it in case. Those 4 little covers on the inner door panels right where the hinges connect to the door give access to more bolts for adjustment. 4 small screws and those opening covers fall off.

 

Yes Sir - I saw a guy go thru those door hinge bolt covers on a youtube video but on the next generation ford truck after ours, he adjusted his doors the way I need to adjust mine by going thru those door covers and loosening the bolts inside - I saw the two covers on our truck doors but just decided to wait for the repair manual and then start digging into it.

 

I finally got on the driver door today for a few hours - I believe I got it lined up pretty nicely, looks real good from the side but still have the one issue, the door does not want to Second Click to finish latching when closed unless I slam the door.
However, if I just lightly swing the door closed it swings around, glides in and makes the first Click very easily.

I am adding some pics...
The door from the side now that it is lined up, the upper and lower hinges 3 bolts Inside the door, and then a pic from the front of the door looking back and you can see that the door is IN a little compared to the cab.

At this time I am unable to think of what to do to get the door to do the second Click to latch closed but be flush with the outside cab area.

 

The door striker is also adjustable. Sounds like it needs to be adjusted slightly outward.

 

The door looks tight and inset further than flush. Move the striker out until the door latches better. Know that these trucks never fit like a Lexus, and if your latch is worn, as I mentioned before, it'll never be perfect. Pretty close may be as good as it gets.

 

I loosened the door striker and slid it towards the outside of the cab as far as it would go which was very little and tightened the 3 screws.
Sitting here thinking about it... I believe I felt something on the back side of the striker, just below the gas tank fill spout, that I believe the striker screws into, I am now wondering will that backside piece slide side to side as well?
I will give this another try the next time I get out there which will be probably Wednesday, I am waiting on a few small items that i ordered for the truck.

It makes sense that as how the door is hanging now that the striker just needs to move outward about an 1/8" or so.

On another note..... I am going to add a can of "Restore" to the engine oil and hope that the engine will have less smoking when warmed up.
From what I could find online about oil additive for a smoking engine, this stuff seemed to be one of the highest rated by customers who had used the product.
I am also adding FIAMM high note and low note horns, I have found a nice spot to bolt them that is out of the way anything else in the engine compartment.
There WAS an Oogah horn mounted in the engine compartment but there no wires going to it and so I removed it. I am not much of an Oogah fan. Once I mount the new horns I will spend some time trying to find the/a wire somewhere under the hood that comes from the steer wheel horn.

 

Behind the door jamb, the striker screws go into a nut plate, similarly to the hinges, which should move plenty for adjustment.

 

Both doors now shut tight without slamming them shut

 

What was the secret?

 

The Strikers on the cab.
I loosened all three bolts, sprayed lubricant behind it and inside as best I could, moved the unit all around, side to side, up and down many times so that I would have the greatest amount of movement to work with.
The best position for mine were all the outwards and all the way up. I held them all the way over into that position with one hand while tightening back down the three bolts.

At guessing I would say the striker will move side to side at least 1/4" and will move up and down at least 1/4". It seemed to move around quite a bit more than the first time I had tried it .

I was actually quite surprised that it worked because I had already tried it once BUT... the was before I had loosened those 6 hinge bolts "inside the door" while having a jack under the door putting pressure on the bottom of the door, lifting upwards, as soon as I loosened those 6 bolts the door moved UP, I then tightened them all back down, *that was a few days ago.

This truck does not know it but it's new owner does not stop until he fixes something correctly so... this truck will lose and the new owner will win on each competition of Wills LOL.

I am a Senior Softball Player (SSUSA) in the 60's age category now and this is the way I play and think... Winning is Fun!