Hi everyone. I am having a problem with the passenger door on my 66. On the drivers side i have nice gap along the rocker. On the passenger side the gap is ok but the problem i have is that on the back of the door the door edge sits just inside the rocker but as you go to the front the door starts to over hang the rocker. To explain it further if you run your hand down the door at the bottom you feel the rocker panel. On the front you dont its about a half inch in. I have tryed to move the lower hinge in to pull the corner in but it still hangs over. I could make the hole bigger but then the top opposite corner sticks out. I rebuilt the corner of the door post where the hinge sits but everything lined up and it was braced when i did the repair. Also the rear corner of the door was dammaged before so i am wondering if the door is tweeked a little. I am looking for some suggestions on what to try to fix this. Thanks Justin

 

nice to see someone working on a truck that's nearly as rusty as mine. just replaced the pillars on mine also. what i did was ask the members for some measurements off a truck with original pillars. measure pillar to pillar across the cab at the area in question. might tell you if your way off. my 63 is about 64" half way up the door opening. could be several things going on but something to check since you mention having worked on this area.

 

Adjust the lower hinge and upper hinge . The hinges adjust in four planes and you can get it close. Do it in small increments on one hinge at a time untill you are satisfied.

Doors did not fit very well new so try and adjust.

Garbz

 

you may want to see if you can get another door at the wrecking yard, if you can not adjust your door very well, it may have been tweeked like you said, just try to adjust and shim the door, if all else fails, get another door and try again take care and have fun, Chellie

 

this pbly isn't the problem but something you may want to check if nothing else works. when i replaced my lower pillar support there was absolutely nothing factory left at the lowest hinge bolt area, so the new pillar support i bought was able to rotate in and out. if your pillar support is turned a little outward on the bottom then your door is going to stick out lower front.

hopefully the door just needs lined up. took me about 3 days hard labor to get mine right. geezuz.

 

If your lower front corner is inboard a good bit vs the rear edge...see how the fit of the rear right at the latch/catch is regarding flushness with the rear cab area...if thats not flush, adjust that...remember...if no weatherstrip on the door make sure the door is pulled outward...as if there was something(weatherstrip) to hold it outward at the max. if that fit is okay and top rear of the door is flush something is amiss as my door upper rear area sits inside of the cab area...not flush like the flatter area of the lower door is.
If the upper hinge area fits flush with the cowl...thats good...if the lower rear is good at the rear of the door where it goes vertical and thats flush...thats the main 3 areas to check for side flushness without the fender being on.
Try hanging the fender and mounting it like it was originally with shims in same place if any were used...gap between the lower cowl and top of fender is around 1/4-3/8" Ive seen some huge gaps here before...typically that fender I try to line up so its upper curvature matches that of the doors curvature in the same area...also the rear of the door body line should line up with the rear of the cab...or as close as possible...the rear corner fitment is critical as far as weatherstrip fitting/sealing well goes...but if the rear line lines up with cab well and front lines up well with cowl/fender area theres not too much to adjust...keep in mind if you push bottom in, the tops coming out...its all about compensating one for the other and coming to a happy medium as I call it...
Making the hole bigger...I wouldnt mess with it...its only gonna get so good...as garbz said these doors werent the best fitting out of the box...the rear vertical gap should be about 1/4" at the most at the lower vertical area...the lower gap to rocker is wide...it is just the nature of the beast...the gap on mine at the rear is about 3/8 or so....its never been touched either on the LH door since it left San Jose nearly 45 yrs ago to the day...remember also that the front of the rocker has that curve inward where it goes to meet the lower kickpanel/lower fender mount flange area...use clay when adjusting the door front to rear...so you wont scratch the paint anywhere along the surfaces...
Its all about compensating in the end though...the rear curvature matches the rear of the cab and the rear of the fender matches the front of the door...it wont be perfect though...

I would totally love love LOVE it if there was someone still around who built these trucks originally...what the trick was to hang/adjust door and all...


the only shims used regarding the door mounting itself though is between the cabs striker plate...



- cs65

 

thanks for the detail and measurements camperspecial. i still
have the passenger side to do.

 

No problem...patience is the key...dont forget though that if all has been painted that the thickness of paint will need to be taken into consideration...and if the truck hasnt been shot yet...add a smidgin to the gap amounts to allow for paint/primer buildup...nothing worse then having everything set perfect as pie and open the door and chip...goes the pretty and pretty expensive paint off the door edge and/or the fender...same for the hood at the rear to the cowling area...


- cs65

 

learn something new every day as i had never thought about the thickness of the paint and primer (although mine still has the "original" repaint still on it). as it is now i am ending up with aprox 1/8" opening between door and cab (varies some given it's a 63 and i don't think the doors fit all that perfect to start with). just need to set the new lower pillar a little better and should be good.

apologies if i'm highjaking the thread.

 

Thanks everyone for the great advice. I finally got the door to where i can live with it. I worked on it all week and finally got it this afternoon. I was having trouble with the rear lower corner not wanting to move up. I was putting on a new lower door skin so i trimmed a little off of the door case and moved the skin up a little. Now i just need to finish welding it up and the door is done then its on to the box.

 

post pics of where things are when you can...the hardest thing is getting all of the various planes in sync...and yes, these doors werent always the best fitting to begin with.


- cs65