Sprung Door? 1949
 

How good are the doors supposed to fit?
My pass. door fits real nice, the drivers door fits real nice everywhere except the lower rear. Almost seems like it was sprung. What can be done for a better fit?

are there any bulges near the hinge? That's the problem with mine. Looks like the door was forced open past it's intended stopping point.

no thats what i can't figure out. there are no distortions in the door at all, and the fit is great all around except for the lower back edge. it sticks out like a half inch back there. also there is a wide gap on the inside at the bottom of the door where it is supposed to seal. I realize that they weren't a great fit to begin with, but it seems excessive. and yes the door seals are in at the bottom, but they are probably shot. the gap is progressively worse at the back. thanks for the reply!

i know it sounds a bit brutal but have you tried a wooden block placed in the jamb and door and a few discreet whacks with a large rubber hammer, i prefer a deadshot personally. John

Look in the maintenance manual - It has the procedures for fixing this using a ballpien hammer - no you don't pound, it's used as a wedge - My dad showed my how back in the 50's

Without seeing it in person I would guess you need to "pull out" the top back corner of the door, which is fairly easy to do with a block. Like said above check the shop manual.

Paul

This may sound redundant but did you by any chance have the hinges off the door ? Both doors ?

I haven't had the hinges off the door yet. I don't have a maintenance manual so I guess getting one might be in order. i sort of tryed using a block of wood in the door jam and used another to push on the door, it will flex some but didn't overdo it because I was afraid of making a worse mess of it. aka buckle or kink. thanks guys!

Here's the procedure from the manual:

http://www.fatfenderedtrucks.com/scans/dooralign1.jpg

http://www.fatfenderedtrucks.com/scans/dooralign2.jpg

Hey Thanks Bob!
So in other words...CAREFULLY BEAT THE CRAP OUT OF IT! push in this place, pull in that place, LOL. quite the specialized procedure! I will read it two or three times before attempting, and then refresh myself maybe halfway through the process!;)

I used a cab from low mileage fire truck on my F-2. The doors didn't fit quite right, they rubbed on top at the back and there was a gap on the top at the front. I ended up jacking the door frames diagonally and they fit perfectly. I think it was a hit and miss from the factory whether the doors fit properly.

If you can find it, get a bottle of white shoe polish and paint the door frame surface - It will show where the surface is rubbing the cab surface - It can be reapplied where needed to check progress and it washes off easily

I got the idea
 

Its not rubbing against anything its just pulled straight away from the cab like a 1/2"
Good idea though!
I was in the garage and used a rubber mallet in the door jam as a block, then pushed and shoved some on the lower back corner of the door. it helped some but I will have to work with it more when the time comes. it flexs a little more than I expected it to.

Roll the window down when you are twisting on it....other wise you will break it. Ask me how I know....
Also make sure the cab corner isn't bent in or been repaired at some point.

DO THIS
 

I had the same troubles with my driver door . You just have to play with it some. Put something in the door at the top and push on it. then in the middle.I played with it until it fit right. If you leave it like that the seal won't do its job. AIR /SAND You get the pic.

thanks tinman52! yeah I had the window down and The cab corner was a thought I had but i have been under it, inside, both sides and it appears to be untouched.

You can alter/adjust the door hinges by placing a ballpien hammer between the hinge plates (HAMMERHEAD POINTING DOWN BALL POINTING UP) and shut the door - Take it easy the first time and watch which way the door moves - If you see it moving in the right direction pull it real good - Way take a few mixed in with the others - Do it enough and it will fit the other-side.

Door alignment
 

I had a similar problem with my driver door; sagging so rear /bottom did not seat in opening. Have you checked the gap between cab door jamb and door. Is it consistent- even all the way around ? I ended up "tweaking" the upper hinge using ....yes a hardwook block and good sized hammer, "massaging" the hinge with considerable force. The alignment is good now. The hinges will bend outwards over the years; especially if the door opened too wide.

Good luck.

Tom

Yeah the gap all around is consistent,its just that the lower back edge of the door isnt flush to the edge of the cab. it just sticks out from about the door handle down. hey thanks for jumpin in on the efi issue!

I know this is old but I have the exact issue with my drivers door. The door fits fine with good gaps but the lower door (latch side) sits about 1/2" away from the jamb. It is good at the door handle and starts pulling away at that point until it is about 1/2" out at the bottom. It looks identical to the picture in the first post. I was wondering if the original poster ever got his fixed. Has anyone else had this issue and fixed it?

Hi Cougar54, I know this is an old post....but did you ever fix this problem ?. I have exactly the same issue with my 50 F1. Would love to know if you fixed it and how please.

Suffolkman

I never got it as good as I wanted but I did improve it. I assumed, since no one else came up with a better idea, that the door got bent slightly over the years and needed to be bent back. I could only slightly tweak it because by the time I figured this out the doors and jambs were finish painted. Unfortunately, this should of been taken care of before painting because tweaking the door back requires considerable pressure and I was afraid I would crack the paint. The shop manual does talk about how to tweak the door to improve the fit but leaves quite a bit to your imagination.

First check the top front gap to cab ( where it will meet the weatherstrip not the gap to fender - cab edge ) if it is tight then as it comes out your bottom rear will go in . This will be either the top hinge needing to come out or the door is what a bodyman will call propellered . The first is simply move the top hinge out , the second will involve twisting the door with a block in the top front corner and push on the rear bottom . When doing this you will need a quite a bit of force but do not slam or hammer , push - check - repeat . I think one of the biggest mistakes made is worrying about door to fender alignment . The door needs to fit the cab properly ( visible and gap to wheatherstrip ) then make the fender fit the door . If possible always remove the door latch , get the door fitting then adjust the latch as to not pull the door out of alignment .

I used wood blocks to fix mine like in the manual. Worked perfectly. Now my new door rubber is much to thick and the doors won't close all the way. I am hoping that the rubber will flatten out some, but so far after two months they don't seem to be any better. At least the doors are perfectly aligned but I might have to use some aftermarket hollow (so that it will crush more) rubber to make them work and close all the way.

You say "Like in the Manual" do you mean the Ford shop manual ?. I do not have one at the moment. Hoping to get one when we visit Canada this summer.

Suffolkman

This manual right here

Well that looks interesting. Is that from the Shop Manual, or from some kind of Ford bulletin or Supplement ?,

That's the shop manual. Now you know why it should be done before finish paint in my opinion. They probably did this type of tweaking though at the plant after finish paint back in the day. Not me though . . .

I think you are right. Besides the paint issues, I cannot believe my door could be corrected to that extent (a good 1/2" at the botom of the door..It's almost as if the door is warped. I think I will have to live with it.

A 1/2" at the bottom could change pretty dramatically with a small amount of tweeking at the hinge. Similar to pivoting a 20" stick/board/piece of anything a 1/16" at one end - the other end will move much more than 1/16".

Just to be clear, when you say tweaking the bottom hinge, do you mean the rubber mallet between door and frame, or actually trying to adjust the hinge ?. Also I have been thinking if I want to get the bottom of the door in,then maybe I should try and bend the top of door out ?.

Suffolkman you are right, I thought you were talking more about the gap which is 2 plane up and down. Not sure the Ford shop manual process will help with what you have. Sounds like your door is warped probably due to a past wreck with either a warped door or a cab problem. Good luck with it.

Every F1 I've come across has this problem, the pass. door shuts tight while the driver door hangs out an eighth to a quarter inch. I think it has to do with all the flex in the stock frames, you just don't realize how much the frame twists up on the right side especially with a more powerful engine. Look at the margins where the lower fenders meet the rails just behind the bumpers, most of the f1s' I've looked at have different gaps from one side to the other, all this due to frame flex. This in my humble opinion of course.

My observations are the same. I just get it as close as possible and then leave it.