1966 Door Adjustment Question
 

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I think I have my doors where they need to be. However, the question that I have is concerning the hinge bolts inside the door. Because I was having so much trouble with the drivers side door adjustment I decided to look inside the inspection plate where the hinge connects to the door (top and bottom). I took off the inspection plates and oiled the bolts inside but I was afraid to try any adjustment with these bolts.
So my question is : Do any of you use these bolts to adjust the doors?

thanks
rsh1966

Yes, that is where you adjust them, up and down, forward and back. Take one of those bolts out and you will see how it works. I'll assume you are working alone so if you can close and latch the door. With the window down. Reach inside and loosen the bolts then use a padded flat bar to move it where it needs to be. Then reach through and snug them up and try the fit. May take several tries to get it where it needs to be. Good Luck.

Crop Duster
Thanks for your reply. The driver side is shemed with 1/4" Shems @ the hinge bolts to the cab. It does not look that good so I will try to use the adjustments from inside the door. I could not see if the bolts inside the door had slots, but I am guessing that they do.
thank again for your reply.

rsh1966, Jackson tn.

Bringing this sorta old post back up to hopefully get more clarity on the above. My passenger door rubs against the cab when closing AND squeaks like mad while driving so an adjustment is in order.

If I'm following the above i do the following:

-Take off hinge cover
-With window down close the door
-Loosen the bolts
-Get door where i need to with "padded flat bar" (What is this??)
-Tighten bolts
-Test and repeat as needed

Tips:
your squeak is probably due to metal-metal contact where the door is too close to the cab.
First take off the door striker receiver and make that adjustment and install after the door is fit. It will make the job easier.
The bolts in the pillar adjust the door in and out at the front, top and rear.
The bolts in the door panel allow adjustment forward, rearward, up and down.
You can try loosening the bolts with the door closed, and have a second helper try to center the door from the outside with wood wedges, or whatever...but that may be more difficult than the trial and error method.
When you loosen the bolts, the door is likely to be stuck in its current position. You will loosen them more until the door will suddenly move far out of position. Don’t worry, after you get some movement, you will figure out how much you need to loosen the bolts to nudge the door back into the position you want. Usually you can keep 2 or 3 bolts loose and use the other 2 or 3 to keep the door positioned as you close it and check it. May take some time and patience. Use some leverage, knees, elbows and thighs to coerce the movements in position that you need until you’re happy with the door position.
Tighten it all up and check again.
Reinstall the striker. If there were striker shims, reinstall them so that the star gear on the latch, clears the striker. The door should latch without slamming it, and the striker should neither lift, nor depress the door as it closes.

Resonateur, great instructions young man.
3 AM. :eek: me too.
I'll add something if I may. The wood shims do work pretty good. Stop by your local hardware store and pick up a bundle/pack of wood shims that carpenters use to hang new doors and windows in a house. Plastic ones might work but they cost a lot more but probably won't scratch the paint.

First test you need to do is open the door half way, grab it by the bottom and lift up real hard. If it moves at all you need new hinge pins.

Ok will check. The door does drop maybe 1/8" once it unlatches from the striker. Is this a sign of worn pins/bushings or poor striker alignment?

For information purposes?> Door adjustment has been addressed by members but thought I would post info from the 1965 Shop Manual Sec. 17 Pg. 19. Torque value may be of interest??


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SixtyFour...you won’t know the answer to your question until you remove the striker from the equation. Center the door without it, then reinstall it so that it doesn’t lift the door. Its not meant to serve as a solution to a sagging door.
MR....its only 5 pm in New Zealand, and a day ahead.

Honestly probably best to redo the body mounts before getting into this. Welp...one step at a time.

After reading this thread I was able to get my passenger side door opening awesome. My kids were unable to open it before, but it opens great now. Thanks for the info guys.

I've got to do some adjusting on my passenger side as well - so thank you all for this info. I've also found that removing one of the bolts of the three lets you visualize how the door has moved as the bolt hole will move within it's 'pane' through the door adjuster.

I guess i just need to fiddle around with the door - for some reason adjusting body panels seems a bit overwhelming...

I need to do the same, the radiator and cab mounts are relatively new, now finding a flat area to make the adjustments may be a challenge.