[wingski]

I removed the back of the front seat in my ’29 cabriolet and ran a double strand of aircraft cable from where the top attaches on one side to the other. I put a tire bar between the strands and started twisting. I twisted that thing until there was a lot of pull drawing those two sides together and locked the tire bar in place under the wood cross brace behind where the top of the seat had been.

The top portion of my car did not pull together. How is this even possible? It has to be the convertible top frame that is holding the two sides apart, but I thought the top frame would bow enough to allow the door bottoms to line up with the body. They each still stick out about 3/4”, and it doesn’t seem possible that the top frame is so sturdy that it won’t allow me to pull it together. The only other thing that could be keeping the top of the body from pulling together is that wooden cross brace that goes from side to side under the shelf behind the seat, but it is at least a foot behind the back of the door.

I am drilling a 2’ hole about 3” deep in one end of a 4x4 so the top of my big screw jack will fit into it. Then, I am going to fit the head of that jack into the hole and put the whole shebang across the car at the base of the pillar that each door shuts against. I figure that I can spread the bottom of the body about 1” to 1 1/2”.

I’ll leave the cable adjusted snug at the top so there can be no spread at the top when I try to spread the bottom.

I can’t stand doors that don’t line up perfectly, but I don’t want to damage this car.

Does anyone have a better idea of how to do get those door bottoms aligned other than what I am doing?

Please don’t give me a bunch of crap about leaving them alone. Those doors are not right until they are lined up flush with the body. I will appreciate any suggestions as long as they don’t suggest getting another car.

Mike