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29FordGuy · 07-07-2010, 10:50 AM

I am finally at the point of aligning the doors and attaching the body to the frame before I do the final painting. Yes, I have consulted Marco's write-up on doing this job and found it very useful. It is very clear how the different anchor bolds rotate the parallelogram to attain door allignment. As I remember I actually had fair alignment before I unbolted the body from the frame and did all the restoration work (that was 2 years ago). I have now started to align everything and attach the body to the frame, but now I don't know what is happening and am even to the point of frustration.

And that, combined with my aching bones from getting up and down constantly has worn me out! Time to take a long coffee break (or something else) and ponder the situation. Maybe a light bulb will come on with a bit of pondering.....

Yes, quite likely I have a slightly sagging frame, but rough checks when I was doing the restoration showed less than 1/4-inch sag, but it was not a real precise measurement. I had no way of straightening the frame so was hopeful it was ok. The doors aligned fine before and even after I unbolted the body from the frame. I reattached the doors and the front was a bit high but closed and the rear was about an inch low. So I shimmed the front bolt on the cowl with up to 3 rubber washers and put one rubber shim under the pair of carriage bolts only to find the front door went up. I have been adding shims here and there and taking others away, but nothing seems to change much or else I amd getting totally confused. I am taking a two day break before I tackle this again!

My plan of attack now is to remove all the shims and let the body rest on the frame. I will then check the door alignment and the space between the wood body sill and the top of the frame. I will document everything in writting before so I don't loose track of where I am and what I need to do next. Then I will shim according to Marco's procedure and hope for the best.

I was just wondering if anyone else had such problems in alignment or is it just me! Suggestions and past experiences would be appreciated.

07-07-2010, 10:50 AM	#1
29FordGuy Member Join Date: May 2010 Location: Brookings, OR Posts: 62	Town Sedan body and door alignment I am finally at the point of aligning the doors and attaching the body to the frame before I do the final painting. Yes, I have consulted Marco's write-up on doing this job and found it very useful. It is very clear how the different anchor bolds rotate the parallelogram to attain door allignment. As I remember I actually had fair alignment before I unbolted the body from the frame and did all the restoration work (that was 2 years ago). I have now started to align everything and attach the body to the frame, but now I don't know what is happening and am even to the point of frustration. And that, combined with my aching bones from getting up and down constantly has worn me out! Time to take a long coffee break (or something else) and ponder the situation. Maybe a light bulb will come on with a bit of pondering..... Yes, quite likely I have a slightly sagging frame, but rough checks when I was doing the restoration showed less than 1/4-inch sag, but it was not a real precise measurement. I had no way of straightening the frame so was hopeful it was ok. The doors aligned fine before and even after I unbolted the body from the frame. I reattached the doors and the front was a bit high but closed and the rear was about an inch low. So I shimmed the front bolt on the cowl with up to 3 rubber washers and put one rubber shim under the pair of carriage bolts only to find the front door went up. I have been adding shims here and there and taking others away, but nothing seems to change much or else I amd getting totally confused. I am taking a two day break before I tackle this again! My plan of attack now is to remove all the shims and let the body rest on the frame. I will then check the door alignment and the space between the wood body sill and the top of the frame. I will document everything in writting before so I don't loose track of where I am and what I need to do next. Then I will shim according to Marco's procedure and hope for the best. I was just wondering if anyone else had such problems in alignment or is it just me! Suggestions and past experiences would be appreciated.