29 Tudor door alignment...Not good

[Steve Plucker]

Before I took the body of of my 1929 Tudor, the door moulding ligned up real good with the quarter panel moulding, both right and left.

Now that I have put the body back on the chassis, using all the original body pads, the doors now droop down about 1/8 inch.

What must I do to reposition the doors (raise them) so as to get the door and quarter panel mouldings to line up?

In other words, at what point on the chassis would raise the doors to the correct level?


Thanks.

Pluck

[Maclab58]

You need to add shims. Either metal body shop shims or you can add thin wood strips until the doors line up. I went through the same problem with my 28 sport coupe last year. It took more shims than I anticipated but it worked out well.

Jim

[Dennis Pereira]

I had to bend / straighten the hinges a little on my coupe the doors fit good now .

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Dennis Pereira

I had to bend / straighten the hinges a little on my coupe the doors fit good now .

The Tudor has heavy hinges. How did you bend them?

[Dennis Pereira]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

The Tudor has heavy hinges. How did you bend them?

Same as on a coupe I bent the hinges on the door with heat and a pipe wrench with a cheater . They were also bent out so there was a big gap and would spring back when closed .

[Ford1931]

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Did you replace any wood? I have used a porta power accross the top door opening to stress the brackets in the replaced wood with good results.

[Steve Plucker]

Originally Posted by Ford1931

Did you replace any wood? I have used a porta power accross the top door opening to stress the brackets in the replaced wood with good results.

No.

Pluck

[Tom Wesenberg]

Originally Posted by Dennis Pereira

Same as on a coupe I bent the hinges on the door with heat and a pipe wrench with a cheater . They were also bent out so there was a big gap and would spring back when closed .

My right door on my 29 Tudor must have a bent hinge because the door starts to flex when the door is about 2" from being closed. I haven't tried to fix it yet, but I know I can't bend the hinge by using a socket and closing down on it, as I've done on modern cars.

[Mitch//pa]

an 1/8th in is not much... once you have your dovetails and door bumpers installed it will be fine......i wouldnt bend, heat or shim anything

[Purdy Swoft]

To raise the door at the rear to align the body molding, either remove a shim at the very front bolt where the cowl bolts to the frame or add a shim under the area heer the hinge post or coupe pillar where the cowl bolts to the frame. What probably caused the problem is when you reinstalled the body, the bolt at the rear of the cowl got tightened more squeezing down the rubber shim-pad more or the front cowl bolt wasn't tightened as much.

[Steve Plucker]

Originally Posted by Mitch//pa

an 1/8th in is not much... once you have your dovetails and door bumpers installed it will be fine......i wouldnt bend, heat or shim anything

That you can count on Mitch.

Did not remove the door bumpers OR the dovetails...they staid on the body as is.

Pluck

[Steve Plucker]

Originally Posted by Purdy Swoft

To raise the door at the rear to align the body molding, either remove a shim at the very front bolt where the cowl bolts to the frame (No shims in this area except for the original, long cowl pads, right and left) or add a shim under the area where the hinge post or coupe pillar where the cowl bolts to the frame. What probably caused the problem is when you reinstalled the body, the bolt at the rear of the cowl got tightened more squeezing down the rubber shim-pad more or the front cowl bolt wasn't tightened as much.

Thanks Purdy, will sure give it a try.

Pluck

[Purdy Swoft]

Originally Posted by Tom Wesenberg

My right door on my 29 Tudor must have a bent hinge because the door starts to flex when the door is about 2" from being closed. I haven't tried to fix it yet, but I know I can't bend the hinge by using a socket and closing down on it, as I've done on modern cars.

Tom, 28-29 hinges are stronger than 30-31 and harder to work with. Sometimes you can loosen the two bolts where the lower hinge dolts through the side of the cowl or coupe pillar and raise the rear of the door by lifting up under the rear bottom of the door to relieve the strain at the hinge while the hinge is tightened. Hinges can be sprung to relieve the strain . I have used a small block of wood, maybe a short piece of 2x2 in the door jam in the lower hinge area. Gently push the door closed at the rear lower area with the wood in the door jamb. Do this gently and test as you go. This process springs or bends the lower hinge to remove the strain. You need to proceed slowly and test as you go because if you go too far it will spring the hinge too far. In some cases springing a hinge is needed. Other times a simple shimming as mentioned in my previous post will give the same effect.

[700rpm]

Purdy's got the right answer... As usual.

[Charles Coe]

Marco has an article on his site about body shims for door alignment. The example is a Fordor but the principle is the same: http://abarnyard.com/workshop/door-1.htm

[Steve Plucker]

Originally Posted by Charles Coe

Marco has an article on his site about body shims for door alignment. The example is a Fordor but the principle is the same: http://abarnyard.com/workshop/door-1.htm

Thanks Charles...It is all making sence now!

Pluck