permanent fix for doors

[wingski]

I am seriously thinking about installing two rods with a turnbuckle in the middle attached to the sides of my cabriolet where the original turnbuckles are. This addition would go across the car and allow me to adjust that body so those doors would be flush from the tops to the bottoms. I think it would make the car look so much better and would really be imposible to see. The idea of having horizontal strength added to the back part of that open body seems like good idea, but am I missing something that would make this a mistake?

This car is not going to be a show car so I don't have to worry about points. I just want it to look the way I think it should.

Mike

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

The gaps allow for "flow through" ventilation--LOL
SA Bill W.

[Jwilli]

Where are turnbuckles on a Cabriolet? I have 1930 and I haven't seen any.

[figment]

There is one on each 1/4 panel going from the door pillar to the heavy wood sill . They are hidden behind the side upholstery panels

[pooch]

Added turnbuckles which usually go from lower rear corner to front upper corner, only work if the door is hanging out at the bottom.

If it is hanging out at the top, a turnbuckle makes it worse.

[Jwilli]

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My passenger door has a gap of about 1/2 inch at the bottom. Is the quarter panel adjustable to reduce this gap?

[wingski]

Originally Posted by Jwilli

Where are turnbuckles on a Cabriolet? I have 1930 and I haven't seen any.

On my ’29, they attach to a plate behind each door piilar and go diagonally down to just in front ot the rear wheel well. They are coverd by the side panels in the rumble seat and allow you to adjust the gap between the doors and where the latches are on the pillar posts.

If you try to remove the side panels to see the turnbuckes beware of the sharp corners on each side of the back of the fixed seat support. Those edges can scrap against the panels. I used duct tape covered by black Gorilla tape to cover those sharp corners.

Mike

[wingski]

Originally Posted by Jwilli

My passenger door has a gap of about 1/2 inch at the bottom. Is the quarter panel adjustable to reduce this gap?

Not really. If the driver’s side is lined up, the only way to pull that bottom of the passenger’s door is to run a double strand of wire from the top front of that door to the bottom rear corner. Then take a screwdriver and twist that wire so it shortens. You can tighten that wire until the door lines up and put something flat in that loop so the wire doesn’t twist back out. Your door panel covers all this and none will be the wiser as long as you use something flat to hold the wire in place.

Good luck,

Mike

[old31]

Does anyone have a pic of this being done?

[jhowes]

Ditto on "OLD 31" we need a picture

[Marshall V. Daut]

Darn it! I took progress photos 18 years ago of my friend's 1929 Cabriolet that I completely re-wooded. I especially focused on the wooden floor structure and pillar pieces with their factory-installed turnbuckles. Because the doors stuck out at the outer bottom corners, I put in turnbuckles from the outer corner up to the inner corner. In tandem with the factory quarter panel turnbuckles, I was able to get a very nice door fit against the body using these door turnbuckles.
But - I compiled a photo album of the restoration and gave it to the owner. He is now in the hospital, so getting me the album is probably a fairly low priority for him. I'm sure there were photos of the way I adapted the door turnbuckles, which are hidden behind the door upholstery panels = no harm, no foul. "Invisible". I have boxes and boxes of photos I took of antique car restorations I performed over the years. As time allows, I'll go through them to see if I can find any duplicates of those structural re-wooding photos that might be of some help to "Wingski".
Marshall

[figment]

On my Cabriolet the door has a metal strap about 1/2 or 3/4 inch wide that runs from the upper front to the lower rear that can be adjusted to pull the lower door in to close the gap. You have to push the lower door in and fasten the metal strap at the same time to hold the door in place . These straps are hidden behind the upholstery and I believe they are original to the door . I hope this all makes sense . Norm

[Kevin in NJ]

The turnbuckles on the cabriolet are structural and used to keep the body from beating itself to death. They are NOT for adjusting the position of anything!!!

The body should be considered a mechanical device. With the top up the top hinge point is a structural member that connects the top to the header. As the body flexes a lot of force is put on that hinge point. With no structure you would have to worry about the top of the door being smashed by the pillar as the cowl pulls the pillar forward.

The width at the top and bottom of the doors is controlled by the braces that run from the sill to the upper panel. Shim the base of the that structure to change the width at the top of the doors.

For those the know me I have built a cabriolet body from not much. I had the door not fitting in and out problem. The basic outline of the door opening is something set when you built the body. The factory had fancy jigs as you can see the 68C factory photos. The turnbuckles I found did nothing for changing the in/out of the door, or even the opening. As I work on the body more and experimented with the top I found that the top was structural.
The two braces for the upper panel had to be made up on mine. Between the not so good wood sill and the very rusty originals I made up my own from the repro stuff out there. I found I had to change the height to get the doors to not stick out at the bottom. Makes sense as when you push up the belt area you are going to pull the tops of the door posts closer together.

Hope that helps.

[Jwilli]

Thanks for all the info. Pictures would be great.

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Can you "tune" those wires to a HIGH "C" @ 2200 RPM
Bill Musical

[figment]

The Cabriolet club has a series of news letters that have a step by step on how to assemble the cabrioletbody and door wood , line up the sheet metal , adjust the hood , doors and much more . They were put together by Larry Macheck who did a great job with everything that you will need . I am quite sure that the club still has them for sale . Norm

[Jwilli]

Bill I love your comments. Keep them coming.

[Tinbasher]

The idea of straps or cables and turnbuckles are a old "Coachbuilders" trick. They usually go from the front top corner of the door down to the lower rear corner. A #10 wood screw in the wooden door frame with a body washer on the head works well. Then you can loop a cable around this and clamp it, do this top and bottom and put a turnbuckle in the middle. Then you can adjust the corner into place. Now if the corner is in then you can use a metal strap to go across these two points attach the top and then pull the lower corner out to where you need it to get the alignment and then put two screws in to hold it. This is the joy with wood structure bodies. It takes a lot of tricks to get them to fit and align. I remember spending a week of fitting on a 32 Chev. Cabriolet to get everything to line up. I would change one body shim and the complete body would move. Yes a test of patience!! The Old Tinbasher"

[BILL WILLIAMSON]

Originally Posted by Tinbasher

The idea of straps or cables and turnbuckles are a old "Coachbuilders" trick. They usually go from the front top corner of the door down to the lower rear corner. A #10 wood screw in the wooden door frame with a body washer on the head works well. Then you can loop a cable around this and clamp it, do this top and bottom and put a turnbuckle in the middle. Then you can adjust the corner into place. Now if the corner is in then you can use a metal strap to go across these two points attach the top and then pull the lower corner out to where you need it to get the alignment and then put two screws in to hold it. This is the joy with wood structure bodies. It takes a lot of tricks to get them to fit and align. I remember spending a week of fitting on a 32 Chev. Cabriolet to get everything to line up. I would change one body shim and the complete body would move. Yes a test of patience!! The Old Tinbasher"

OOOOOLD Chevys should use a TREE, for a Radumator Ornament