Nit-picking on door alignment

[BTF/PTM]

So I've got the passenger-side door striker working much better than before I started messing with it, the door shuts solidly and looks like it's pushing into the weather stripping pretty well. But, as several others have posted before, the door (actually both of them are like this) is sticking out just a tad at the rear. The front looks to be aligned flush and the whole door seems to be off evenly so I don't think anything is twisted or bent, and the hinges operate without any indication of twist or damage.

Now here's an observation that I thought I'd bounce off the group - it seems like, as I'm closing the door from the inside (with the panel off so I can see things) it looks ever so subtly as if the door is too far forward and maybe the front seals are being squished too hard and it's making the rear of the door do what it does. I don't want to mess with panel alignment without some help since I can foresee lots of disastrous things happening with just one pair of hands trying to align something as precarious as a door.

Am I being overly picky? Can the doors be aligned perfectly? Would it be worth having a body expert do it? Thanks, guys.

http://s132.photobucket.com/albums/q27/AwwsChwA/drum%20stuff/door%20alignment/

[gnosez]

From your pics it look like you are. This is a 35+yr old car put together by hand and made before laser alignment, robot welders, etc.

Did you just install new door weatherstripping?

If you feel you must then mark the current location of your door and move it back 1/8 or so and see how that is.

[BTF/PTM]

The weather stripping around the doors and quarter windows was replaced when the car was painted by the previous owner. I'm finding a lot of little quirks related to the reassembly after paint which tells me the owner did the reassembly himself rather than having the body shop do it.

The misalignment really is very minor and I'm notorious for over thinking things. Both doors have the same slight outcrop at the rear, and they're both pretty much perfect at the front. I may tinker with it later after more of the big issues are taken care of, but it sounds like I should let it be. Thanks

Edited March 22, 2010 by BTF/PTM

[EScanlon]

Moving the door further back (towards the rear) will not alleviate the problem you're showing.

Part of what is causing the problem is that the distance from the hinge exacerbates the tiny amount of alignment you need to make.

The adjustment out at the front need only be a small amount to provide for a larger correction at the rear.

At the front of the door, you can either add a shim behind each of the hinge mounts at the pillar, or adjust the door outward just a tiny bit,

If the door's alignment in the opening front and rear is good, and only the protrusion at the back of the door is at issue, then adjust the hinge bolts on the door and push the forward edge out just a tad. If however, the compression at the front of the weatherstrip is still excessive, you need a shim at the pillar side of the hinge.

FWIW

E

[BTF/PTM]

^ thanks! I understand what you mean about either working the front of the door outward or shimming the unibody side of the hinges. Is that shim something that's purchasable, or will it be a fabricated piece? In any case it will wait until more pressing issues are dealt with, but it's good to know it's tunable.

[AZ-240z]

Sounds to me like the most obvious adjustment should still take place at the door striker. You say that the doors closes solidly, but, are they hard to close, or do you feel like there is still room to move the strikers inboard a little? The strikers have quite a bit of latitude to move inboard which may help considerably in aligning the aft edges of the door panels with the quarter panels. If the weatherstrip is too compressed making to doors hard to close and latch, I found that a good application of something like armorall to the spongy weatherstrip eases that compression considerably allowing greater compression of the weatherstrip for easier door closure.

Just some things that have worked for me.

Dan

[gnosez]

Wipe some silicone on the weatherstripping and then close the door (with car in the sun) will shrink the rubber a bit and might help.

[Zedyone_kenobi]

gnose, when you say silicone, do you mean like a spray lubricant?

My doors are hard to close, and I really do not think it is the striker anymore.