Guys I have a 54 belair (pic enclosed) it sits on a zee frame. Front discs, the whole 9.. it's boxed and ladder bar set up in rear.. I got the car as this. Built 502 BBC and geared.. I've checked the frame and it seems straight and doesn't look twisted. Body mounts are new. Bushings are new I rebuilt the hinges and done everything I can do.. Initially I figured the body twisted. And it could have. My question is Does anyone know what I can do to make my doors sit right?.. They sit about 1/2 out on top of one door and bottom of the other.. twisted obviously.. anyone know a trick to untwist a body? Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Does the body actually look twisted? Can you run a spirit level across the front and rear fenders, screen frame, or across anything that is fixed and integral to the body? It might be easier to modify the doors, if the body is sitting flat and square to your frame. I once had a Nova that was twisted visibly on the front end, you could see it plain as day if you hunkered down in front of the car, but the body/door seams and all were dead parallel and square. I assumed someone had wrecked it some day and just fitted and filled the panels to suit, without squaring the front of the frame up.
maybe doors twisted - open & close easily? - it is an art to re-align a door - at times involves sections of wood to help apply pressure to opposite side, etc - sometimes involves slicing & dicing the edges of door & jamb - when you get close be sure to install new correct door seals, can make a big difference to final result
Try adjusting the doors first. Move hinges towards or away from the center of the car as needed. When loosening the hinges to adjust, don't forget that there are bolts down inside the bucket of the hinge that are easily missed.
show some photos. i bet it isn't twisted the doors and maybe the nose just needs to be aligned correctly. you may need to shim the doors or bend them to fit.
You wont twist the body from engine torque unless it hooks reasonably hard. That aint happening on bias ply WWW's. See Teds post above. Or maybe you got the frame all out of whack when you Zeed it?
From experience....if the doors align at the "A" pillar and are out at the top of the "B" pillar, try moving the lower hinge out a tad. .......out at the lower rear, the top hinge out a tad. If that doesn't work, a short 2x4 held into the opening near the latch and force the door frame top in, or the bottom in. Put a twist in the door as such.
before twisting anything, ALL the alignment issues need to be studied. fixing one spot by twisting or bending may make fixing the next panel down the line impossible. as mentioned b pulling the bottom of the front of the door out m,ay solve the problem without bending the door. i have seen cars that the nose was aligned to the door but the door wasn't aligned to the rocker/quarter. please post photos of all the gaps.
Has the entire floor been replaced? Moving the B pillar in or out at the bottom will make alignment a problem.
If you look in an early 50's Ford workshop manual. alignment of doors, particularly the tops, show the alignment can be done by using a block of wood, rubber mallet and human force to get it right. do all the nut and bolt adjustment and using shims etc first, but you may need to be a little heavier handed.
Yes. Suspension inputs just from sitting on uneven ground can be an order of magnitude greater than engine torque, even when multiplied by first gear. Cars generally don't get permanently twisted from being parked with one wheel on a brick.
It's amazing what else is corrected when you fix the obvious. Check and re place the pins and bushings in the hinges first, then set them up straight by setting the gaps on the back, bottom and top first. It's easiest if you take out the striker so the door just closes in the opening and your not fighting that too. Then take all but one bolt out of each hinge (one on jam side and one on door panel side) & only snug down the ones holding it together ( you're going to loosen and tighten these a crap load of times). Mark the hinges so you can back to original if it all goes to hell. Focus on the top, bottom and back and the fender side will just happen. Set the depth with the striker/latch reinstall/ adjust. Don't be surprised if each door takes 1.5-2 hrs of tinkering to get it nuts. After yours doors are straight, the front clip will need adjusted to match. Always align from the back forward because the 1/4 panels are welded and everything else is adjustable. *Remember the paint is always the thinnest on the edges! Post some pics when you're done! "Just because you can put tap shoes on an elephant doesn't mean it can dance!"
Can you get a chassis and body dimensions book?. It would take all the guess work out of this. Can you check the datum height?
Take the front seat out. Diagonal measure the across b pillars. Diagonal measure across cowl a pillars Diagonal measure door openings and compare left to right. Diagonal measure (cowl to b) top to bottom . Like the doors but thru the center of the car across Trans hump.
I snapped a photo of the bolts that I referred to on my other post that are easy to miss when adjusting these doors. Even a bit tough to see in the photo, but I think you get the idea. There are bolts hiding back there on all 4 hinges. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
Not really sure, but shouldn't it have a drip rail. Might just be shit body work when they removed the drip rail. At least part of the problem. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
I wish I had some good advice on this. All I can say is, get help from someone who has done this before. I think it's a two man job anyway. I've had terrible luck jacking around with this stuff by myself. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
What happened to the OP? Hope he didn't go twisting things too soon. Sent from my iPhone using The H.A.M.B. mobile app
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