A friend lent me a bunch of her late husband's books; he was an aircraft mechanic who went on to be a corporate jet pilot. Most of the books are aircraft related but this little handbook caught my eye. Copyrighted in 1952 it has the answers to most all of the questions asked here by people new the the mysteries of old-school automobile tech. I've never seen or heard of this door straightening tool - I doubt it would work on a modern unibody car... Another thing that was referenced under the section on automatic transmissions was that a car equipped with a 'HYDRA-MATIC' would be started by putting the transmission selector lever in neutral then pulling the lever towards you to engage the starter. I know some of the early-mid '50's cars had unique starting procedures but I don't remember that one.
We toured the GM plant in Atlanta in the early 80's and I was amazed that where they were installing the doors a guy was using a piece of 2 x 4 and a rubber mallet aligning the doors. HRP
Those are the kind of adjustments made when the customer is not around. I too am a 2x4, knee, shoulder etc. kind of guy.
Nice find Dave. They have been muscling hoods, doors, deck lids, etc. into alignment as long as I can remember. I still have this crude tool built by my Dad, when he needed one, for twisting/straightening frames. I have used it with the long spud a few times. Primitive but puts the power where its needed.
The Jalopy Journal
