I spent some time ajusting the top hinge on the drivers door on my 47, as the gap between the door and B pillar got way too tight towards the top, and the gap at the A pillar too big. Well, I have it a lot better for now, but heres the next issue. Where the door trailing edge meets the leading edge of the rear quarter/B pillar, the sheetmetal curves in a little bit. When a straightedge is put along the gap, there is a low spot all the way down between the door and quarter pannel. I know that this is just how these cars came from the factory, but I want this car to be as straight as possible. I have seen Boyd's crew on American Hot Rod (please lets not start any Boyd drama) lead the while verticle edge of the door and quarter, and file the gap area untill its stright, but I have never worked with lead, and I dont plan on learning on this car. I also dont want to just bondo up the area, as especialy on the door, I know it will eventualy crack. I have thaught of using a harder filler like All Metal or Lab Metal to fix this area, but Im still concerned about failure of the fix in the future. Any suggestions? You can see the areas in question, in the darker (dry guide coated) areas of the quarter pannel, where the sanding block didnt knock down the Slick-N-Sand.
If your handy with a TIG,you could use silica bronze rod and weld up the door edge.In theory you could MIG weld the door edge and grind the weld to get the gap your wanting.The MIG is a lot harder weld,therefore will be harder to grind down.
Filling the gap is not the correct way to solve your problem and should only be used as a last resort. I hate to say realign the door but "Realign the Door". First put the wheels on the car and set it on a level surface with the weight of the car on the suspension. Next remove the striker plate from the lock pillar. Do a quick check of the measurements from the c/l of the body to the top of the leading edge of the quarter at the belt line and at the striker. Compare lt to rt you should be within 3/16". Now check the length from the upper frt quarter edge to the rear edge of the front drip rail at the front belt line of the door ,again shoot for 3/16". One last check at the lower and upper door hinges. If everything is within the tolerance ,Then your ready to align the door. Once the door is properly fitted then reinstall the striker paying close attention to see if its placement doesn't pull the door up or down due to improper striker adjustment. Are you aware of any prior body damage to this area of the car ? Improper repair or missed and uncorrected damage could also be a cause of your troubles. Hope this helps .
Is it still a door gap problem or is the door sitting proud of the quarter panel? How far into the quarter panel is the misalignment. You may need to cut along the leading edge of the quarter put in a small filler piece to bring it out to the same plane as the door panel and then weld it back together.
Thanks for the info on alignment, but I dont think you read my post in full. I have the gaps pretty good, and a little more time adjusting the top hinge will get them near perfect. My problem is not the gaps, but exists around the gaps. That is exactly the issue. With a straightedge across the 2 pannels, Id say st some point the issue is about 1/8" -3/16" deep from the straightedge to the edge of the door or quarter. So I think that cutting the edge, and straightening it makes good sence. Now once I have the straightened, would a slide hammer with one of those "L" shaped attachments work to bring the edge of the door flush?
you didnt say how the front lines up--your solution mat be a small block of wood---if something is bent outta alignment it has to be bent back in
Again, this is NOT a door gap issue. On each pannel, the edge tapers in just a small amount,and there is a valley created (right around the gap, but the gap spacing itself is fine). Every 41-48 ford was buit like this from the factory. I have seen this problem fixed on a few cars. With glossy paint, when this isnt fixed, the body is never 100% straight. Being a business coupe makes it even worse, as the gap is braight right to the center of the car, and make the small dip more obvious when the light hits it. A lot of cars have the same issue, I remember seeing a 57 chevy build on American Hot Rod where they leaded the whole vertical length around the gaps, and filed it flush with the pannels to remove the dip in at the pannel edges. They did it on a 32 as well, and there were pics of a 49-51 merc here on the HAMB recently with leaded pannel edges. If you want your paint very straight, this has to be fixed. You can see the problem on the door edges of the Lopez ford below. You will see that the reflections distort inward at the gap.
The door might be tougher. You wouldn't want to pull it too much as it might leave a valley behind the leading edge but at least there filler would be less likely to crack or chip like it would on an edge. Does it do it all along the edge or just in some places?
It does it all along to some degree, but just like the pics above on the Lopez 41, it is most extreme about 2/3 up the door. The circled area in the picture shows the low spots. They are in the door too, but its hard to see in just the black epoxy sealer. I thaught about the valley that pulling the edge out would create, but Im not really concerned about a little Duraglass in there, it wont ever fail, but building up the edge without moving any metal, is bound to fail. This is not a perfecty metal finished car, it does have filler to straighten low spots, but anywhere I do use filler, I want it to be secure.
Hey, I'm a little bit stupid, so I'll ask rather than tell- "If" the gap you're talkin' is at the edge of the door shell/skin, you should be able to bump it out to match the shape of the B-Post with a BFH and a block of wood. If you've found that the area that's the problem is pretty much in the leading edge of the shut line of the B-Post than perhaps you can get behind that area with a spoon and bump it out to match the door shell, or split the difference and blend the two. Since the use of lead isn't an option, you could build up the area with a bead from a squirt-gun welder, grind to a close fit, and finish the edge to a just ''tits'' fit with a single cut file, little or no plastic filler required. Swankey Devils C.C.
The only thing I would be worried about is if you could move the edge as much as you need. 3/16 of an inch is alot of movement for a door edge just pulling it. It might be alot of work but you might try the same approach for the door as you use on the quarter. Cut it right where the lip on the door frame is at 90 degrees and pull it out and fill the resulting gap. Just a thought.
I think that the door has less issues than the quarter does. The door may have to come out 1/16th to 1/8" is some areas, but I'll know more once I start blocking it out.
I've had trouble with panels like that, as well. Most cars form the 40's and 50's had poor gap, and poor panel "plane" as well. "IF" I understand your problem, I would take a cut-off wheel, with the thinest blade you can get, and cut a line in the door jamb, about an eight inch inside the jam, the length of the problem area. use s screwdriver, wedge or chisel to spread the gap of the line until the quarter is on the same plane of the door. Then lock it in with a MIG weld, and continue down the line doing the same. Usually, it's such a slight amount, the metal moves out enough to do the fix, the heat of the weld actually relaxes the metal a bit so it can go into the slightly different shape. Much more professional way to fix this than just leading in a layer to make the planes match. Besides, Lead is pretty soft, and dents easily, even if it won't crack like Bondo.
The Jalopy Journal
