Door adjustment

[soundcontrol]

Trying to get my driver side door correct since I'm welding new AMD quarter skins on the car soon. I still have a part of the old quarters left on the B-pillar to adjust to. The gap to the quarter seems fine, also door height is fine. My problem is the bottom door gap, door needs to come in at the bottom to close the gap to the rocker and so the door edge is more flush with the rocker. The only adjustment I can think of for that, is the lower hinge bolts on the door edge, but it seems that the lower hinge is as far as it goes. Door is fully loaded and no play in the hinges. I thought of extending the holes in the hinge to move the hinge more, but I'll ask here first. Any tips would be great.

[RJChallenger]

I just spent time this afternoon trying to adjust my passenger door, as the lower edge stuck out to far. I loosened the lower hinge bolts thinking I could push the lower edge in to line up better. I had to loosen the lower bolt n the upper hinge first, the the lower edge just pushed  in place

[soundcontrol]

I just spent time this afternoon trying to adjust my passenger door, as the lower edge stuck out to far. I loosened the lower hinge bolts thinking I could push the lower edge in to line up better. I had to loosen the lower bolt n the upper hinge first, the the lower edge just pushed  in place

Will try that, I did have both upper bolts tightened. Now thinking about it, that might be a reason it dosen't work...
Thanks!

[Cuda Cody]

Can you post a photo of the issue?  I have a few ideas, but need to see it.

[soundcontrol]

Can you post a photo of the issue?  I have a few ideas, but need to see it.

Yep, will take a few tonight!

[tparker]

The doors should be able to be adjusted correctly without modification. If it seems at the limit of the adjustment, I would start to see what else might be out of whack. I just put my doors and fenders on last night and there is lots of play. If the door needs to come closer to the fender but it can't go any further, it's possible the fender has been moved. Maybe adjusting the fender can help close the gap. But then the hood may have to be adjusted, and so on.

Unfortunately I removed all the panels so I gotta play with them all to get them back in alignment. Which means adjusting the doors, adjusting the fenders, then moving the hood. Then going back and tweaking again, and maybe again. LOL.

[soundcontrol]

Here is pictures of the issue, I just need the lower edge to come in a bit. @tparker , the fender is not even there, just trying to adjust to the rocker. Door was fine when I took it off, so it's gotta be something I'm doing wrong. I did not try any more since yesterday, just took pictures today. Gonna try to loosen the upper lower bolt next and try again.

I assume the lower gap towards the rocker is gonna be a little larger then the other gaps, I have seen that on many e-bodies.

[anlauto]

I think loosening the upper bolt will get you where you want to be 

[tparker]

for some reason I was thinking of something else. I thought you meant it needed to move forward towards . the front of the car or wasn't aligning with the fender.

I'd try what anlauto suggested, it will probably help.

If you only move just one hinge, it is possible you will run out of room because the other hinge is misaligned a little. If you loosen both top and bottom hinges you can start to play with it. Hopefully when you lossen the top one it will allow the door change the angle a little and allow the lower edge to swing in

Here are some door vids that might help you or someone else.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=AaMrveO2LJ4&t=420s
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YxKDhn6HPJg&t=594s

If that doesn't work, then I would look at why it isn't aligning. The two hinges have a plate on the inside of the door that can slide around. Make sure they slide around and arn't bound up. Hopefully nothing is bent from an accident or something.

[JS29]

What you want is to use the top bolt as a pivot point, I loosen the lower hinge bolts, then the bottom bolt of the upper hinge, then gust crack the top bolt so everything will swivel.       

[soundcontrol]

I think I found the problem(s) now, first, it was easier to adjust with the upper bolt loose, second, the adjustment was still not moving too much, so I opened the door fully and rocked it hard back and forth a few times it seemed to get stuck in one position, maybe rusty nuts inside the door. Third, my door is not straight, I kept looking at the edge, still not perfect flush, but then I discovered that the rest of the door is fine, and it's the first 5 inches of the door sticks out a bit. See video. How I fix that is another issue. Thanks so much for the input!

[tparker]

Ow. That hurt my ears.. and soul.

[soundcontrol]

Ow. That hurt my ears.. and soul.

No worries.
That's gonna meet some good paint stripper soon!