Aligning/Rehanging doors

[Mr Polson 10,214]

So... I put a new door on the ute. Problem is, I can't get it to align at all.

 

 

 

 

I've got the back of the door set up properly - it shuts properly and doesn't rub. But as you can see, the front is way out. Miles. So bad the door rubs on the sill and won't open all the way.

[Jonathan Mark Davidson 169]

i usally use wedges till both are right lifting the gaurd on and off but other probably have a better way

[Ants 6,370]

Is the gap even all the way along where the door meets the quarter panel?

[Mr Polson 10,214]

I think it might be a bit bigger on the upper half of the , but not a large amount.

[revhead 1,392]

not to hard ,to align, loosen the 4x front bolts ,put a trolley jack under the front of the door to lift it a little nip up 1x bolt top n botton, then remove jack and close to check for alignment, this might need to be done a few times ,but easy as process.

[deankxf 20,266]

i use the jack method too, but beware of the paint (scratches never bothered me though)

[Ants 6,370]

Take out the striker when lining up too,set the door up in the hole then make it close.The striker will throw it all over the place.

If the gap is larger at the top it means the the top hinge needs to go backwards,which will lower the whole door,so then lift the whole door straight up to get it lined up.

Make sense?

[GspecZL 979]

for a trolley jack just throw a thick rag on it to avoid scratches. Just did the doors on my ZH with this method. Its all about spending some time i reckon.

 

Door looks good Mr Polson!

[Mr Polson 10,214]

Yep makes sense Ants.

 

So do I adjust it at hinge to body first, and then do final adjustments at hinge to door?

 

Yeah figured if I use a jack that whacking some decent rag on it will stop the scratches.

[xr6tjet 98]

Most of the alignment comes from where the hinge bolts to the body, the 4 bolts that bolt to the door are only for fine adjustments. I just realigned my door on my very sagged XF ghia hinges on the drivers side (replaced with rare spares hinge repair kit). The best way I found was to use two standard car jacks, XE and XF jacks are great in particular because you can rotate them and still wind them up. To do my method: loosen hinge bolts where the door connects to body (be careful not to over tension them and break the thread on the plate it is quite weak) and use the jacks to put the door where you want it to sit. that includes sliding it forwards or backwards and up and down. Make sure that it sits good when you close it so don't have the door open really wide so you can't see whether its aligned or not prior to tightening bolts. Its a bit of trial and error to get it to sit 100%. Once done, tighten bolts and admire your well aligned X series (they look the coot when aligned right even with crap paint)

[Ants 6,370]

Yep makes sense Ants.

 

So do I adjust it at hinge to body first, and then do final adjustments at hinge to door?

 

Yeah figured if I use a jack that whacking some decent rag on it will stop the scratches.

Yep,adjust the hinges on the body then fine tune with the door to hinges.

[revhead 1,392]

if you havent pulled the hindge off the body dont touch it,just adjust the door

[Ants 6,370]

if you havent pulled the hindge off the body dont touch it,just adjust the door

This is good advice if the doors are the original ones for the ute, if they were off something else all bets are off.

[Mr Polson 10,214]

Yeah these doors are off different cars, tried lining this one up leaving hinges on, door wouldn't shut at all, was too far back.

[Ants 6,370]

That's why the hinges are adjustable, they wouldn't move if all the doors fitted exactly the same from car to car.

[blu xe 825]

Agree with Ants. Piss the striker off. Pull the splash guard out of the guards to give better access to the hinge bolts and align it at the pillar.

While the doors have a fair bit of alignment at the door itself I really only mainly use them to move the door in and out to get them flush. You have to be in the ball park at the pillar first then fine tune at the door itself  from there. Make sure your hinge bushes aren't flogged cause this will give you more dramas. Concentrate on an even gap along the back to the quarter first.  the sill should go close to being right from there.

To get the front can be tricky on these. I've had some cars that sit perfectly with little fuss and others that regardless what I did they were never quite right. You may need to move the guard around also once you've got the door close. Gapping these cars is always a bit of a compromise as they were all over the place gap wise even from new.

[XDPSI 10]

I read this topic and laughed to myself. I just aligned all my doors on my xd after completely gutting them, body deadening them, dynamiting them and foaming sections. What a complete bitch to do. I agree the process is real simple but I'm fussy as and it took me and a mate ages to get it respectable and there's still room for improvement. Striker out definitely helps and front guards off of course. I had every part stripped out, regreased and adjusted the rods inside. Best mod ever was on the rear doors changing the angle and point of leverage that the handle needs to open the door. All the doors open perfect now with ease and the seals align and seal good. Windows open and shut like new too. Hated doing it but now it's done I'm wrapped. Also I started with the back doors as they were much easier to get right.

[Mr Polson 10,214]

This is on a ute so I don't have rear doors to worry about.

 

I've been real slack with this, haven't bothered to look at it yet.

[SPArKy_Dave 8,863]

What was wrong with the original doors?

If they fitted ok, I probably would've stayed with them.

 

Realistically, you'll have to take the guard off, and then remove the pinchweld door opening seal and the striker plate.

The door frame may even be slightly twisted, and need reshaping with a block of wood in the door opening, and some brute bending force.

 

Essentially do what panel shops do, when gapping a resto project.

(And maybe have Moog's 'Game On', playing in the background on a continuous loop for inspiration.) 

[Mr Polson 10,214]

Original doors had dents in awfully tricky to get to places to knock them out, and were povo pack doors, these are ZL doors so have all the wiring/electrics for elec windows, mirrors, locking, and were straighter than the old doors.

[XDPSI 10]

haha fair call on the rear doors on a ute! My bad, typed before I had a read...

[noddy 451]

This is probably the worse I've seen and it's on a mates car down here the door drops around a full inch and a half after opening it so much so his Qp is dented and squashed in so the door can open

 

Never seen a xe like it all 4 doors have completely gone like this

 

 

 

[Lott 35]

Is there anyone who specialises in panel gaps. Have got mine as good as I can get. But think there needs a bit of expert love to get it right.

[Thom 6,650]

Is there anyone who specialises in panel gaps. Have got mine as good as I can get. But think there needs a bit of expert love to get it right.

 

Which one is that for Mr lott?

[Lott 35]

The good blue one.