 | Home > Maintenance & Modifications > Door alignment...HELP!! |
 
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| sgilmour Member Since: 21 Jul 2015 Location: Essex Posts: 232   
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Hi all,
I have a pretty severe mis-alignment on my passenger and drivers doors (~10mm) on my 90 soft top -> SW conversion (now called Frankenstein) and wondered if anyone has been in a similar situation and come across any good tricks to realign them. I'm not expecting it to be perfect and am only really wanting to get them aligned (as much as possible) so the seals meet the doors and I can't see a slither of sky over the top of the door from the inside so I can keep winter out when it comes. I originally thought the hinges/pins might be knackered so I bought new ones for both doors and replaced the drivers side hinges but I haven't helped the alignment at all. I have loosened off the hinge fixings, lifted the door as much as possible and tightened them again. The panel gap between the A pillar and door tapers slightly going up towards the roof, the bottom of the door tapers down to within mm's of the sill and the top of the door is sitting quite low but parallel with the roof line. The body line under the wing mirror is level with the front panels but dropped at the handle side. I will try to upload some pics later from home but if anyone has any suggestions on how to align them it would be appreciated. Cheers, SG |
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14th Aug 2015 1:37pm |
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| sgilmour Member Since: 21 Jul 2015 Location: Essex Posts: 232
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That might help in getting the door to sit nearer the body at the top and make a better seal but I also need to lift the door at the rear but I can't seem to find any more "pivot" in the hinges. The door at the moment if not lifted when shut hits the striker . Clearly the previous owner didn't care because the plastic bush on the striker is destroyed and there's a not-insignificant gouge in the metal
All I could think of was drilling the bottom bolt holes inside the door card out into a slot, shuffle the bolt along and if it works then rivet/weld a metal strip over the original part of the slot to keep it from shifting back. Won't look any different outside and the cowboy bodge job would be covered by the door card. Doesn't seem right to "bodge" a fix but figure the car has been changed so much since it's original form this would be pretty insignificant in comparison... |
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14th Aug 2015 1:55pm |
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| GREENI Member Since: 22 Aug 2010 Location: staffs Posts: 10383
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Well, the striker moves, which I'm sure you know. there will be a small amount of movement in the hinge to bulkhead clips, but would hardly make a massive difference, is it worth replacing the door seal itself?
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14th Aug 2015 2:04pm |
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| sgilmour Member Since: 21 Jul 2015 Location: Essex Posts: 232
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Tried moving the striker, it's as low as it ca go at the moment and still catching on the top jaw of the latch unfortunately.
I have got a good seal on the body for the door it's just that the door doesn't meet the seal in a few places. I have though about putting a second seal on the inside of the door itself and try to plug the gap that way. Won't help with the door dropping though. I did also wonder if this could be an inherent problem from the conversion? I've heard some horror stories about them but this one seems OK apart from this... |
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14th Aug 2015 2:08pm |
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| rallysteve Member Since: 10 Feb 2014 Location: Cumbria Posts: 2238 
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If you have run out of adjustment in the hinges you need to ask yourself where the issue is. Presuming your doors are original ones (in shape and size) then it could be your bulkhead needs shims removing or adding. This might be needed more on a soft top as there is less renforcement provided due to the lack of roof!
Steve 02' 110 TD5 Double Cab Rebuild Thread |
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14th Aug 2015 3:00pm |
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| Retroanaconda Member Since: 04 Jan 2012 Location: Scotland Posts: 2693 
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Either bulkhead or tub are in the wrong position I suspect. Unless door is mis-shaped (pattern part for example).
Some tips: - Measure across the gap between A and B pillar at the bottom of the door aperture and at the level of the upper door hinge, they should be the same - that is to say the lines should be parallel. - Run a piece of string tight along the barrel crease of the body line, right from the rear corner of the tub to the bulkhead and then look along it from the rear, it should be nice and straight with no misalignment. - The bulkhead position is set in two places on each side; where the foot attaches to the chassis washers can be added to space it forward/back in order to set the correct door gap, and where the chassi bracket bolts through the footwell shims can be inserted to 'tip' the bulkhead back to make the A pillar parallel with the B pillar on the tub. - The front edge of the tub mounts on a number of brackets across the width of the vehicle (four or five I think, each with two bolts) plus the two seatbelt mount brackets which go back to the A-frame crossmember. If the front of the tub is too high or low these fixings can be loosened for adjustment. - The roof and rear sides also have fairly 'loose' fits and these should be fitted last. The order for body alignment that I have used for SWB vehicles is as follows: 1. Fit bulkhead and rear tub to chassis. Fix rear tub rear face to rear crossmember tabs and prop front end up roughly in line with bulkhead. 2. Measure door gap each side and shim bulkhead feet as appropriate (measure each door as they won't be the same...). 3. Run string along each side as above and use this to position both the height of the front of the tub and the tip angle of the bulkhead in order to get a straight line along the barrel side. 4. Fit doors to gaps, ensure that they are postioned within the hinge bolt's adjustment so that the door's barrel shape lines up with that of the body. If you've got the door gap right the hinge should be central to the bulkhead (to help with this you can test fit the doors positioned as such with a nice parallel line and measure the gap, then set the door gap so that the panel gap at the rear of the door matches that at the front). 5. Once happy with shut lines fully tighten all fixings. 6. Fit windscreen - adjust angle to suit doors. 7. Fit rear sides, ensuring they are parallel with tub cappings and panel gap is as equal as possible along their length (probably won't be - luckily the seal is forgiving!). 8. Fit roof - be prepared to have to wrestle into position. Other body parts such as sill members, front wings etc. do not affect the door gap so should be fitted afterwards. Thing that's it, off the top of my head anyway. Recently went through the process on my 88"and it took a good few days to get it all set up right. Dreading doing the 110 CSW! |
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14th Aug 2015 3:58pm |
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| sgilmour Member Since: 21 Jul 2015 Location: Essex Posts: 232
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Thanks for the responses guys. Some great advice and I'll get out there this weekend and try to put some of it to practice.
@Retroanaconda Thanks for the detailed explanation, I will check the body and see if any misalignment shows itself there. 
On a side note - I've only been on the forum a month or so, and a Defender owner about the same and it's nice to see the support in the community doesn't end at "the wave". Thanks for all the help so far, I'm sure I'll be around a while yet asking questions! |
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14th Aug 2015 5:28pm |
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