I just finished up redoing my door hinges today ~ replaced the pins and bushings. I ended up pulling both driver and passenger doors to do the work since it seemed easier that way. Both doors are back on now, but I don’t like how they are lining up with the body and fender (they weren’t great before I started, either). So I’m contemplating pulling the front fenders so that I can properly adjust the door gaps vs the body.
My thinking is to adjust the doors to fit how they should, then adjust the fenders. Am I going in the right order?
Is there any adjustment to the fender position front to back? Or if the door is setup properly then the fender should bolt up ok too?
The quick and simple answer is yes, your thinking is correct.
Here are my thoughts on this project. I would start be aligning both the bottom of the door to the rocker and the back edge of the door to the quarter panel gaps. Once you are happy with those gaps then align the back edge of the fender to the front edge of the door gap. There is some ability of the fender to move front to rear. The fender will not just fall into place, you will need to watch as you move it.
There is no need to remove the fender to align the door. There is a special wrench made that allows you to access the hinge to pillar bolts with the fender in place.
I believe that there will be a few special considerations when it comes to your car. I recall reading the thread that you had going when you were in the process of purchasing it and your car had been involved in a few mishaps over the years. Those mishaps and the resulting body damage may have an effect on your efforts to properly align the body panels. If the mounting points for panels have been moved due to damage then it will be quite hard to get really nice gaps. The rear end damage may have an effect on the door to quarter panel gap as well. Hopefully you will be able to get at least presentable gaps and continue to enjoy your car. Some day if you decide to pursue a ground up restoration then you can have all the measurements checked to be sure that the car is still within tolorances. Anything out of spec can be repaired at that time.
Yeah, the body has some issues due to previous collisions, but hopefully I can at least “ball park” the doors and panels so they aren’t embarrassingly bad!
At the very least this will give me some practice and keep me busy over the upcoming Christmas break
Ok Fellahs, I have a fender off and am about to embark on a door-adjustment adventure!
So, while I have the fender off, is there any other work I should consider doing under there?
I noticed I have a really cruddy looking something or other in the front suspension that looks like it is made out of cracks held together by a few bits of rubber…
Also, is it “ok” to just go crazy with the 409 on all the nasty grungy suspension bits in there?
I posted a reply for you on the Projects section. Something I forgot to mention about correcting the battery apron fender mounting cutouts is that if you do not correct these prior to attempting to reattach the fender you will not have the ability to adjust the fender.
Ok, so I’m going to have make some cutouts on my front fender aprons. I figure I’ll use the cutouts from the back part of the fender aprons as a template, and some pics from CCarney’s '69 CJ project thread to help me out for proper placement and orientation.
The two black bolts with the large washers: where do those go?
The four silver washers: where do those go?
The kit also shows 6 long J-nuts and 12 short J-nuts. All the ones I’ve removed have been the long style. What is “correct”, and where would you use the long vs short J-nuts?
The 2 “odd-ball clips” are used at the lower rear of the fender. If you look up at the underside of the rocker panel extension that is covered when the fender is in place you will see a part of that clip. The rest of the clip is hidden inside the rocker panel extension. I’m not so sure about the 2 black bolts or the extra washers. My thinking is that the 2 bolts are to be used on the lower edge of the fender where the cutout in the fender is larger, making the larger washer useful. Perhaps the washers are to be used as spacers if needed?
Along the top edge of the fender aprons you should be using the longer J nuts. Shorter ones could be used on the edge of the radiator support, the front lower support bracket from the fender to the bumper bracket, and the bracket that you have shown earlier that was bent and straightened out, the bolt that you had to open the door to remove.
Well, I took a look under there this afternoon. Probably shouldn’t have, because now I’m gonna have to make it right.
Looks like the Brazing Bandit was at it again… “Don’t have the right fitting? No problem! I’ll just braze a nut in that hole and we’ll be good to go!”
My WCCC shopping list for this project is getting longer, LOL!
Ok, so I got my door adjusted yesterday, and finished up the striker plate today. Unfortunately, my door and / or rear quarter are… not right.
I got the bottom of the door mostly aligned to the rocker, and the upper rear corner aligned to the body. The middle of the back edge of the door just won’t line up though. Even with the striker plate out and the door pressed closed up against the little door bumpers, that back edge still sticks out. There seems to be some “bowing” in back of the door (subtle damage), and I’m sure the rear quarter replacement doesn’t help.
Ah well, it will have to do for now. I started on window glass adjustment this evening, and that seems to be going well - very cool how all the arms and whatnot work together to make that glass move!
Mike, keep in mind that these cars had pretty big tolerances when they were new. This is not a new Lexus, it is an old Ford that has been raced. Sometimes you just have to do the best you can do, and call it better than it was when you started. I am saying this because I have seen several times where an owner becomes obsessed with panel fit, and what was a great car, becomes a source of unhappiness because it just doesn’t line up just right. Accept the old girl as she was made and you are half way there.
Good point, and I’ve been keeping that in mind. I’m just trying to make whatever improvements I can Given the tweaked body issues, I’m sure there are a ton of things that I’ll have to wait until “Restoration Day” before they can really be fixed.
Here in rust belt country it is quite normal to have that nut/clip break loose when I am taking a car apart. The bolt threads rust to the nut and when you try to remove the bolt the clip breaks free. I often times have had to just rip the whole thing out of the rocker panel extension to remove the fender. Yours was most likely broken free in one of the cars accidents. If the nut is held in place and cannot move I would probably just leave it alone at this time. Put a little anti-sieze on the threads so that the next time you take it apart it does not give you a problem. Save the “correct” repair for when you do an actual restoration.
So out of curiousity, I see that WCCC lists the correct nut. Is there anything special about installing it, or does it just clip into the hole?
Since I have to place an order with them soon anyhow, I might just order the nuts to have in my parts pile for later.
I do not recall those nuts being a simple install. Unless there is something else wrong, rust or body damage, to the rocker panel extension that will require removing/replacing it I would let it alone.
Given the tweaked body issues, I’m sure there are a ton of things that I’ll have to wait until “Restoration Day” before they can really be fixed.