Door Alignment

[NickJ]

Morning All,
 Quick question regarding the alignment of the doors. I rebuilt the hinges on my 69 and got the doors 98% aligned. Compared to where they were it's beautiful. However, they're not perfect. Both are about 1/8" off. Any tips to make this small of an adjustment? I just seem to be chasing my tail....little high, little low, little high,  

 Thanks in advance for any tips  

Nick

[timmycharger]

Sort of in the same boat here so Ill be interested in the responses. Do you have all of the glass and hardware in? My doors are on but are still shells, Ive heard folks say to set them slightly higher so they "sag" a bit with the glass in, or simulate the weight of the glass with some weights or something if not ready to install glass.

[NickJ]

I left mine complete so the weight would be correct. It's literally the only think I haven't stripped. I'm getting close to finishing sheet metal repairs and wanted everything straight prior to initial sanding. I'm so close on both doors... a little high on the left and a little "in" on the right.

Nick

[tan top]

 what was the job on your charger ?  have you had the fenders / hood off  also ?   , were you happy with the fit before ?  have you got good pictures of all the gaps ?  so we know  what & where it needs adjusting

[NickJ]

The entire front clip is off and my doors were way off originally. I rebuilt all the hinges and rehung. The gaps now are very close. I know which hinges to adjust just having a hard time making such small adjustments. My drivers door is about 1/8" high and my passengers is about 1/8" too far in.  I have pics in my build thread. Will see if I can repost them here. Thanks

Nick

[tan top]

 
( 1)  door in & out adjustment    , slacken of bottom door hinge bolts , a little  (B) don't go mad .
bolts (A) adjust door in & out movement at the top .

(2)  bottom hinge for minor up & down movement at back of door , slacken bolts (C) two top & two bottom . bolt (E) just crack it loose ,  then bolt (D) a little more , now open the door a couple of inches only , &  gripping the bottom or top of the door , with your hands lift up with or pull it down  as necessary , if you have left the two bolts tight enough ,  will be a effort to move door , but it wont move on its own , then tighten hinges , helps to have the door striker on the quarter & lock /latch in the door (remember to leave the  internal handle rod  attached to the lock ) other wise will be a pain opening the door  .
  what I would do if it were me ,  put lock   back on door & striker on the quarter , but  leave the screws a bit loose ,  with a helper ready to tighten hinge bolts  E & D  , set striker top rear of the door is a little high    , & the top front is exact level  with the cowl .  then tighten bolts E & D  tight  ,  then open door lower striker on the quarter , if door a little high ,  use   method  ( 2)

the top front door in & out  gap , between top of door & cowl , is dictated by the back edge of the hood to cowl , / fender top to cowl .

its easier with a helper  , but can be done  how I described on your own ,( how I done mine ) doing the adjustment , see saw affect , ajust  high at back tighten get front level tighten  , then  bring back down  etc , also factor in  when door is completely  built up with glass , it will slightly affect the gaps , I  put a couple of weights in the door when I done mine  

Its actually easier than ive made it sound    ,(  i'm more of a hands on   get it done  , than to write / explain what i'm doing ), just time consuming to get every thing exact & gaps dialled in  to your liking

[charger Downunder]

Thats great info Tan top

[NickJ]

Thanks Tan Top! That's the best write up on alignment I've seen on here! Much appreciated!

Nick

[Charger-Bodie]

And also the bolt that holds the inner and outer together and sandwiches the vent frame bracket. It can be loosened and tightened while putting a slight twist in the door to fine tune the back door edge for flatness to the quarter. A lot of guys split the diff and find a happy medium between front and rear of the door. I adjust so it fits the cowl top great and the rocker too. Then if need be I twist the shell slightly to true it up to the quarter and tighten that fastener .

Hope this helps out too.

[timmycharger]

( 1)  door in & out adjustment    , slacken of bottom door hinge bolts , a little  (B) don't go mad .
bolts (A) adjust door in & out movement at the top .

(2)  bottom hinge for minor up & down movement at back of door , slacken bolts (C) two top & two bottom . bolt (E) just crack it loose ,  then bolt (D) a little more , now open the door a couple of inches only , &  gripping the bottom or top of the door , with your hands lift up with or pull it down  as necessary , if you have left the two bolts tight enough ,  will be a effort to move door , but it wont move on its own , then tighten hinges , helps to have the door striker on the quarter & lock /latch in the door (remember to leave the  internal handle rod  attached to the lock ) other wise will be a pain opening the door  .
  what I would do if it were me ,  put lock   back on door & striker on the quarter , but  leave the screws a bit loose ,  with a helper ready to tighten hinge bolts  E & D  , set striker top rear of the door is a little high    , & the top front is exact level  with the cowl .  then tighten bolts E & D  tight  ,  then open door lower striker on the quarter , if door a little high ,  use   method  ( 2)

the top front door in & out  gap , between top of door & cowl , is dictated by the back edge of the hood to cowl , / fender top to cowl .

its easier with a helper  , but can be done  how I described on your own , doing the adjustment , see saw affect , ajust  high at back tighten get front level tighten  , then  bring back down  etc , also factor in  when door is completely  built up with glass , it will slightly affect the gaps , I  put a couple of weights in the door when I done mine 
Its actually easier than ive made it sound    ,(  i'm more of a hands on   get it done  , than to write / explain what i'm doing ), just time consuming to get every thing exact & gaps dialled in  to your liking

Tan Top, approx how much weight did you put? I dont have my door glass yet and im not sure if I have all of the hardware. Assuming the vent frame, glass, hardware is about 5lbs? too light?

[NickJ]

Thanks charger-bodie. It absolutely helps. Really appreciate it. BTW..that green charger you're building is gorgeous. Great job!

Nick

[tan top]

( 1)  door in & out adjustment    , slacken of bottom door hinge bolts , a little  (B) don't go mad .
bolts (A) adjust door in & out movement at the top .

(2)  bottom hinge for minor up & down movement at back of door , slacken bolts (C) two top & two bottom . bolt (E) just crack it loose ,  then bolt (D) a little more , now open the door a couple of inches only , &  gripping the bottom or top of the door , with your hands lift up with or pull it down  as necessary , if you have left the two bolts tight enough ,  will be a effort to move door , but it wont move on its own , then tighten hinges , helps to have the door striker on the quarter & lock /latch in the door (remember to leave the  internal handle rod  attached to the lock ) other wise will be a pain opening the door  .
  what I would do if it were me ,  put lock   back on door & striker on the quarter , but  leave the screws a bit loose ,  with a helper ready to tighten hinge bolts  E & D  , set striker top rear of the door is a little high    , & the top front is exact level  with the cowl .  then tighten bolts E & D  tight  ,  then open door lower striker on the quarter , if door a little high ,  use   method  ( 2)

the top front door in & out  gap , between top of door & cowl , is dictated by the back edge of the hood to cowl , / fender top to cowl .

its easier with a helper  , but can be done  how I described on your own , doing the adjustment , see saw affect , ajust  high at back tighten get front level tighten  , then  bring back down  etc , also factor in  when door is completely  built up with glass , it will slightly affect the gaps , I  put a couple of weights in the door when I done mine  
Its actually easier than ive made it sound    ,(  i'm more of a hands on   get it done  , than to write / explain what i'm doing ), just time consuming to get every thing exact & gaps dialled in  to your liking

Tan Top, approx how much weight did you put? I dont have my door glass yet and im not sure if I have all of the hardware. Assuming the vent frame, glass, hardware is about 5lbs? too light?

 I forget now , was such a long time ago , prolly close to 15 years ,  i used small 2 lbs dumbell weight discs ,  cant remember if it was 2 or 3 I used , I remember positioning them close to the rear of the door though  ,   its not to much of a biggie  if the door is a tiny bit too high or low at the back when  built up ,  , easy to sort , see below !  but better to get it dialled in before paint , if your not use to body stuff  

(2)  bottom hinge for minor up & down movement at back of door , slacken bolts (C) two top & two bottom . bolt (E) just crack it loose ,  then bolt (D) a little more , now open the door a couple of inches only , &  gripping the bottom or top of the door , with your hands lift up with or pull it down  as necessary , if you have left the two bolts tight enough ,  will be a effort to move door , but it wont move on its own , then tighten hinges , the top front door in & out  gap , between top of door & cowl ,

anyone run into problems aligning doors hoods fenders etc , take some good pictures  , & post them up , we will try to  help 

[fy469rtse]

Nick,
I usually put some masking tape also around hinges , put some pen lines so when I move hinges ,
I know how much I moved them , like me , only one there working on it 

[timmycharger]

Excellent! thank you!

[Dreamcar]

Thanks Tan Top! That's the best write up on alignment I've seen on here! Much appreciated!

Nick

I'm going to be test fitting some doors myself soon. Great info.

[james j]

Hi Gents!
I just went through this a while ago and it could be pretty time consuming and frustrating. In order to get the most uniform gap between the door trailing edge and quarter, I had all of the hinges rebuilt first. Then to get even gaps, I had to enlarge the holes for where the hinges meet the cowl/unibody. This gave me enough to get an even gap between the door & QP. To ensure the doors line up to the QPs as perfectly as possible since the QPs were coming off for replacement. This will affect the front fender/door line, but that can be fixed too.

Also, I've seen some guys cut slots in the QPs (if you're still in body/paint) and dolly the jamb rearwards; or, cut slots in the tops of the doors & QPs to ensure alignment. But that kind of depends on where you are in the project; e.g. before or after body & paint. Check out one the late 2015 Car Craft and Mopar Muscle magazines -both had articles on the subject too.

Remember from the factory, the door gaps were all over the place since the tolerances within the sheetmetal and hinges weren't so tight to begin with. You may want to take a look at your hinges and see if they need a rebuild


check this video out.

https://youtu.be/qTgevVs85qI

[rikubot]

Great info in this thread. Subscribed. Do you remember what drill bit you used to drill out your hinges for the bushings? I'm assuming you rebuild them with the dorman kit...

[340challconvert]

Some really good information here that is applicable to my e body doors and alignment.
Thank you for posting.

[randy73]

( 1)  door in & out adjustment    , slacken of bottom door hinge bolts , a little  (B) don't go mad .
bolts (A) adjust door in & out movement at the top .

(2)  bottom hinge for minor up & down movement at back of door , slacken bolts (C) two top & two bottom . bolt (E) just crack it loose ,  then bolt (D) a little more , now open the door a couple of inches only , &  gripping the bottom or top of the door , with your hands lift up with or pull it down  as necessary , if you have left the two bolts tight enough ,  will be a effort to move door , but it wont move on its own , then tighten hinges , helps to have the door striker on the quarter & lock /latch in the door (remember to leave the  internal handle rod  attached to the lock ) other wise will be a pain opening the door  .
  what I would do if it were me ,  put lock   back on door & striker on the quarter , but  leave the screws a bit loose ,  with a helper ready to tighten hinge bolts  E & D  , set striker top rear of the door is a little high    , & the top front is exact level  with the cowl .  then tighten bolts E & D  tight  ,  then open door lower striker on the quarter , if door a little high ,  use   method  ( 2)

the top front door in & out  gap , between top of door & cowl , is dictated by the back edge of the hood to cowl , / fender top to cowl .

its easier with a helper  , but can be done  how I described on your own ,( how I done mine ) doing the adjustment , see saw affect , ajust  high at back tighten get front level tighten  , then  bring back down  etc , also factor in  when door is completely  built up with glass , it will slightly affect the gaps , I  put a couple of weights in the door when I done mine  

Its actually easier than ive made it sound    ,(  i'm more of a hands on   get it done  , than to write / explain what i'm doing ), just time consuming to get every thing exact & gaps dialled in  to your liking

Will this work with Gen 3 Chargers also? 

[AKcharger]

no reason it shouldn't, same set up.

[375instroke]

I put a floor jack under my doors when adjusting them just to hold the weight.

[AKcharger]

1) on 3rd gens no cowl, what do you align the front of the door too?
2) is it worth removing the fenders to get to the bolts?

[Nacho-RT74]

Aligning with quarter and rocker should be quite enough... then the fender will need to be aligned with door.

[AKcharger]

Aligning with quarter and rocker should be quite enough... then the fender will need to be aligned with door.

Rodger...in work!

[AKcharger]

I am now a 3rd Gen door alignment expert! a few things I learned:
- I had to use a small sledge hammer to coax the hinges UP where they bolt to the body...simple lifting doesn't work
- Fenders need to come on and off A LOT!
- on 3 gens there's part of the cowl you can use to pry the hinge fwd (back of door up) handy if solo sorry I didn't get photo
- I used old towels on the sill to keep door in position while I adjusted it...actually faster to do it solo than with someone helping