Door adjustment

[markup97]

Anyone have any idea of how to adjust a door (on my 97 Base)?

I need to slide my drivers door back to get it aligned properly. Hopefully I will be able to loosen the door-to-body hinge bolts and slide the door back. Once I get that done, I can hang my fender and get my nose squared up.



EDIT: Found that I was missing the stud on the bottom hinge (behind the door pin roller retainer). I will have to get in to it from the back side to loosen that nut!

 

[SCTBIRD1173]

Ah yes the hidden inside nut... :fart

Be happy you don't have a stick car; on the SCs that nut was near impossible to get to on the stick versions! :eek-large:

 

[markup97]

When the weather cooperates enough (and I am not fixing other broken vehicles needed for daily driving duty) I will be out to do the adjustment. I figure loosen the bolts/nut just enough to allow the door to slide (when a slight force is applied) back and then tighten the bolts/nut. That will be one step closer to getting this thing back driving.

 

[markup97]

So, I discovered this weekend that there is NO WAY to adjust the door forward/back on the MKVIII. The hinges are made to 'set' in one spot only and have no means of being moved fore/aft. This cost me a good drivers fender to find out (don't ask).
With that being said, I am extremely pissed with the foolish Ford engineers (and with engineers as a whole); I will break out the mechanic in me and MAKE the door hinges adjustable, therefore fixing (yet again) what the engineers screwed up.

 

[tixer]

I'm sorry to hear this. What's the plan? My inner engineer is very curious about your "fix."

Good luck!

 

[markup97]

One hinge at a time will be removed completely from the vehicle and the body-side bolt holes will be elongated by (at the minimum) the amount I need to move the door back/forward (as the holes currently are NOT oblonged to allow movement). As for the body-side stud (lower hinge, hidden stud), I will elongate the hole on the body side, treat all exposed metal, and coat with a fresh layer of paint. Once both hinges are back in place, I will loosen the mounting hardware (body side) just enough to allow me to tap/move the door the required amount, then tighten the hardware.

Reason I WILL NOT just add washers/shims to the door-to-hinge location is that it will change the overall pivot point ratio and move the door against the fender while trying to open/close the door. By moving the hinge itself, I retain the original pivot point ratio and allow the door/fender proper relationship.

 

[tixer]

That sounds promising.

Do you think it will be possible to tighten the the bolts enough that the weight of the door won't cause it to shift over time in the elongated holes? perhaps build a metal "slug" to fill the space to prevent this from happening? Of course to do that, you'd need to know exactly where the bolts sit in the slots.. not easy to do, I would guess.

 

[markup97]

If I can lengthen/elongate the mounting holes without wallowing them out, the door/hinge bolts will hold as originally designed (as there will be no real 'droop' to the door). I can see where you are coming from, and may just acquire a second set of hinges to elongate and then weld the original hole location (creating the 'fill' that the bolt would need to keep from slipping over time). Either that or take a washer and weld a 'tab' onto it that will go between the bolt and hinge, with the tab sticking down into the unused portion of the bolt hole in the hinge.

 

[tixer]

Either that or take a washer and weld a 'tab' onto it that will go between the bolt and hinge, with the tab sticking down into the unused portion of the bolt hole in the hinge.

I like the sound of that..

 

[driller]

Back to the original post...

I need to slide my drivers door back to get it aligned properly. Hopefully I will be able to loosen the door-to-body hinge bolts and slide the door back. Once I get that done, I can hang my fender and get my nose squared up.

My question is why?

So I'm curious, why would the entire door need to slide back? I have "adjusted" doors before (in my former life - not a Mark VIII) and only needed to adjust for "droop" or for the installation of a replacement door. The fender to door gap was always a fender adjustment?

 

[markup97]

JP,

The reason for the adjustment is that my drivers door is a bit further forward than my passenger side door (thanks to the bouncing off a guardrail earlier). My front end has a bit of a gap on the drivers side that requires both the door and the fender to slide back to square up. It is a complete pain in the butt, but must be done so that I can drive my MKVIII again.

 

[SCTBIRD1173]

Sounds like fun... good luck! :wink2-green

 

[markup97]

If I can find a battery charger for my camera (it was lost in the move back home) I will get some shots of the modified hinges (and the rest of the car as it goes back together as well).

 

[SCTBIRD1173]

Awesome, can't wait to see pics.

 

[markup97]

Bryan,
I have come to the conclusion (since I have had some time to look them over) that I will take the top hinge and elongate the two forward bolt holes the amount I need. Then, I will cut the rear stud (since the body holds a carriage-style stud that the hinge fits over) locator hole, elongate that hole (being careful to keep it square and true), and then weld the removed section back in once I have the exact amount needed removed (quantified by test-fitting). The bottom hinge will be done in exactly the same way (for the front two bolts as they attach the same as the upper hinge forward bolts), with the exception of the lower rear location. Being the lower rear is a carriage-type stud that is a part of the hinge, I will have to elongate the body-side hole and reinforce the sheetmetal in that area.

 

[SCTBIRD1173]

Good luck to you, I'm sure it'll come out great!