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Join Date: Jan 2004
Location: Gloucester, MA
Posts: 43
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Door gap measurement?
Spent a few hours last night trying to get the door gaps right before I do any cutting. I can get them uniform but they seem to be really wide, much wider than the hinge side of the door. The gaps also vary from passenger to driver side. I may have a stretched car.
Could somebody please measure the gaps on a "perfect" car. I need to know what I'm shooting for. Thanks a lot Jim
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Jim '75 1.8 in pieces 'Happy is the person who is able to discern the causes of things.' Virgil (37 B.C.) |
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07-15-2004, 05:17 AM
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Someones got to have an answer for this one. I am also curious.
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1973 914-6 3.2 Motronic |
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07-17-2004, 11:19 AM
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My car is far from perfect but the doors fit pretty good and this is what I measure:
The flat surface at the top of the driver's side door (where the door meets the fender) is about 5mm. As you follow the seam down it starts to narrow to 4mm and then near the bottom it's about 3mm. The seam at the rear of the door is about 3mm to 4mm. |
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07-17-2004, 11:52 AM
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Location: CA.
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I think that some of the problem may be from sag. It seems that most of the cars I look at have that same problem. Thght at the top and wider at the bottom.
Mark |
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07-17-2004, 02:17 PM
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Location: Tucson, AZ
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The hinges can be adjusted but only to align the outside of the door to the body. You could possibly shim the hinges a bit to decrease the gap at the back. Check to see if the hinge pins are worn, lift the door and see how much play there is in the hinges. If the door is sagging but hinges are tight, you could use some 2x4s to try to force it back up. There's even a special tool the bodyshops use to align sagging doors, like this http://www.etoolcart.com/index.asp?PageAction=VIEWPROD&ProdID=1663
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07-17-2004, 04:03 PM
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Location: Gloucester, MA
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The hinge side of the doors looks nice and my door hinges are nice and tight. Its the jamb gaps that are all over the place...Yes, sag sag sag. Unless anyone thinks otherwise, I'm shooting for 3 to 4 mm. thanks
Jim
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Jim '75 1.8 in pieces 'Happy is the person who is able to discern the causes of things.' Virgil (37 B.C.) |
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07-19-2004, 05:53 AM
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Location: Tucson, AZ
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So maybe you could fab some shims out of sheet metal, loosen your hinge bolts, then slip the shims under the hinges. You add a little more to the bottom hinge to raise the door up at the jamb. Would you have an acceptable gap front and back if the door was centered in the opening? Hopefully the whole car isn't sagging in the middle. Does the door line back up if you try a small amount of jacking under the car on the longitudinal?
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07-19-2004, 08:37 AM
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Location: Gloucester, MA
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Guy
No question it's sagging. This is a total rehab, new floor, longs... I can flex the rear half of the car up and down to create any gap but if I make it uniform it appears to be too wide. I want to make sure that the gaps are not only uniform but also nice and tight before I weld in the new parts. Thanks for the tip on shimming the hinges, I may have to do that too.
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Jim '75 1.8 in pieces 'Happy is the person who is able to discern the causes of things.' Virgil (37 B.C.) |
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07-19-2004, 09:47 AM
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