FE-FC Holden Discussion Forum

hi everyone, im in a bit of a jam. (pardon the pun  ???)
im trying to align all my doors after a recent rebuild/ respray but ive run into problems with one of the rears.
i need to bring the door foward, towards the nose of the car by around 5mm, but for the life of me it just wont go i can adjust in and out and up and down, but can someone tell me if there is a secret to going foward????
thanks
dean

Dean,

I had a NOS door skin fitted to one of my rear doors and had a similar problem. You just need to lengthen the door alignment holes in the door hinge. This will give you the extra adjustment you need.

Cheers,

Craig.

hi craig, thanks for the reply but at the risk of sounding stupid, would you be able to elaborate a little.
lengthen which holes on the hinge, on the door side or where they bolt to the B pillar.
cause the only way i can see to bring the door towards the front at the moment would be to "countersink" the holes on the hinge where it meets the door. but wouldnt this dramatically reduce the strength on the hinge??
any help or suggestions would be appreciated
dean

Dean
      You could try putting a shim/washer between the hinge & the pillar under the bolt that is towards the inside of the car.                    ---- |
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                                        /       |
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           THIS ONE >            I 0      |
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hmmm, sounds like it may work, i was considering something like. i'll give it a go.
thanks heaps

Did you do the sills?

I had a problem years ago when a restoration shop welded the B pillar back in the wrong spot, after extensive rust repairs.

No amount of alignment through hinge adjustment was going to fix it. Nothing a hydraulic ram couldn't fix though......

Regards

Ed

Dean,

Sorry, I was thinking of the front door :-[

Craig.

Smithy - what you do is bend the hinge.
Remove the entire hinge from the door and cold bend it (with a press is easiest).  This moves the door forward.
A little bit of trial and error is needed, but you will see the result pretty quickly.
Ken

thanks a bunch guys,
ken i'll try what FC V8 suggested first that might just be enough to do it or at least give me some indication of how far i will have to bend the hinges, as my little shed isnt equipped with a press, but i can get access to one i hope.
kep your fingers crossed ;)

Smithy
I will try and photocopy section from workshop manual and drop off at your work, anywhere in particular I would have to go to drop it at the memorial?
John M

hey john,
matt and i encountered this problem just after you and chris left the other day it had us stumped for a while till frustration got the better of me and i walked away :-/,
thanks for popping over it was great to meet you and see effie in the flesh.
if you have something that i might be use just pop it into the rear security desk in the main building or if you are out Mitchell way, just at the desk at treloar A (its the older brick building across the road.)
or just call me on mobile and i can meet you
0418865326
cheers john
dean

just re-hashing this..

i encountered this problem of rear door alignment on the weekend too.

In my box of bits I found some bent hinges which made the job so much easier.  this isnt factory I take it? and the hinges must sag dramatically over the years??

Are the only differnces between near and off side hinges (rear door) the direction of the pins?

ie driven down into the hinge?


Cheers

Ed

Yes factory fix is to bend the hinge, and yes LH and RH hinges are the same forgings

Ken

I had the same problem yesterday & it was solved by Mal Owen. He suggested adding a washer under the middle set screw in the top hinge. This had the same effect as bending the hinge & moved the door foward (top front) & up at the back. It is now the best fitting door on Gertie.

Geoff