Cheat to hang/align doors?

[dyeager535]

Anyone have any tips or tricks for doing this alone?

I watched a video for a GM car and the guy taped paint sticks to the rocker and B-pillar to set and keep the gap at those locations during adjustment, but it sure looks like pulling the fender is a necessity to make it easier/faster and look decent.

Pulled the door to do the hinge pin bushings, but lining it back up right is really hit and miss by just adjusting the door side of the hinge, and not having much luck getting it "perfect". Not that it was right in the first place, but I'd like to put it back together as good as I can.

I used an adjustable height stool under the door edge to hold it at the proper height when opened, but without everything being perfectly flat/parallel (garage floor, truck front to rear I'm assuming) I'm seeing the gap change front to rear even when the body line lines up.

 

[JoshHefnerX]

Want to be in on this.

 

[rampage]

Only trick I know is that before you remove the door you're suppose to drill two 1/8" holes on both parts of the hinge - one on top the other on the bottom. They go through the hinge and into the door jam (or door for the other side of the hinge). That way after you remove the hinge you just stick the drill bit back through the holes to line it back up. But now that you've remove the hinges without doing that I think it's just trial and error at this point.

 

[dyeager535]

I've heard of tracing around the hinges as well, but of course I didn't think of any of that before I pulled them. But at the same time, the door wasn't perfect before.

I need to check if you can remove the hinge pins without unbolting anything, that would eliminate this problem as well.

 

[tRustyK5]

I don't think you can remove pins without unbolting the door if the pins are OE. The top pin would need to be installed upside down I think.

Bix and I aligned his doors on his K5 when he swapped some rust free doors on. The method I use is to remove the striker bolt first, then close the door into the opening and evaluate from there. To make an adjustment I determine where I want to door to rotate, then snug that one bolt. Then using a jack or a friend or whatever lifting method, and snug a second bolt to hold the door in the new position. Then close the door and evaluate again. It's all about determining a pivot bolt one step at a time until the door fits as perfectly as it can in the opening. At that point I re-install the striker bolt and set it's height and depth. We spent about 6 hours on two doors, and got them almost perfect. By far the best closing "square" doors I've seen. Gaps were very even too.

 

[tRustyK5]

Oh yeah, moving the cowl side part of the hinges is almost a guarantee to get things just right. There is one bolt on the upper hinge where you have to access it up under the dash using a deep socket.

 

[wheels87k5]

I took the long way around. I removed the inner fender well and the fender. Got the hinges and bushings replaced and aligned the doors using a floor jack. Nothing in the way made it much easier. But I had the time so no hurry. Now both doors shut like it was a new truck.

 

[454Sub]

I snugged up the bolts where it was just tight enough I had to yank on it to move it around on the bolts. Then just basically pushed, pulled and leaned into the door until I got them to seal.

 

[dyeager535]

Alright, appreciate the tips! I forgot about the upper hinge bolt that comes in through the body, I suppose that allows you to at least get the upper hinge snugged down to the body with the door shut and aligned as you want it.

Got some paint sticks, going to see if those are a good thickness to set the gaps, if they are it might make things a bit easier.

I can totally see spending six hours doing this lol. And also noticed in the video I watched that the upper pins were installed upside down. I'm hoping they last long enough I'm not having to do this every few years!