Ryoken's Guide to Rust Treatment and Bodywork 101

[Chief Brody]

Well that was a good way for you to see what I saw in your pics and was trying to explain to you.
Now the solution is to bend those edges on the B pillar so they are inside the profile desired and then you can hange the panel.

well..it took it to see it because it didn't look like it to my eyeball...but then again this is my first cruise...

I think I will buy a special hammer for this

According to the trace, it is 1/4" at it's worst...

 

[Chief Brody]

So let me ask you this, was the couture of the driver and passenger door the same?

Good call! It's the door too....the door has a "low spot" but it's just a hair higher than the bulge problem...maybe...and is it just the back edge or is it the whole door?

The RED mark is the Driver's door....that proves my trace was good too because the rest of the lines are perfect matches to each other...and by the way, the passenger Quarter does not have the same problem.

 

[y5mgisi]

Very interesting! Well, i dunno exactly what to do with that info but at least now you have it and can analyze it to figure out how to proceed from here.

 

[Chief Brody]

Update on the LMC passenger side Quarter Panel.

They are replacing it, it will be here Friday and they don't even want the old one back.

I haven't got it yet, but that's pretty darn good customer service.

You'll see it when I get it.

 

[y5mgisi]

Hey thats not too bad!

 

[76zimmer]

did they mention if there was a change between the old and new..just wondered if you'll be facing the same problem?

 

[smier]

Glad to hear they are stepping up and trying to make it right. Hopefully it works out for the better!

 

[Chief Brody]

Hammered it down a little....already looks better...

My gaps are still funky though...wonder what the normal gap at the bottom is?

 

[Chief Brody]

more

 

[y5mgisi]

That does at least look better. I can SO wait to deal with the baps on my suburban.... Thats alot of doors!!!

 

[imiceman44]

more

Getting better, I see that you might need to shim the body mount under the door to open the gap on top, and might have to move the door down some more to make the gap better at the windshield, if the glas allows you probably can bend the wing away to make the gap better but most likely you will be getting it from the other side as I mentionned .

 

[British Slave]

Chief....You are going to be a body man yet. I wish I had your "grit" for doing it right. Good job!

 

[Chief Brody]

Getting better, I see that you might need to shim the body mount under the door to open the gap on top

I am still not sure I understand...add shims to the body mount under the door and what does it raise? I mean, how does it open that gap? Aren't you kind of bending the whole tub?

might have to move the door down some more to make the gap better at the windshield

Down as in straight down evenly with the whole door or down as in lowering only the back end of the door?

 

[Chief Brody]

That does at least look better. I can SO wait to deal with the baps on my suburban.... Thats alot of doors!!!

I had no idea how hard it was to align doors...

 

[y5mgisi]

Ive only done it once on one door. Its the opposite of fun. But the results were worth it!

 

[Fordum]

I had no idea how hard it was to align doors...

Its always hard to align doors.....
You are ahead of the game because you have the fenders off. You should try it with them on sometime.

Its one of the few jobs I try to never do on a truck. I have had to do one or two in the swamp with what tools were available, and I decided never again.

When I needed the hinges replaced on my 250, I ordered the new ones, and took it by a local body shop.
I knew the owner, and he had one of those door holders just for that job. I asked him how much to replace my hinges.
He said he probably could just replace the pins and bushings.
I told him that it was beyond that, I had the new hinges, and I wanted him to put them on.
He quoted me a huge price.
I was stunned. I didn't remember doing anything to this guy's wife or daughter, so what the heck?

I turned around and started out, more than a little ticked off. He came running out. Told me that he could knock some of that off, but it was a big job.
This made me madder.
I informed him I had done that big job by myself on a friend's truck with no door holder, in the swamp, using limbs and stumps to hold the door in position.

Now he looked confused. Asked me how did I do the cutting and welding in the swamp?

The light dawned.
I reached into the truck and pulled out one of the new hinges. Said
" See? Bolt on, not weld on!"

The price dropped down to something a lot more reasonable. The newer hinges are welded, and have to be cut apart, new ones welded on, and then repainted.

I would have expected a price like that for welded.

 

[ryoken]

try doing it for a living....

 

[Chief Brody]

It's something I would be willing to pay to have done...but not practical with no drive train in...

 

[Chief Brody]

What can I use as a copper backing to fill holes with....the welding "spoon" I got won't fit in a lot of places....

 

[imiceman44]

I am still not sure I understand...add shims to the body mount under the door and what does it raise? I mean, how does it open that gap? Aren't you kind of bending the whole tub?

Yes you will basically bend the tub and open the gap on top.

Down as in straight down evenly with the whole door or down as in lowering only the back end of the door?

Lowering the back end of the door will give you a better gap at the top of the wingwindow, unfortunately it also will make the gap smaller at the back end of the door.
The one thing I am still not sure of either is the quarter panel, I still think it could go up a hair, will give you a better body line and a bit more of a gap at the door.
Problem is without being there, I can't really figure out which should be the base that you measure from for all of these gaps, but you might be able to make it work by tweaking a little at a time on each till you like the overall gaps.