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Putting it back together: door alignment, etc.


Piran2

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Hi,

I've been working on my 13/60 convertible, patching up the lacework, painting it etc. and am now trying to get it all back together. However, there are a couple of things I'm struggling with:

1) Door alignment: What is the best way to get the doors aligned correctly? I have the passenger door so that it shuts with a slam and the gaps look ok, but I'm really struggling to get the drivers door to sit correctly.

2) The hooks on the windscreen surround: The holes for these seem to have been pulled out proud of the surface surrounding them meaning that the catches don't sit properly but also the screws don't really fit anymore - what's the best way of rectifying this?

 

Thanks for any help

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Thanks, I've been through that a couple of times without much joy.

 

One other thing is I want to attach anti burst catches (they're on the body but not the doors) but there seems to be a big gap between where the catch would need to sit and the door, is the only difference between saloon and convertible doors the glass?

 

thanks

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As far as I know the doors are identical. Youve probably realised that setting them up starts when bolting the two halves of the body onto the chassis and if this isnt done correctly the gaps are never going to be perfect.

The doors do want to sit back as close to the B pillar as possible so that the catches are well engaged and the risk of them opening through body flex is reduced. This means having a large gap to the bonnet which is quite common and to the front pillar although this can be adjusted for to a certain degree by moving the quarterlight.

Lastly perhaps you can pack out the anti burst catches a little to achieve engagement......

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  • 1 month later...

So my red Herald is now blue, and has a nice new soft top.

Still got issue with the doors though :( I can get them to close now but only if I have the windows down (or the roof down) it seems that the water seal on the underside of the roof rail pushes the top of the window/quarterlight out which then tries to bend the window when you wind it up ! does anyone have a picture of the underside of the roof rail by the door window so that I can see what it's supposed to look like?

 

On another note: Bonnet trims, I'm putting the corner trims back on the front of the bonnet but they don't seem to curve in the same way as the bonnet so I can't get them to sit nicely between the front and side trim - when I put them on flush one side they stick out on the other - any ideas?

Finally (for now) my speedo seems to be out by about 10mph (although ti does vary across the speed range) I've taken the cable out and cleaned/lubricated it so that it no longer swings all over the place but it is very inaccurate.

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It sounds like you need to move the top door hinge inwards a little on its fixing to the door so that the door is angled out more at the top. If that upsets the fit to the bonnet too much you can resort to a more forceful solution which is to gently bend the quarterlight frame outwards a bit. However you do want a reasonably tight fit to the seals especially if theyre new as they will compress some.

With the fittings I dont think they were perfect back in the day and sometimes you just have to accept the best you can do.....

The speedo reading error, apart from its calibration, could be down to non standard tyres, diff or gearbox 

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  • 7 months later...

Well, I've been sorting out other issues and am now coming back to the doors...

 

I have tried them every which way I can and I can't get them to shut properly 😭

I had a new check strap on the drivers door - which i have now taken off as it was causing part of the problem (the door wouldn't swing shut it would be held partially open as the strap was binding.

The doors still don't quite fit the space they have - the back of the drivers door is too close to the rear bodywork but there's no further movement forward available.

But mostly I have big problems with the top of the quarterlights and how much they press against the weather seal - I can only really shut the door with the windows down...

Anyone come across this before? 

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  • 4 weeks later...

No, the bodywork hasn't been moved :( 

I did manage to get the doors to shut by reordering the arrangement for the bottom bracket of the quarterlight. After much cussing I finally got them to shut, Yay!

Drove to work and around, all fine, dropped the roof and drove home (fine getting in at work), got home, shut the drivers door - bounce... it wouldn't shut! put the roof back up and it shuts ... aarggh. 

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Ok, so it will shut with the roof down- if someone is sitting in the car!

Removed the sill, tightened the body/chassis bolts and the door shut without anyone in there :)

Put the sill back on, put the tools away, went to shut the door .... bounce... no joy :( 

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  • 8 months later...

the door seals should be a single flip lip not a giant  tube/balloon sold by many, 

sounds like the tub needs all its fixings slackening and move the baulkhead and rear tubs apart 

if the doors proud at the bottom and shuts hard on the B post (wing top) then suggest you have tub spread, take the seal off the apperture and see if the flange to door gap is same all round

and does the door shut ok with the seal off ???

Pete

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