spitfire doors

[airstream]

Hi all

just joined, great forum

i just aquired a 1976 spitfire 1500, the  problem being the drivers door does not fit properly, the bottom half of the door is sticking out approx 1/2 inch, and no matter how i adjust it, shim the hinges still hopeless, the car appears to have had new sills, and floor fitted by the previous owner, im wondering if these have been welded in correctly??,  anyone else had any similar probs or got any ideas

cheers

shaun

[GreenV8Machine]

sounds like the person whos done the welding has screwed it up. Post up some pics and lets have a looky.

[Fizzy]

my car is the same. without doubt a previous owner has replaced the sills without bracing the doorgap. shame, but not much you can do about it without replacing the sills again.

[Scottie55]

I had the same problem when recently restoring my Mk3 Spit. I had a new NS door which was twisted so the doors are not always guaranteed to be straight. Its not always the sills. You can fix the sticking out door by one of four methods;

- loosen the door skin flanges, break the couple of welds and twist the door into shape then retighten the flanges

- use a disc cutter to slice the door chassis adjacent to the region of the sticking out portions and pull it in and weld

- buy a replacement door which hopefully will fit properly

- remove the door skin and fit a new one and on assembly twist all into shape before finishing off the flanges

All a bit drastic but my preference would be to cut the door chassis as that way you don't have to repaint the outer panel.

[michael]

429 wrote:

I had the same problem when recently restoring my Mk3 Spit. I had a new NS door which was twisted so the doors are not always guaranteed to be straight. Its not always the sills. You can fix the sticking out door by one of four methods;

- loosen the door skin flanges, break the couple of welds and twist the door into shape then retighten the flanges

- use a disc cutter to slice the door chassis adjacent to the region of the sticking out portions and pull it in and weld

- buy a replacement door which hopefully will fit properly

- remove the door skin and fit a new one and on assembly twist all into shape before finishing off the flanges

All a bit drastic but my preference would be to cut the door chassis as that way you don't have to repaint the outer panel.

i agree with all points regards michael (good luck)

[TRev]

I used the method in the link below, basicly put a block of wood in the top of the door shut and pushed on bottom corner of door
worked on my spitty after door skin had been replaced.
http://www.autobodystore.com/ms1.shtml
Trevor

[stum3]

Trev

Where did you Put the Wooden Block what did it react against

I am looking to try this too

Thanks

Stu

[Anthony]

My dad worked at Triumph

He said you would often see body tubs and doors being twisted into shape

The tools for the job were usually two blokes and a big plank of wood

[Rich_s]

Mine also sticks out from the bottom on the drivers side, was going to try and do something about it but when the temp gets very cold and the door freezes shut, it helps to be able to grab the bottom of the door as the handles dont seem strong enough to break the ice.

rich

[bob dunn]

my dad worked at rover and jag and austin , he used a fiber block and cracked his back like a whip to fit doors. the fiber block is positioned up and down the door jam to get different effects.