VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Front door alignment 32 4 door

Guys I've been away from my restoration for a while but back at it. Still have a time with the front doors. I've the body bolted down and shimmed. The back doors no problem yet.

The story is I've replaced all the wood. My concern is the front pillar.
The measurement from the bottom of the front pillar to the center pillar is 27-1/2". This is from the finished face of each pillar. I was never able to confirm this measurement due to the extensive rot the front pillar just wasn't attached. I have room to slide the bottom of the front pillar back 1/4" and that would push the sagging door up at the top back. I would have to cut the cowl to get to the screws that was just repaired. I'm just not sure this is the answer.

Can someone give me a measurement to confirm the bottom opening of the front doors before I make the next step? All else seems to be square as it can be. the doors are fine the best I can tell. The hinge margin looks good to. I just need to raise the strike side a little more that a 1/2" which is a lot.

Thanks guys for any help.

Don't have a body to take the measurement. My suggestion is to loosen the middle and bottom hinges at the cowl. Add a 1/8" or thinner shim between the bottom hinge and post. Snug up the lower hinge. Does that raise the back of the door the amount needed? Too little? Too much? What does it do to the front door front gap? Gap at rear door edge?

Answers to those questions will help you decide what to do next.

I have the same exact measurement-27-1/2".

Well it's good news the measurement is 27-1/2" Steve. Chipper the sedan only has two hinges. I've tried shims so I guess I will have to put some more in. The margin looks good on the hinge side. I guess I need to shim some more. What a pain to with no noticeable results. Perhaps I need to shim the body a little more.

Thanks again,
Steve

I've done a lot of door fitting over the years. If it were me, I'd either remove the hinges, or the hinge pins, then set the door in the opening to see if all the gaps are perfect, and all beltlines line up perfect.

If the door gaps are not correct, and/or beltline is off, without hinges, then the opening is racked, which might be fixed with frame-to-body shimming.

trying to find out what is wrong with hinges still in place, can be misleading, or too much trial and error.

I couldn't remember how many hinges on a '32 Sedan. When I pushed the submit button thought that there were only 2 hinges.

If your door opening width is correct and the gap at door/cowl is okay then shimming the second from front body bolt is in order. That should lift the front of the door and keep the rear door post approximately the same.

You'll be amazed how much the pillar will move with a 1/8 shim. Make sure you use hard shims (steel or aluminum). I originally tried using the rubber body shim kits that are advertised on Ebay but that was a waste of time and frustration. In the shimming instructions I believe it actually says to use a "steel" shim on the #2 mount.

I agree that shims need to be non-compressible metal not fabric or rubber. The soft shims are not really shims but anti-squeak pads. Yes they do take up space and keep parts apart.

You can calculate the approximate thickness of the shims required by proportioning the distance from body bolt (shim location) and part to be moved. I will attempt to give an example for this case. Measure from the body bolt that will not be moved to the bolt where the shim will be placed. In the case of the front door that will be the front mount near the firewall that will remain in the same position. That we will call measurement A. Now measure from the front body bolt to the rear of the door that you want to move upward. That is measurement B. The thickness of the shim will be A divided by B times the amount of upward movement desired. I this case 1/2". If we assume for this example that it is 12" for A and 48" for B then the shim would be 1/4th the 1/2" desired or 1/8" thick shim. That should be close to the desired movement but not necessarily 100% as the parts don't move like a straight lever arm.

Thanks Guys! I will be working on the shims this weekend. Chipper I think I have your math understood. It's is amazing that this approach works. I just could not see how it works based on what I read in the book. As you stated Chipper, it's not like the normal lever action one would expect. Can't wait to get to it. I have to complete this part of the fit up in order to get the can into paint.
I will let you all know how it goes. Of all the things I've done on this restoration, for some reason this has been the most difficult part for me. I'm sure I will find more along the way.

Thanks again for the great advice,

Steve

It likely will be necessary to loosen the body bolts at the shim location and the next bolts in each direction. Only when you snug them all back up will you know how much movement the shim(s) produced. The shims should be larger pieces (1 1/2-2"x3"?) of flat metal not those used for modern metal bodied cars.