VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - 1945 AND EARLIER 1929-1932 Sagging Driver's Door. 29 Chevy

I am sure this has been asked before, but are there ways to repair a sagging driver's door on a 29 coupe? The car is not falling apart but it is difficult to close. Some times I can lift it slightly and it catches and closes, other times no.. I can not see where the sag is and what would cause it.
Any suggestions are appreciated.
Thanks.

Hello Tu papa,
How about warn out hinge pins due to lack of lubrication? You might inspect for loose and or warn door hinge attach points to either the door itself, the 'A' pillar, or both. Open the door to the point that someone can lift the back of the door up and down while you study the door carefully near the hinge areas for any slight movement, there should not be any. How about warn or missing guides that are supposed to be on the bottom of the door and/or at the door latch and pin. I do not know if the hinges are adjustable. A check of the repair manual should tell you.

I tried to get the door hinge pins out once; I could not get them to move...

You might have to shim the door hinges or possibly shim the body to get the door to close correctly.

Hello Tu papa,
The Filling Station has a Tech Article in the Body category titled 'Door Hinge Pins and Bushing Replacement'. It mentions that bushings were first used in 1932 cars. The article tells you how to check the hinges and what to do to replace them if needed.

I have a feeling it is a shim deal.

Update: I solved one half the problem mentioned above. I managed to get the door latch to work more freely and that helped.
However the door sags a bit and I figure that I need to shim it.
Questions:
Where do I shim it? I figure under the post in front of the door????
Where do you get the shims or what are they made of...?
How do you jack the body up to slide the shim in place?
Thanks for all the help

Did this about 10 years ago based on information in a fisher body book covering 1933--1936 cars. Any movement in the hinge pin area , should mean new hinge pins. This is separate from the whole hinge assembly moving, that's a different problem.

To get the door to come up so that the body lines align you need to shim under the middle body mounting bolt in center of the door area.

Peel back the floor carpet exposing the middle of the door body bolt and loosen it by removing the nut.

Skootch your head under the side of the car with a bottlejack , placing it onto wood or bricks so it can reach the wood floor side rails. Better to have a piece of wood ..hardwood , on top of the jack head to spread the load.

Now jack the body up where the bolt is until the body lines align. Use body shims between the steel frame and the wood side rails. Once its aligned let it down slowly and if aligned your done other than tightening the body bolt.


To get the hinge out place a container on the running board as a drip tray and using your best brand of rust buster, soak it multiple times over a week, until you can drive the hinge pin upwards with a drift & hammer.

There is an actual tool to do this and I think somebody will have plans or ideas of how to construct it or in what book to see what it looks like.

mike lynch...........

Thanks for your e mail. I did get the hinge pins out, but I do not think that is the problem. I lubricated the latch and that helped a lot.
I see what you are saying on the shim. (I have the sport coupe) I looked high and low and am not seeing a bolt that would loosen to allow a shim. I really am not seeing the shims.
Am I missing something? Thanks for the help.
PS What are the shims made of?