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I need to adjust the driver side door on my 1950 Hardtop. According to the 1949 Fisher Body Service & Construction Manual, I need to make the adjustment at the Front Body Pillar. Of course, that portion of the hinge is hidden by the front fender. Assuming I can get access to those bolts, how do I do the following adjustment. I need to RAISE the door about 1/8th inch at the hinge side of the door. I also have to move the bottom of the door at the lock side to get it closer the the fender. The best visual I can give would be looking at the driver side door and turn the entire door CLOCKWISE about an 1/8th of an inch - up on the left side and down on the right. So how do I accomplish this task?

To get the bottom of the door closer to the fender adjust the diagonal rod per the instruction manual page 142. To raise the door I would try loosening all hinge bolts on the DOOR and try raising the door. Been a long time since I did mine. HT and convertible use the same door.

Hawkeye, I have some questions about your car. Has it been on the road in use for many years, or has it gone through a complete body-off restoration at some point? Has this alignment problem existed for a long time or did it appear recently? Do you know the history of the car? I'm asking these questions because I (and others) might be able to help you better if we knew this info. Having driven '51 2-door Chevs from 1959 to about 7 years ago (when I gave it to Brewster) I learned a few things about them.
Door sagging from age usually dropped the trailing edge of the door downward. I take it you don't have this problem. Has the car ever been in an accident? Brewster's car was rear-ended in 1954 and the repairs were made by a GM dealer (where my dad had worked since 1929). From that time on, the driver's door never closed to be in line with the rear quarter at the bottom. The reason seems to be that the door frame was slightly sprung in the accident. This might be a cause of your troubles too.
Another possible cause for your misalignment might be that at some time in the car's life bodywork was done to the door to remove a dent or rusted out metal. A patch panel was used along the base of the door but the line that it formed along the length of the door is not perfectly straight. This can be checked while the door is on the car.
When you close the door, how do the vertical spacings look between the front of the door and the front fender and hood, and the rear of the door and the rear quarter panel. Are each of them the same width from top to bottom? If one of these is out, it should be corrected first. The easiest way is to take off the front fender (which is news you didn't want to hear). Then you can loosen the hinge bolts to both the cowl and door. That will allow you to "wiggle around" the door to set up the alignment with the rear quarter, windshield pillar, hood and rocker panel. (That's a 2 man job!). Then the front fender can go back on and be aligned with the door (shims might be necessary). It's a job that takes lots of patience.
It's been over 40 years since I did that job so I'm sure someone else can chime in here with better hints than mine. The shop manual is worth consulting too. Let us know how you make out, please.

Kaygee, I was able to get my neighbor to give me a hand. He worked at a f--d plant and has a lot of basic body fit experience. The door is in and is level at the belt line. The gap between the door and the quarter panel is not ideal but works. We removed the roof rail weather stripping as well as the dog leg w/s on the door. The only w/s that is installed is down the front edge around the bottom and up the lock side of the door. With the latch reinstalled, the door closes well. We had to adjust the vent window assembly because it was too high. Tomorrow, I hope to re-install the roof rail w/s and the dogleg w/s and see where we are. If it's close, I am going to close the door and leave it alone for a week. After that I will make the necessary adjustments to the glass and re-install all the bolts I took out of the front fender to move it out of the way. My goal is to get the doors and windows to seal and keep water out.

This car has doors from another vehicle and NOS rear quarters which were not perfect to start with. As far as I can tell, the car was never hit - just a lot of body work like it was hit.

Sounds like you're heading down the right road! Can you throw us up a picture or two when you get it all together, please?

Blue 50 Convert, I tried to tighten up the diagonal rod, but had no luck. Attached is a photo of where I am now. All the weather stripping is re-attached and the door closes MUCH better. I positioned the door latch in as far as it can go, but the door is still out about 1/8 inch. The problem here is that the side window does not seal against the quarter window leading edge weather strip. If I push the door against the body, the chrome window edge contacts with the quarter window weather strip. I don't think there is any "in or out" adjustment for the quarter window. Any ideas?

When you get yours figured, come give me a hand.

CORRECTION - there is a "for & aft" adjustment for the rear quarter window. Will open up that can of worms tomorrow.

If you have a shop manual that covers '49-'54 models, on pp15-16 of part 1 there are instructions for adjusting the rear quarter windows for in&out, up&down, and front to back. If you don't have this book, go to "Old Chevy Manuals" online and scroll down to the entry 1949-1953 shop manual. That should help you get the windows set up so that the door window will snuggle up nicely to the quarter window weatherstrip when you shut the door. And that'll last until you bump the rear quarter window some day when it is up but the top is down and you find your perfect adjustment isn't!!! And don't ask me how I know!!

Kaygee, the book I have been using (also on "Old Chevy Manuals") is Fisher Body Service Manuals, 1951 volume 10 #15. Adjustment of Body Hardware for Convertible & Bel Air. Since you have a convertible and I don't, there may be some information that you could use. As of now, I am going to leave there door where it is. This fall, I may take the front fender off and start over again.

The door should be level with the body. You need to find the reason why it won’t close deeper. Either the pin or latch is worn or the latch isn’t fully going to it’s second detent. Before adjusting the window the door needs to be right.

Chistech, what do you mean by second detent?

Hawkeye, I'll take a stab at this one, but I might be 'way off in my thinking. I think he is calling the "fully closed" position of the latch the second detent. The first detent would be what I call the "safety catch" where the door latches but is not completely shut. Back in the day it was the new and improved safety feature designed to keep a door from flying open (and keep you from flying out) when the car was involved in a collision.

Attached is a photo of the original door striker plates from my car. I think the second detent was added in 1955.

The improved 2nd design was used from 1953 and 1854 and replaced the earlier style.

Those look like the ones that are on both the '50 and '51 that Brewster now has. When the door is shut the latch is in the second detent. When you go to open the door, you push in the outside button with your thumb and begin to pull the door open. As soon as the door begins to move, take your thumb off the outside button and keep pulling. The door should not open, but "catch" and not come open any further. The latch is now in the first detent I think Chistech is referring to. Push the button in again and pull and the door will swing wide open.

Blue 50 Convert, I looked at the diagonal door adjusting rod and discovered why it did not adjust my door. The entire rod was turning when I turned the slotted screw at the door bottom. I attached a pair of Vise Grips to the rod near the middle of the door, sprayed a little oil on it, and the darn thing actually moved my door where I needed it to go. WOW, modern technology. What will they think of next?

If I remember correctly that rod has a screwdriver slot at the top end of the rod. Glad you got it figured out.