VCCA Home Forums TECHNICAL - GENERAL Body - Sheet Metal, Paint & Wood 38 Biz Coupe Door alignment

Hey fellas
My neighbor (78 years old) bought a 38 coupe, his second.
This car is probably a late 90s resto rod, 350, Camaro FC, etc
The doors are shaved, they look fairly well aligned with the exception they are not pulling closed. If you slam the [bleeped] out of them they shut but appear ajar at the trailing edge. There are no spring loaded poppers in the jams. The latch mechanism operates via an internal door handle or remote.
Pictures to follow. Any suggestions on pulling the doors in?

There is a trick I have learned to use when I am trying to fit doors, hoods, trunk lids, etc. In fact I was using this technique today as I was fitting a glove box door.

Trial fit the door without the latching mechanism in place. Remove the striker plate so you can really see how the door fits in the opening in the body. Look at the gaps all the way around to see how uniform they are. You can also see how flush the door surface is with the rest of the body.

My first guess is that the front of the door is too close to the body. The weatherstripping will not compress enough to allow the back edge to come toward the body as far as it needs so it will close.

I am restoring a 37 truck and before I removed the doors that seemed to be sagging, I Just shimmed the whole cab and they fit and operated perfect.


I am a retired furniture, cabinet maker .