1952-59 Ford Door adj. on 54 Merc HDTP

I got my car painted at a fairly well recommended body shop. The paint job is very nice & the body guy had the doors adj. perfect before he painted it, but after he put the new rubber door seals on the bottoms of the doors stick out. After readjusting I still have a half inch of the bottom of the door sticking out past the body. I've seen the same problem on other 50's Fords & Merc. also. They never came from the factory like that What's the magic adj. that needs to be done.?

 

I before I tore everything apart to redo the entire car, I dealt with this same problem with no resolve. It seemed like every week I was doing adjustments and never got it factory correct.

 

I've talked to guys who removed the door seal, sliced the door behind where the door seal was, push the outer door skin in, weld it, & put the door seal back on. Couldn't find anyone to do that to mine. Been a mechanic all my life, not a body guy.

 

RDAH, Is the weatherstrips for the doors a exact copy of the original Ford weatherstrip or a after market universal weatherstrip made to fit may different model Fords. If it is a universal weatherstrip, do you have the weatherstrip on correctly? I have found that universal weatherstrips are made to fit different ways depending on the Profile of the weatherstrip and the car you are working on.

To get the bottom of door to go in at rocker, the lower hinge at door post (not on door) must be moved in toward brake paddle. Hinge to door is for forward and back, and up and down movements. When I repainted my 54 & 55 ford, I purchased my weatherstrips from Dennis Carpenter and had no problems with fitting doors back on. ( pictures in my photo album of 54 to see body fit)
Just my .02 cents on the subject. (40 yrs as a body/paint tech)

 

I did get the door weather stripping from D. Carpenter, nice soft stuff.. Do you mean towards the brake pedal.? I'll try that if ever gets above 32* degrees here in Wi. Takes too much heat to warm the shop with these temps. Thanks for your time & your cars look great.

 

RDAH are you the same guy I was parked next to at Route 66 tour in Springfield, IL. I was there with my white SunValley

 

After sixty years of bumping up and down on the highways and byways, the doors warp. The dealers back then had a foot long chunk of 2X4 covered with carpet. Stick it where it is needed and bend the door.

 

Yes I am koolmercuryman. I wish I would have bought those 292 to 302 valve cover adapters from you then. That sure was a great show & all those Merc's.

 

ole don, I worked a gas station back in the 60's and lots of 50's car came in with bottoms of doors sticking out & my boss would do the 2x4 trick & it worked. I just had an $8000,00 paint job & the car looks better then any car I've ever owned. Need to build up some courage before I try something even thou I know it works.

 

I did the 2X4 trick on my quarter panels, the tires rubbed a little on turns, no rub at all now and you can't see any difference in the panels.
My wife's Durango sprung a hinge and I've jacked the door up with a floor jack many times to straighten it out.

 

The doors are opened and closed how many times over how many years?
And these are heavy doors.

The hinge pins and striker plates take the brunt of the wear and with years of operation things gets sloppy. But, because the rubber seals are worn out the door still closes ok.

I replaced the seals and plates and had some of the same issue as RDAH. Got a pro body man to work on the doors with me (who had just completed a complete restor on a gl*** panel roof 55). After working at it for 1/2 hour, he said "You are not going to get these doors right unless you replace the worn hinge pins."

I am about the replace the pins - as soon as I find the correct parts (note my separate thread on the subject). If your pins are worn (and they likely are quite worn), it may help to replace them.

 

I agree with the hinge pins.. Readily available from most re-pop shops, but the ones I got where not heat treated.. If you use it a lot I would try and find one from a later car/pickup thru FoMoCo or GM maybe NAPA etc that is case hardened to reduce wear. Those dead soft ones won't take long to wear as bad as the old ones if you drive it a lot.