I learned the hard way not to over look problems specifically when you cut something and it goes "Boing!". The "Boing" being the top of the B pillar moving back about 3/4". I ignored it and ever since have been chasing my tail as to why my door no longer fits right. The only proper fix it to go back to the scene of the crime and undo all that I did. You can see in the pics that the door is too high and body lines don't match up. This is actually a Godsend as the work I did I'm not proud of. It'll be much better this time. Panel came off much easier than it went on. Stripped off the filler, melted out the lead, made a cut just inside the weld then split it with a seam buster. A flap wheel made short work of the little strip that was left. Before I cut anything else I'm gonna put my new to me planishing hammer to work on some really ugly seams. I also want to make a table for my English wheel so I can handle the insert by myself and a new hoop for the planishing hammer. All the previous inserts I made had loads of ruts in them from the English wheel. My tracking ****s as I'm impatient. I'm eager to see how well the planishing hammer will smooth it out. Till the next episode. Thanks for all the encouragement.
This is with the roof cut and unloaded. There's no pressure on the roof. If I adjust the door down in the front the door strikes the A pillar right below the latch.
I pulled on the B pillar and that didn't help at all. Actually made it worse so tried pushing the B pillar back to make room for the front of the door to clear the A pillar but the gap at the rear of the door is horrible. Seeing this reminded me it had this problem before I cut anything or tool it off the frame. The gap here is about 3/4".
What p***ion, what desire, what drive! Great work, keep it up and you’ll have the problem solved ( fixed that is, put right)
Good luck with it. You'll get it right this time. They say you learn from your mistakes. If that's the truth, I should've been a genius by now.
Here is the body at rest with a 1/4" gap in the roof. I loosened all the hinge bolts and positioned the door in the opening. The result was a decent fit. Not excellent but pretty good. If I can hold these gaps at rest I think 1/4" shim under the B pillar will put me good. Next I'll make a filler for the roof and tack it in place then add the 1/4" shim. Hoping all will be good. I can live with 1/4" shim but 3/4" is just too much. Once the door is aligned I might cut the door and better reshape it . Then work on the new roof filler panel. I lot of work to be redone but I'm earnin the learnin. Next project I know to build my frame then bolt the body on it then do my body repairs.
Great job. Now your getting the body opening right but like you say, now the door will need reshaped, as it was done to the wrong size opening. Keep after it!!! Lippy
Interesting. Seems like the height from the bodyline on the bottom of the door to the beltline crease is taller on the door than it is on the cowl. Not sure how that happens or how it's rectified, but I think you're going down the right path of getting it figured out. The beltline is already way closer than it was before.
Agreed, but the belt line is OK at the B pillar. Can't begin to imagine what happened at the front of the door or cowl. Very odd. We know that the car had a poorly executed chop by a previous owner which I think just about everything has now been nicely reworked, but even the worst chop wouldn't encroach on that belt line, surely? It's as if there's been a half ***ed sectioning / wedgeing of the body in the cowl. Very odd! I've just had a horrible thought. The body has been messed about with previously on a less than sound frame. There was a chop and hacked doors. The bottom of the cowl has been replaced at some point. What if this cowl repair was done with the cowl sitting lower than if should have been and then do it over has reworked everything making things fit with this critical element left unaddressed until now? I hope I'm wrong. On a positive note its only metal so the belt line in the cowl could be moved north. Who needs a hood top anyway! Chris
My first operation was age 13, very ambitious. Project was a 5" top chop on my '36 Three window. Best lesson learned was Chas***y. Job eventually turned out, but after many errors 'corrected' ended up chopped 5-1/4" in front, 6" in back. Pleasing lines, but too low... Three window top resembled a tank with a small turret. Humbling experience... Next project was a roadster!
@Happydaze my guess (and I could be wrong) is the door was fitted too high up in the body to match up to the roof chop, and then the bottom cowl section was welded in at a slightly incorrect angle to match up the bottom lines, even though the beltline didn't match at that point. If I had to guess, I'd say the door needs to move down another half inch or so to get the beltline straight and the cowl bottom patch needs to be cut out and welded back in at a steeper angle, so both lines will line up (rather than move the beltline at the cowl). Once the door is on, then the roof chop will have to be cut to match up to the door, since it'll leave an even bigger gap at the top of the door than what's there now.
I'd ignore the patch panel at the bottom of the cowl for now. To me as former panelbeater (bodyman), the issue I can see from here is the cowl and A pillar is too low compared to the B pillar. Pardon my lack of knowledge of the vehicle but I ***ume they are suicide doors. Wherever the doors swing from is the critical part. The rear of the door is correct with the B pillar so it looks like the A pillar is dropped. Ignore the roof until the door is fitting correctly. Just remember that car could've been in several bingles over the years.
Boing! That is one of the normal sounds made by the vehicles I work on in my world. Happens all the time, along with fritzzt, snap, and pop. D’oh
That's exactly the problem. The cowl/A pillar sits too low. Align the belt line then redo the lower patch panel.
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