I'm in over my head this time!!! I got the '30 coupe all taken apart. I got the cowl section sand blasted and built an all new subframe structure from repop parts. Got the sub and cross rails bolted down on the frame (loosely) and started to fit the cowl. Once the cowl was in place I trial fitted the passenger door and it won't even come close to fitting correctly. It takes about 1 and 1/2 inches of fender washers to space the cowl section up high enough at the front (I normally see this section bolted down directly to the frame on other cars) so that the door will sit level to and close against the subrail and rear door frame squarely. So, I am frustrated and have not even touched the car in two weeks...mainly 'cause I don't have a clue where to go from here....? HELP!!!???
Remember this....the door only has to fit the car you are working on...it will fit....it's only metal.....make it work. I don't know what you are doing...chopped?..channelled?...sectioned??...hiboy??..floors??...etc. If you have a rusty hulk, you can tack weld the whole car together...minus the firewall.{so you can crawl inside} Set the body on the frame and start to build a structure to hold it where you want it. Once it(the body) is structually sound, the doors can be "untacked"...now continue building your floor..firewall, etc. As long as the body sits level and plumb...you don't need to worry about how many shims you are using....if the doors work and the car looks good, you are done.
Snake, take some pics, we may be able to come up with some ideas. Sounds as though you may have to do some door massaging. keep your head up. We will get you through it!
All the above suggestions plus it sounds like you could have a twist in your frame if it's only a problem or if you have opposite problems on the two sides. Stretch some pieces of string diagonally across the top of the bare frame at spots that should be level and see if the strings barely touch each other where they cross. If they don't ,fix it. On the cowl, If you need to go that high on both sides it's because the rear of the body is too low. shim the rear of the body up so you get an angle that brings the cowl down. Don't forget, if you EVER might want to put a stock or an already made to stock specs aftermarket hood on it you must shim that cowl to jive with the hood and radiator shell first and then shim the body to make the door align. I found this out the hard way, had to reshim the whole thing twice, and I had suicided the doors! And remember, it's not the steps getting you down, it's trying to look at the whole thing all at once as one big problem that's geting you down. The whole thing all at once is ovewhelming and impossible. One man never built a Model A. An assembly line of men did. So split the project up into assembly line size individual operations and you will get the whole thing done, eventually.
I am gonna have to agree with the others (i am such a conformist) I thought I was going to have to cut my doors down to fit the opening with the 29 untill i got the floor all welded in. then i closed the door to walk around the car and the frigging thing slide shut didn't touch anywhere and was perfect. Maybe you needed the 2 weeks to get new perspective?
Not trying to be a smartass, but are you sure you have all the proper wood blocks in place? Ford used wood between the subrails and frame. alchemy
When I took the doors and wood out of my '34 Morris the whole bodyshell turned into a rusty saggy sack of shit! Had to prop and wedge and shim it all over to get it somewhere near the shape i wanted it. Then I got all silly and decided to chop the top. I've had real down days, when things are going slow in the workshop, thinking how many hundreds of seperate operations are required before it will hit the road, but forums such as this one give you the interest and enthusiasm to keep on with the project. Keep at it and you'll laugh about all this trouble one day.
Also don't forget you can bend the hinges quite a bit to align the doors if it is not square to the A pillar. I heated, bent, and beat the hell out of my hinges to get it all to line up. Good Luck TZ
Thanks for all the encouraging words and ideas guys. I am using a reproduction wood block kit that I bought from wescotts. The insructions say to sand the blocks down until they are flush with the bottom of the cross channels. I have not done this as of yet because the blocks are all shaped differently on the frame contact side and I am assuming there is a reason for this. The more I look at the problem though the more I think that bringing the front two cross channels down until they touch the frame would help a bunch if not solve the problem all together. The body will be highboy style and the body is not yet chopped (I wanted to get everything right before I started on the chop). The frame is custom built frame that was built at a local shop about 5 years ago. It measures up square and level. It has been z'd in the rear about 6" and the subrails have been modified to clear that portion of the frame. I'll try and post some pics in a bit.
Door without shims or clamps. You can see that the angle finder shows the post is about 1 deg. off of verticle. The framw sits at the same 1 deg nose down.
sounds like your cowl is tweaked.... bolt the cowl down without spacers, push and pull and get your hingeposts,striker posts, and firewall to be 90 degrees. you will want all your pillars to read the same with your inclinometer..... Ive been there.......... LUKESTER
On my bro's Model A (28 though) the wood blocks are NOT shaved down to level with the subframe. His ORIGINAL HENRY wood blocks hold the subframe up approximately 1/4" off the frame. Don't know if Wescott is wrong or 30's are different, but it's something to consider. alchemy
How about a profile shot with the whole thing in the picture taken from frame level? Can't tell whats going on with just details of small areas. It's possible you have it too high in the middle.
The Jalopy Journal
