I posted this same question to another board, but thought I should ask here to get some additional ideas. I'm getting paranoid about the door alignment after I get done with the floors/rockers in my 49 Ford Coupe. The p***enger door fit like total **** before I started, but the door was fairly mangled from (apparently) hitting a pole, and the hinges appear to be bent (the door wouldn't even actually close) so I thought that was the cause. I spent hours measuring and comparing to the green bible, and everything looked good, plus the drivers side fits nice. So I braced the hell out of the body and went to work. Once I got up close and personal with the floors, I noticed that the p***enger side outside body pad under the A pillar was collapsed down to a fraction of its original size, and the floor brace was rocking down on the outside and pushing up on the inside creating a nice lump in the middle of the floor. The drivers side is nice and flat. So it looks like the p***enger side A-pillar has sagged a bit. Since I don't have a door to check things with I need to figure how to get this in close enough alignment that I can hopefully just shim the door once I'm done. Here's my idea: the edge of the floor was welded to the pillar, so this point can't move relative to the pillar. I marked a reference point for that location before I cut out the floor. When I put in the new floor brace, body pad, shims, etc. and torque them down the specified amount, the top of the brace should be damn close to where the floor is supposed to be. I should then be able to lift the A-pillar by the necessary amount to make it line up with my reference point (about 1/4-3/8 in.). The pillar is well braced in the horizontal. Am I ***uming too much, or does this sound like it will work? I wouldn't be too worried, but I don't have a straight door to check with, and I can't put this on hold right now to find one. Plus, my measurements before I started showed no problem, so now I don't trust them. I figured I would tack everything in place for now, and wait until I can verify things with a good door before finish welding. Anyone have any better ideas or suggestions?
I had to read it twice to grasp what your saying. To sum it up, your saying you want to build the floor to the new brace then attach the body/pillar to that when your there. If that's right, then that's the correct way to do it. look closely at the roof and tulip panel (behind the rear window) for "travleing damage". If all's well then go for it. The only caution should be the difference between the openings. Since cars were designed by hand back then they don't always match perfect from side to side. 2 examples...Camaro 1/4s in the 1st and some 2nd gen cars are off by a 1/4 inch from side to side. 'Cuda front fender wheel openings are 3/4 off with the p***enger side being bigger as measured from the bottom across. If **** was still off in the 60s and 70s I imagine in the 40s you wanna check that out. Some big American cl***ics like Packards and such also share some discrepancies from side to side but not too bad. Worth a look then go for it.
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