Door hinge mounts

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Can anybody explain how the door hinges and door latches were positioned at the factory? With no adjustments and wood screws how did they get it right the first time? Jim

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I am not sure how the factory adjusted them, but by posting how I have done it maybe someone who does know will chime in.

It is a bit of an iterative process because how the body sits on the frame effects the door alignment and so it ends up being a combination of bending the hinges and adjusting the body pads. First I assume the door should have a consistent gap with the body along the hinge side (fwd edge of a front hinge door, aft edge of a suicide door). The hinges can be bent slightly in a press to adjust this gap – a bit scary but I haven’t had one break yet. When those gaps are good the alignment of the latches and wedges is done by shimming the body pads to basically bend the whole body. My ’35 Club sedan has more shims in the middle and a lot of load on the front bolts at the firewall forcing a bend in the body that pulls the door latches/alignment wedges up at the center pillar.

I don’t know if this is how the factory did it. If not I am hoping someone will chime in that has the original, better method!

Jim

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I have never seen a factory installed shim. I think years of working on coach built bodies with master craftsmen was the reason why. I am sure the final door gaps were fit by using lead down the entire door length, then filed to where they wanted them. If you look at factory photos, the gaps are even and well done. BUT they seem to be larger than today’s restoration standards. When we restored my 36 we ended up doing a fair amount of metal repair, so we used steel to get the gaps right as I was concerned too much filler would chip over the years. It’s not an exact science, wnd when working to repair cars after years of sitting and wood or worn out hinge issues, it can be quite difficult. Before shimming a door, one should shim the body mounts, it’s amazing how much asking or subtracting a body shim will move things around. Often, it is old dry wood that has changed its shape causing issues. Doors start to potato chip away from the jams. Turn buckles and shims are often required to correct the problem. Be sure to paint the shims under the hinge as to help hide them. Nothing looks worse than off colored shims painted with a brush.

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