'63 convetible door gaps
Hi all, I'm new to NCRS, but I've had a few mid-years (67 conv, 63 SWC, 65 conv). I currently have a '63 convertible. I've been told that I can adjust the passenger door edge gap to the quarter by shimming the body mounts (drive door is fine). Is this the proper solution to an uneven gap? Is the exact procedure outlined somewhere? Thanks, Mike
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Re: '63 convetible door gaps
I just finished working through the doors in my 64 convertible before sending the body off to the paint shop. First, if the door shell is loose on the inner steel reinforcement assembly the first thing you should do is replace any loose rivets that join the two. The Assembly Manual shows these clearly. Many of my rivets were loose so I drilled them all out and replaced them. To do this the door must be removed and stripped out so you can buck the rivets by reaching throuh the access hole. The door will fit differently after the this and will be far easier to line up. My body is currently on a steel dolly that has all the mounts just like the actual frame. I did shim the body to help even up the door gaps and it worked well, especially in the rear. I first got the door lined up best I could without shimming the body then used the body shims as a final adjustment. However, if your body mounts are original they may be deteriorated and squashed down in places causing the body to shift and mess up the door gaps. If this is the case, you should replace those first. The entire set of mounts is less than $100.00. If they are still in good shape, than you can just loosen up the mounts and add shims where required. You will get the best results for the doors by adjusting the shims on the mounts located at the rear fenders back by the fuel tank and the ones located on the radiator suport bracket. The passenger compartment of the car is supported by the other mounts, usually referred to as #1, #2 and #3. You can visualize how adjusting these without adjusting the radiator and rear mounts would affect things almost the same way as only adjusting outbound ends. One more thing, the bolts in the rear mounts are installed from the bottom up and the nuts are captive in a bracket that is below the rear deck lid hinge spring. If these bolts have never been out they can be really locked up. Pull the carpet back around the hinge spring and you will see a well behind it where the nut and retainer are. Spray a liberal amount penetrating oil on the captive nuts and wait a day. This will give you the best chance of not breaking the nut retaining bracket off (like I did) while trying to get the bots out. I have pictures if you need more info.
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Re: '63 convetible door gaps
Thanks for the advice. The car was body off restored, so all the mounts are fairly new and bolts move freely. The gap at the front edge of the door is good, the rear gap is smaller at the top. I would guess that moving the door panel won't help, as its seems that the door opening is the wrong shape. If I picture this correctly, it seems that shimming the middle of the body up, (relative to the ends of the car) will widen the opening at the top, which is what I need. Any idea which mount(s) will do this? I also would guess that after I do this, I may have to move the door panel to fit the new shape. What do you think?Comment
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Re: '63 convetible door gaps
It would be way easier just to lower the very back mount just behind the rear fender well. This is what I did and it worked perfectly. This is easy because it's just one bolt that comes out from the bottom and the nut on top is captive. Might be easier with the rear tire removed. If there is no shims to remove at this mount then you will have to do as you suggest and raise middle up...
This would require the progessive shimming of the three central body mounts starting higher at #3 moving towards #1. Mount #3 is just about about at the rear of the door, #2 is forward about 24" and #1 is at the firewall. If you shim up #3 then you will also have to address #2 but #1 should be OK (1, 2 and 3 are in the same plane) You would have to remove the door sill and the rocker panels to get to these. I don't know if the 1963 convertible had the inboard mounts between the seats but you can check by looking under the car. If so, you may have to check these also. The biggest problem with raising the middle is that it may also affect the front gap requiring that you change the front shims at the radiator support.Comment
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Re: '63 convetible door gaps
Thanks Jeff, I agree that the rear mount sounds a lot simpler to do. I'll look at it to see if it has any shims.Comment
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