1967 door fit

[Brawley M.]

The top of the doors on my coupe are not as flush against the roof line as they could be, yet they are gapped properly everywhere else. To my eye, the gap is excessive as I can see some weatherstripping.It's alomost as if the top of the door needs to be pushed in towards the dovetailed cutout on the roof. What can be done to correct this? I researched the archives and there are posts concerning fore and aft door fit being adjusted with body shims, but I can't visualize how body shims could help my situation.

[Keith B.]

Re: 1967 door fit

look at more mid year coupes you will see you are not the only one

[Mike G.]

Re: 1967 door fit

If you have shims on the top hinge, try removing one to tilt the door inward. When closed, the outward push at the top might even things out and keep your door's forward edge in plane with the adjoining panel.

[Wayne W.]

Re: 1967 door fit

Sometimes it takes a knee and a strong arm.

[Patrick H.]

Re: 1967 door fit

Sometimes it takes a knee and a strong arm.

Just like the factory, right?

Brawley, if you have Noland Adams' book on the 63-67 Corvettes he has an explanation as to why your Corvette and all the other coupes have this problem.

Patrick

[Mike M.]

Re: 1967 door fit

I doubt that you would want to apply the factory alignment method.
That is:
roll the window down.
open the door
insert a lengthy 2" x 4" in through the window
secure the bottom of the door.
force the 2" x 4" inward until desired alignment is achieved.
HaND

[Brawley M.]

Re: 1967 door fit

Thanks for the helpful suggestions-as the car is already painted, I don't feel comfortable "persuading" the door with a 2x4! I think I will try the shim removal on the upper hinge, but the painter said he tried every which way to improve that gap to no avail. Thanks again. Brawley

[John H.]

Re: 1967 door fit

Brawley -

If you're satisfied with the door-to-fender flushness, you don't want to remove any shims from the upper hinge-to-door attachment.

The factory Final-Line correction for your issue was as follows:

Open door
Roll window down
Place knee at inside rear of door, level with the bottom of the window opening.
Pull inboard on the top of the door, repeat as required.

[Mike G.]

shim removal

Before tweaking the door, I would definitely check the top hinge for shims to see if one can be removed.

I just did my roadster and test hung the doors before final paint. One the driver's side, the top hinge took 2 full shims. The fit was absolutely perfect. But this was without the vent window assembly, or the door weatherstrip.

Fast forward to after paint and after putting the whole door together, including the rubber. Now the door was hugely above flush at the beltline, because of the outward force from the vent assy. compressing against the windshield pillar.

Again, there were 2 shims behind that upper hinge. Removed one and the door came almost all the way back to flush. Just a little above, at the forward beltline. Typical for what I've observed.

So... that's why I would try to remove an upper shim (assuming there is one!)

Good luck, this can be pretty frustrating if you're chasing perfection.

[Joe R.]

Re: 1967 door fit

Brawley,

Don't use the 2 X 4 or your knee until you have removed the weatherstrip to see if that's your problem.

There is some weatherstrip out there that is just too thick or stiff to let the door look right at the top.

If the weatherstrip is too large, all the shims and milling in the world won't let that door close right. And believe you me, I have tried.

JR

[Brawley M.]

Re: 1967 door fit

Thanks for all the insight. I bought the weatherstripping in a large kit supplied by Paragon and it fits rather nicely.If it is indeed too thick, I will have to live with it for now. I can't justify hunting and pecking for the right thickness weatherstrip; my wife and my wallet just won't allow it. I will remove it and see how the top of the door looks just for grins. Again, I really appreciate the help. Brawley

[Tom H.]

Re: 1967 door fit

Noland's book suggests that the factory roof panels were manufactured slightly out of spec, thus making the doors "too tall" His book does describe the knee bending procedure used by workers on the line. He does comment that this procedure caused increased effort for roll up windows and also made some power windows unusable.

Never knew if this was a true story, or an urban myth. Sounds like it may have been fact. I know my 63 doors are a touch too tall. I won't be bending them !

[Paul Y.]

Re: 1967 door fit

My 63 doors fit very well until I removed them to paint the car. Now I still have a little more adjustment to get them back like they were. I will keep on persisting until I get them the way they were. I sure wish I had taken more time when removing them. Oh well, it's all a learning process. Paul

[Gene M.]

Re: 1967 door fit

Brawley,
Since you said there is new paint, I'd assume the doors fit good without w/s.
Do you have new weatherstrips on the doors? Sometimes new w/s need to take a set till they will seat the door without "puffing out". I found Corvette Rubber w/s to be less of a problem puffing the tops of the doors out. As a last resort you may need to trim the back of the w/s before glue them in.

[Gene M.]

Re: 1967 door fit

John.
Did they do that on a painted car with w/s or before painting?