Door alignment - Tub issues?

[Josh]

I am having a heck of a time getting my doors to align and close properly. I knew they didn't seem right and after seeing how a door closes properly at DCS, I know mine are way off.

Basically what is happening is the rear of the door is pushed way out, and the front of the door hands too low. The only way they can be successfully closed is if the pressure is applied to the very rear of the door by the handle (exterior).

I have literally tried everything. I had to replace my doors as the car was previously painted and they were very damaged. I Have done adjustments through the hinges, shims, and strikers with many trails and they are still closing very poorly. I removed the windshield and jacked up the roof so the center was no longer sagging, as outlined by instructions found on this forum and communications with DMC and DPI. But, as it sits the shims are loaded up on the front hinges with none on the rear and still the door juts out in the rear and sags in the front. The front latch will fully latch when the rear only clicks once, and no matter what I do I cannot get it to close better than this.

So what I am thinking is the tub is to blame. I believe the portion of the roof covered by the roof box is sloping downward towards the front and causing the misalignment. Also, i have found several strange cracks in my tub in the roof, not to mention the passenger side a-pillar that was almost entirely cracked in half that I had re-fiberglassed. I also noticed there had been a repair in the spare tire well where a fist sized hole was and a new piece grafted in. All this makes me question the tub even more.

So basically I am wondering if I'm on the right track here and should start the search for a new (to me) tub. Also, if the misalignment in the doors right now will cause them to be permanently tweaked so if i go the new tub route they still will not close properly?

[NightFlyer]

I think that this is something where you have to decide 'what's good enough,' and 'is it worth it' to make things function a little bit better.

I never got to try your doors, nor you my doors, but as many early cars suffer, door alignment on my car isn't perfect either, but IMHO is good enough (they don't leak any water, but don't close the nicest either). Of the car's I've personally experienced, Luke S.'s car (a late build '82 MY) has the nicest closing doors I've ever experienced, but he also committed a lot of time/effort in getting everything just right.

If it's worth it to you, then it may very well be in your best interest to source a new tub, as the condition of your current tub sounds like it's certainly not helping things any.

Or it may be that what you've got right now is good/close enough.

What ever you decide to do - the very best of luck! :thumbup:

[Patrick C]

Here is my compilation of the advice of others that helped me adjust my doors perfectly:


From DMCHelp 2006:


"There are no absolute measurements or resource for door adjustment. You just fool with it until it's right. It took the Irish about 2000 cars thru production to become consistent in door placement. Early cars, especially sub-1000 VINs, are notorious for their poor fit.
So far as the door seals, if they are shredding along the top where the headliners meet, the problem is likely the seal mounting angle, not the door fit. The front outside corner is usually the place. To correct this, pull the seal away from the fiberglass lip in the door opening. With a Dremel or other rotory file, grind out the excess material from the inner radius of the fiberglass molding along the lip. This will allow the seal to sit more upright and miss the headliner as it closes with the door.
Warren at DMC"

And in terms of aligning the door, Byrne Henninger's advice was priceless:


"We use the following procedure in aligning the door to the body.
1. Remove door strut
2. Pop door open
3. Remove striker pins
4. Remove outer door seals
5. Loosen door hinges
6. Apply small amount of oil above and below hinge bolts
7. Lower door slowly and let free fall last several inches (repeat free fall several times and close firmly by hand each time)
8. Tighten hinge nuts until just snug
9. Repeat #7
10. Repeat #8
11. Repeat #7 and # 8 until door hinge nuts show no movement then tighten each firmly
12. Lean against door and inspect alignment, repeat procedures #5, 7 and 8 if necessary
13. Set one striker pin at a time.
14. Striker pin adjusts in a rectangular box configuration: left/ right, up/down ( there are effectively six positions.)
15. Striker pin adjustment is trial and error but note you moves and result
16. Replace outer door seals flush and only barely above edge of fender. There is no need to slam doors.

NEVER DRIVE WITH DOOR OPEN, IT IS A SERVERE STRAIN ON DOOR AS WELL AS HINGE and causes misalignment"

[Josh]

Thank you Patrick. I have stumbled upon your post before and it was helpful to some extent! However my door situation is beyond striker pin and hinge adjustment issues :(

[Patrick C]

Thank you Patrick. I have stumbled upon your post before and it was helpful to some extent! However my door situation is beyond striker pin and hinge adjustment issues :(

Did you grind the backside of the fiberglass lip to ensure the seals point up straight? That was my real issue and it solved many alignment nightmares.

[Josh]

Did you grind the backside of the fiberglass lip to ensure the seals point up straight? That was my real issue and it solved many alignment nightmares.

Admittedly I have not. I will take a look at them this weekend and see if it will help. Ill report back here! So basically look for areas where the seal is curling around? I know my passenger side door hinges need to get slid forward as they are contacting the rear seals too much.

[Patrick C]

Admittedly I have not. I will take a look at them this weekend and see if it will help. Ill report back here! So basically look for areas where the seal is curling around? I know my passenger side door hinges need to get slid forward as they are contacting the rear seals too much.

Yes, any area where the seal leans forward is bad. You want it vertical, especially in the corner by the windshield.

[Kane]

Can any of you guys post some pictures of the area that needs grinding and what a good seal looks like versus a bad one? I have issues with closing the driver's door (from the inside) and noticed the seal shredding in the rear top corner.

I never thought about the seals not sitting right. If I could see what you guys are talking about, I might be able to fix my issues.

[spikeygg]

So, I'm trying to do some adjustments to my passengers side door and I'm wondering if the torsion adjustment can be loosened/tightened without loosening the left and right mounting bracket bolts. Anyone know? I want to loosen the torsion bar temporarily to take the tension off of the front hinge so I can tighten it without fighting the torsion bar.46369

[Rich]

So, I'm trying to do some adjustments to my passengers side door and I'm wondering if the torsion adjustment can be loosened/tightened without loosening the left and right mounting bracket bolts. Anyone know? I want to loosen the torsion bar temporarily to take the tension off of the front hinge so I can tighten it without fighting the torsion bar.46369

No, there isn't a way to "loosen the torsion bar temporarily" without pulling that rear bracket off after loosening two bracket bolts that hold it to the roof box. And you cannot do that until you get an allen key and a large extension wrench onto the torsion bar to take the torque off of the bracket, same as when adjusting the torsion bar.

In terms of minimizing the torque on the bar without pulling the bracket the best you can do is pull off the lift strut and move the door upward/open a few more degrees. And even then there will still be quite a bit of torque at both ends of the torsion bar. And you need to be careful not to run the door into the stainless T-roof panel if you do this.

[spikeygg]

And in terms of aligning the door, Byrne Henninger's advice was priceless:


"We use the following procedure in aligning the door to the body.
1. Remove door strut
2. Pop door open
3. Remove striker pins
4. Remove outer door seals
5. Loosen door hinges
6. Apply small amount of oil above and below hinge bolts
7. Lower door slowly and let free fall last several inches (repeat free fall several times and close firmly by hand each time)
8. Tighten hinge nuts until just snug
9. Repeat #7
10. Repeat #8
11. Repeat #7 and # 8 until door hinge nuts show no movement then tighten each firmly
12. Lean against door and inspect alignment, repeat procedures #5, 7 and 8 if necessary
13. Set one striker pin at a time.
14. Striker pin adjusts in a rectangular box configuration: left/ right, up/down ( there are effectively six positions.)
15. Striker pin adjustment is trial and error but note you moves and result
16. Replace outer door seals flush and only barely above edge of fender. There is no need to slam doors.


I tried to do this adjustment this morning and it didn't mention anything about the front hinge being under force from the torsion bar. It took me about 10 minutes to figure out why the bolts on the front hinge were not loosening up as much as the bolts on the rear hinge. Then it hit me, the torsion bar is forcing this hinge toward the other side of the car. The door, fully opened fell as far down as possible and I cannot lift it back into position. When I let it close slowly, I can see it touching the T-panel. It's propped open now but I want to pull the tension off the torsion bar so I can reset the hinge.


No, there isn't a way to "loosen the torsion bar temporarily" without pulling that rear bracket off after loosening two bracket bolts that hold it to the roof box. And you cannot do that until you get an allen key and a large extension wrench onto the torsion bar to take the torque off of the bracket, same as when adjusting the torsion bar.

In terms of minimizing the torque on the bar without pulling the bracket the best you can do is pull off the lift strut and move the door upward/open a few more degrees. And even then there will still be quite a bit of torque at both ends of the torsion bar. And you need to be careful not to run the door into the stainless T-roof panel if you do this.

I messed with it a bit and the torque on the torsion bar is keeping me from properly setting the front hinge. When I try to close the door that front hinge stays pinned against the top and will not allow the door to close level with the T-panel/windshield. I've talked to another DeLorean owner friend and he mentioned that Rob Grady has a jig that helps to ease the removal of the bracket and tension on the torsion bar. Does anyone have a link to a schematic of this jig?

[Patrick C]

I messed with it a bit and the torque on the torsion bar is keeping me from properly setting the front hinge. When I try to close the door that front hinge stays pinned against the top and will not allow the door to close level with the T-panel/windshield. I've talked to another DeLorean owner friend and he mentioned that Rob Grady has a jig that helps to ease the removal of the bracket and tension on the torsion bar. Does anyone have a link to a schematic of this jig?

See attached PDF.

[David T]

See attached PDF.
If you don't have the jig another way to do it is to remove the sunshade. Are you really sure you want to adjust the hinge?

[81dmc]

If you don't have the jig another way to do it is to remove the sunshade. Are you really sure you want to adjust the hinge?

Looks like he already messed with the hinge alignment...

In order to adjust the hinge on the door, you have to adjust the angle of the hinge, torque the torsion bar, test the door alignment to the tub, untorque the bar, and repeat until all is good.

Overall, plan on taking a few days to get it right.

[spikeygg]

Looks like he already messed with the hinge alignment...

In order to adjust the hinge on the door, you have to adjust the angle of the hinge, torque the torsion bar, test the door alignment to the tub, untorque the bar, and repeat until all is good.

Overall, plan on taking a few days to get it right.

Yup, I'm going to build the jig and have my wife hold the torque. 😀

[DMC5180]

Yup, I'm going to build the jig and have my wife hold the torque. [emoji3]

FYI, the article equipment list has a typo in it.

It's a 24" X 1/2" drive breaker bar.


Dennis

[spikeygg]

FYI, the article equipment list has a typo in it.

It's a 24" X 1/2" drive breaker bar.


Dennis

Yup, I see that and I have it covered.