Door Troubles...

[Dietrich]

I'm having a bit of a problem fitting a replacement door...

The passenger side went on fine, but the driver side door won't close cleanly. It's on the two pins, as it should be, with the 2x bolts fully tightened. It feels well supported and moves freely, but it just won't close... It's as if it's hanging down slightly. I've already rehung it once, and I've tried to keep it elevated while I tighten the bolts.

Any suggestions before I try yet again? It's driving me mad. :|

Tom

 

[Dietrich]

Any ideas on this..?

I'm sure it must be something simple. I know you can adjust a hinge using the bolts, but I can't seem to make it fit this time... Short of putting washers on the pins to balance it out, I'm a bit stuck...

Getting in the passenger side is getting old... :|

Tom

 

[Mark]

When you say not closing, does it sit totally in the wrong place, or 'bang' on the lock part ?

You might possibly need to adjust the actual lock and fastener on the door post, as IIRC, they allow a bit of adjustment too.

 

[Dietrich]

Cheers Mark... I hadn't looked at that, but I'll see if it helps.

The door moves freely on the hinge, but it hangs down low when it's open. The locks don't line up because of this... To close it, I need to lift the door to line everything up.

Tom

 

[Anonymous]

did you have a bang on the side you are changign the door on? why is it you are changing the doors?

 

[Dietrich]

Someone kicked in my passenger door... Great huh? As I've mentioned though, that one was an easy swap. I also replaced the driver door because of a number of scratches / dents. The cost of the new doors was far less than the quotes I received from various bodyshops.

Tom

 

[Anonymous]

i was just thinking maybe a warp in the structure but if it was the passenger side. if you pysicaly lift the door by the handle and shut it does it close? or is it too far out?

 

[Dietrich]

It's not too far out to close, no...

Imagine the door as you close it, but just before it actually closes... Now the doors sits slightly too low to close cleanly (by less than 1"). If you lift it as you close it, you can close the door fully and lock the car.

It's a pain in the a** though.

Tom

 

[Anonymous]

try taking the bottom bolt hinges off and oputting in a couple washers in behind the hinge to sit it away from the frame a little it SHOULD make it fit in place


bolt them out then BEHIND the hinge put in 2-3 around each bolt on the bottom hinge only. see if this helps

 

[Dietrich]

FINALLY...

Thanks Mark and R45C4L for the pointers. I finally managed to get the door off in daylight which made things a lot easier. As suggested Mark, the plates on the door allow for a lot of movement... I just couldn't see it before. A bit of adjustment with a 10mm allen key later, et voila. I was about to go down the washer route (measuring in preparation for B&Q!) when I noticed the panel spacing was all wrong, which no amount of washers would have sorted.

Thanks again...

Tom

 

[Mark]

Great to hear you got it sorted Tom...

Always a pleasure to help someone out in their hour of need.