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Hey all. I’m getting close to getting the car on the road. Need to install the top, do the electrical checks, engine tune-up, and purchase tires. The only problem I have now is adjusting the doors. They close but I have to just about slam the doors to get them to latch. The front of each door needs to go into the body more. Driver’s door about 1/2 inch and the passenger’s door about 3/4 inch. Any adjustment tips?
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackI would first loosen the body side hinge mounting bolts and see if you can maneuver the door in the direction you want. Over the years I’ve elongated or slotted almost every mounting point on my car for wiggle room.
Bill Ascheman
Fiberfab Ford
Modified 5.0, 5sp., 4:11
Autocross & Hillclimb
"Drive Happy"I’ll give that a try. I’m really close to the outside but I think elongating the holes toward the interior is what I need. I’ll loosen the bolts tomorrow and see if thats the correct way to move them and report back tomorrow. Thanks Bill.
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackI spent a lot of time adjusting my doors, but I am not sure I understand your problem. When I got the car, my doors would go shut with a slam, but they’d rub on the body and the passenger door sagged and had to be lifted up to close it. I was not able to do what BillinParts suggested; the screws fit too tightly in the hinge holes, and I certainly wasn’t about to enlarge the hinge holes because that would be a formula for sagging doors later on. Instead, what I did was place washers of varying thickness between the body and the hinges. If you put the washers on the lower hinge, it pushes the door upwards a little; the thicker the washer, the more it moves upward. Once properly adjusted, I screwed them in with some power and also used thread-locker on them.
Even then, things weren’t perfect. I ended up grinding down the fiberglass on the doors every place they rubbed. This was not a problem because the fiberglass was extremely thick. Even now, there are a couple of rub spots but they’re minor. Even now, though, the doors simply need to be slammed pretty good to get them latched. I think this is just because the latch has a pretty strong spring on it. I don’t look at the “slam” as a bad thing, either, because my doors have a solid “slam” that positively tells me they’re shut tight. I plan eventually to put some weatherstripping on the inside of the door and that will muffle a lot of the “slam.”
Allen, if you search “door locks” you will find a bunch of posts from a few years ago that address a sure fire way to keep your doors closed and allow you to sleep better.
About to head outside and work the doors, starting with the driver’s side. In thinking about it, when the door is unlatched it does not go completely into the opening at the front. I do know when I did a test fit WITHOUT the hinges installed on the door, the door fit perfectly in the opening. I may remove the door and hinges and start over. More to follow. 😕
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackFindings. After a closer examination I found that the door hinges had to be removed from the door panel. Top of the driver’s door, at the rear edge was striking the side of the body tub preventing the door from completely closing. Luckily the rub did not damage the body. The inside of the door panel was not shaped as flat as the bottom edge. After careful sanding and triple checking the hinge fit, I repainted the fiberglass under the hinge area, installed the hinges and then installed the door. Very minor tweaking and the door now closes completely into the opening without the door catch/plate installed. Install the door catch/plate and then on to the passenger’s door. This door is hitting at the bottom rear of the door panel preventing full closure. Its worse than the driver’s side. I’ll repeat the process I used for the driver’s door and hopefully get her to fit just right. More to follow.
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This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by
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This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackI love a happy ending! Good work Allen!
Paul Mossberg
Former Owner of a 1981 Classic Roadsters Ltd. Duchess (VW)
2005 Intermeccanica RoadsterIf you own a TDr and are not in the Registry, please go to https://tdreplica.com/forums/topic/mg-td-replica-registry/ and register (you need to copy and paste the link)
I’ve been through a very similar sequence refitting my doors and latches with some success. I would suggest installing a piece of flat steel or angle iron behind the side of the body where the hinges bolt in. This provides a solid place to drill and tap in for the hinge screws so they will stay where you put them. That area is accessable from under the body.
The problem I now have is that the fiberglass door was cracked in several places which allows it to flex. I may try patching it but what it really needs is a perimeter internal frame to give it rigidity independent of the fiberglass. Outside of my skillset I’m afraid.
😥
Kall. After I elongated the holes and got the door to close properly, I removed the nuts, lock washers and flat washers, one at a time and inserted an extra piece of sheetmetal over the screws and reinstalled the hardware and torqued them good.
Paul et all. The passenger’s door is less of a problem. I still had to remove the door but not the hinges. The bottom surface that contacts the sill plate is actually wavy. I’ve sanded the waviness away and will reinstall the door as soon as I cool off a bit. 107 in the shade at my house. Its way too hot even for down here in middle Georgia. I can only work outside for about half an hour before needing a break. Back at it in a minute. 🙂
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackBoth doors installed and close completely without the door catch/plate. Tomorrow I’ll finish putting her back together. If the Lift The Dot kit comes in tomorrow as advertised, I’ll start the top installation. Our silly waetherguesser say it might rain tomorrow. Hope so but I doubt it.
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackBoth doors installed and close completely without the door catch/plate. Tomorrow I’ll finish putting her back together. If the Lift The Dot kit comes in tomorrow as advertised, I’ll start the top installation. Our silly weather guesser say it might rain tomorrow. Hope so but I doubt it.
Allen Caron
VW based 53MGTD - "MoneyPenny"
"If one thing matters, everything matters" - from the book The ShackNice work and a great lesson to everyone: First, look carefully at everything from every angle, THEN decide the most efficient way to fix!
Would that I followed my own advice more often.
I need to adjust both my doors – they are sagging and rubbing the bottom door jamb. Unfortunately, the stainless steel screws have fused over the years and I’ve been unable to loosen them. I kicking this can down the road, since I’m facing the very real possibility of having to drill them out to fix it…
I hope people are using Never Seize when they have theirs out!
Early FF TDr on 69 VW pan
Slowly coming back from the ashes... -
This reply was modified 8 years, 3 months ago by
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