Door/Pillar alignment issue. Body sag? (Metal work) (1 Viewer)

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Nov 23, 2021
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Baltimore, MD
Hi guys,

Working on my ‘71 today. Pretty deep in the metal work at this point.

F702BCC0-D2A9-477B-AA62-F2F97434157B.jpeg


Problem I ran into: (and this is drivers side only.)

Bear with me please….

During the process of aligning the new rocker to B pillar and door, I realized the door gap is far off. I know there’s not a ton of adjustment in these. So it’s body related.

The gap is heavy towards the handle and tighter towards the bottom.

4D81A601-B23D-4A90-A09E-36BE8536C5DF.jpeg


Must have happened long ago, I found 2 washers spacing out the drivers door catch, likely making up for the sag. Also noticed the original hinge bolt holes were slotted in excess.

But I’d like to do this right this time.

686D3613-1058-4ECB-A251-B655B8BBD953.jpeg


The passenger side is level and has a good gap. Driver side is level as it sits, with a bad gap.
If I lift the bed on that side, the gap is fixed, but the level is now off. (And the rear 1/4 is too high)

Interesting issue.

Resting, level, bad door gap:
BA445377-1DCD-4C6E-A73F-8C6F44E4BCA9.jpeg


Lifting, not level, door fits nice:
641440DD-A8D4-46A4-AA02-A0AD07805133.jpeg


The truck had a make shift rear sill covering the rust, so that was all messed up, as well as smushed rear body mounts. Likely causing the initial sag.



The only thought that comes to mind:
Maybe the FRONT (floor/cowl) mounts are really bad, causing the front to dip. Once replaced, maybe it will square the door up.


Any ideas mud?

I do have a fresh set of body mounts coming in tomorrow, hopefully this will help the issue and I’ll move on to rebuilding the sill and bed.

Cheers!
 
Last edited:
Writing here as a journal...

My plan of action:
-Get the truck on jack stands so it's nice and level,
-replace all the body mounts
-fit both doors,
-clamp the proper door (B pillar to cowl) measurement in place. (32.5" right?)

Hopefully everything will line up well at that point. I will update here.

Looking again all the body mounts are in really poor shape, so it only makes sense that it is wonky.
 

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