'76 40 Front Door Adjusting (1 Viewer)

[NJFJ40]

Fitting my hard doors (front) to the new STC soft-top and Aqualu Tub. I am at max adj that the door/hinge mount allows and the door is still too low in rear. I know the hinge also adjusts where it mounts to the cowl - will this adj allow me to raise the hinges a little to raise the door?

This is on DS so the top hinge bolts to the cowl are a PITA and I only want to attack them if this adj will help me out.

Any thoughts?

AndrewT

 

[Adventure Teq]

Are they new or old hinges? Old ones will allow alot of hanging in the rear. The bolts that go into the door itself also allow for some adjustment.

 

[NJFJ40]

Not sure which hinges are old or new. These are stock (OEM) ones for the 40 and I did not buy new ones. The bolts between door/hinge are already at max adj. And I even filed the holes in the hinge a little to try and tweek.

AndrewT

 

[Adventure Teq]

Well, you could try to space out the top hinge as you were saying, I don't think the slot allows it to move forward much though, maybe enough. You prolly need new hinges or at least a new pin and bushing kit. I've always had somewhat saggy doors because of this.

 

[Living in the Past]

The hinges in the cowl will move the whole door up and down not jjust the back. They are also used to adjust the door in or out of the cowl. Is this a steel cowl to a Aqualu tub? Is this the first time you put hard doors on? Are you sure everything is lined up?


John

 

[NJFJ40]

Steel cowl to Aqualu tub. First time fitting the hard doors. Everything is lined up as per Aqualu instructions. The bottom of the Aqaulu is even with the bottom of the cowl and the door seem between the cowl and the tub is aligned (perfect). I got the PS door aligned and fit after alot of adjusting and also had to re-position one of the hinges on the cowl as it was crooked and this caused bad alignment. On the DS, hinges are mounted fine and door is not tweaked at all but can't get rear to lift enought to clear the outline in the tub - need about 1/2" lift in the rear of the door - so its close.

AndrewT

 

[NJFJ40]

Pics attached

See pics.

 

[Adventure Teq]

You sure that all the body mounts are tight and in their appropriate locations and that the front cowl area is straight and not tilted back any?

 

[NJFJ40]

All body mounts are in and tight. Used stock frame-to-body mount locations.

Not sure how to check cowl straightness. Any ideas? I didn't install the tub to cowl myself - bought it this way (partially finished). I installed all body mounts. Body is straight on frame all around as I measured things before and lined it all up before tightening down on the body mounts.

AndrewT

 

[Adventure Teq]

Prolly measure the distance between the cowl and the door striker plate on both door openings, if it's the same then that rules out an uneven cowl. If the drivers is closer then you might have the cowl cockeyed.

 

[NJFJ40]

Spacing from top edge of window frame to door striker area on tub is identical from side to side (38.5").

Still have my original question - will adjusting the hinge mounts to the cowl help with this? I can live with a slightly un-even seem between the door bottom and the tub if I can just get the door up another 1/2" so it clears the lip on the tub.

AndrewT

 

[Adventure Teq]

Still have my original question - will adjusting the hinge mounts to the cowl help with this?

I think it would, try it and let us know.

 

[Living in the Past]

I would us a framing square to check it. Put the square againt the cowl and the bottom door opening in the tub. Then check your doors in the same area. Measuring from the top of the windshield is not going to tell you if the cowl is mated to the tub correctly, the top of the windshield can be adjusted and is not fixed.

John

 

[NJFJ40]

Well, if my tub/cowl mount is fawked there is not much I plan to do about it now.

Gonna go with the hinge/cowl mount tweak and see where it goes. Its so close I know I am not off by anything major.

AndrewT

 

[Rick '79 FJ40]

You can put a shim between the bottom hinge and the cowl to lift the back of the door. You can get shims from a body shop and all you have to do is loosen the bolts and slide the shim between the hinge and the frame.

HTH

 

[NJFJ40]

You can put a shim between the bottom hinge and the cowl to lift the back of the door. You can get shims from a body shop and all you have to do is loosen the bolts and slide the shim between the hinge and the frame.

HTH

Sounds interesting. Can you explain how this works again? How/where does the shim go in and what does it do to raise the door? I am not getting it based on the description above.

AndrewT

 

[GARYB2]

I had a similar problem with mine. Make sure body is sitting level. Previous owner on mine had modified rear body mounts making the rear sit a little higher. My doors would not line up. As soon as I leveled the body out. It lined up near perfect.

Thanks,

Gary

 

[NJFJ40]

I installed all body mounts and they are all using the same spacers provide from Aqualu for the tub to frame mounts. And they are all tightened down. Like I said, I only need another 1/4 - 1/2" lift on the rear of the DS door to get it to fit properly. Its very close.

AndrewT

 

[GARYB2]

Well it is probably something else. But it won't hurt to stick a level on it. Like I said I tried everything. I adjusted the outer hinges and inner hinges trying to get it right. also make sure the cowl is straight.

Thanks,

Gary

 

[Mr. Toad]

Your Photos

Aside from the "droop", it also looks like the leading edge of the door is farther aft at the bottom than at the top.

I don't have an aluminum tub, but door (and hood, trunk, or hatch, etc.) alignment can be a time-consuming biatch, and was for me on my stock '75. It was kind-of a "whole body" process. For instance, I finally got my junk aligned by loosening everything (including the PITA top cowl-hinge bolts), straightening the hinges, aligning the door in place and then tightening everything back up.