I need the pro body experts to give some advise here. I have a '79 that I just bought a hard top for. everything lines up great on the pass side right off with no fuss. the drivers side is another story. nothing works. I measured from the point where the post goes into the tub to the centerline of the top hinge pin and got 35 1/2" on pass and 35" on drivers. ("A" in the pics if they show up) I have always noticed that the 2 rivets on the frame that sit right under the front bib are off..on the pass side the bib covers it on drivers the bib sits behind it a 1/2 inch. The PO had new quarters welded in could and maybe f'd them up. I have the drivers door shoved forward into the hinge as far as I can and tighten it up...it closes but it is still to far backward and the angle of the upper door frame is way off from thr angle of the windshield...even with the bottom of the door kicked way back in the hinge. Has anyone ever ran into this or am I on crack and just dont have it adjusted right? I will attempt to put in some pics. Everything is line-x'd inside so I cant see where the welds were for the new stuff. OR should I dump the top get half doors and only drve in teh summer??
I've had that problem before. I used a highlift jack to spread the door opening a little so the door fit better. Remove the door. remove the body side latch piece. Foot of the jack on the firewall side of the opening near the upper hinge with the other part of the jack working against where the latch goes. I pushed mine open a few clicks on the jack and it works and fits much better.
I would guess that the rockers were fixed at the same time as the quarters. The firewall wants to tip toward the rear of the truck when the rockers are weakened by rust. The firewall may not have been in the right place when everything was welded back together which is now causing you grief...
Give what Nick suggests a try. If you don't have a high lift use a hydraulic bottle jack and a 6x6. If you weren't on the other side of the country, I'd loan you my potra power. If you get a better overall door fit and still have somewhat of a gap at the very top of the windshield/door after you've spread it a bit. You may get a little movement by loosening all the HT bolts along the top and side panel on that side and pushing the windshield and top back on that side.
"The PO had new quarters welded in could and maybe f'd them up."
You might want to take a look at the under side of where your quarters were put in. I had to replace the drivers side floor and the rear quarter. Basicaly I rebult the rear tub and reinstalled it. When I went to put the bolts back in I found that the floor had droped about 1/2 inch, which made for a 1 inch gap at the bottom of the quarter and the door.
Odds are if the guy didnt do it right the drop in the floor wasnt fixed and that'll F everything up!
Hows the body seam at the bottom of the door frame under the door hinges look? The tub can bend at that seam and across the floorboards. This lets the cowl and dash lean back and the windshild hinge folds open enough that the door angle doesn't match the windshield. Check your body mounts under the cowl and the drivers seat and if they are good I'd try the jack fix. Might want to check your windshield knob mounts under your dash pad because for the windshield to be that far out the knob mount is probably bent.
I had the same thing after a front end hit, ended up cutting the cowl off and welding in a staight one.
