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Door Alignment

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 3:37 pm
by deusamo
As you can see in this image (https://drive.google.com/file/d/0ByMhjc ... sp=sharing), the driver's side door isn't perfectly aligned. Granted, in the image the door isn't completely closed, but hopefully you can get the idea. Basically, the rear of the door is low by maybe an inch. This has caused some significant weatherstripping issues. I'm wondering how one goes about re-aligning the door. Is it difficult? It seems you should be able to loosen up a few bolts on the hinge, move the door and then tighten them. But, having never done this before, I may be missing something obvious.

Thanks!

Re: Door Alignment

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 6:00 pm
by fryedaddy
when the door is open can you lift up on it, is it loose, does it drop when you open it, do you have to hold up on it to close, if so it may need bushings.they look like washers and they are not too hard to change

Re: Door Alignment

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 9:43 pm
by deusamo
No, it's not loose. It just seems to be out of alignment.

Re: Door Alignment

Posted: Fri Jan 29, 2016 10:46 pm
by Lou's Comet
deusamo wrote:No, it's not loose. It just seems to be out of alignment.
Not hard to adjust, first take the striker pin ( the pin the door latch grabs ) off the post. Then close the door to see how it lines up. this should be done first cause if the pin is out of alignment the door will be out too when closed. Is door is still out of alignment then loosen the hinges on the post not the door. You wil need to remove the lower interior kick panel to get to that bolts the come from the inside, at least on my 65. After you loosen the bolts close the door and use some plastic wedges, paint sticks, or whatever fits to wedge/shim between the rocker and door to line it up, and wedge it shut. You could also use tape to hold it shut if the shims don't. Once you get it where you want go in from other side and tighten the hinge bolts. After you get the door lined up to your liken then put the stricken pin back in and adjust it so the door closes easy and securely.if the striker pin is too high or low it will pull the door up or down when closing. Pretty easy to do.

This is to adjust the gap between door and rocker, if the gap between door and quarter panel is to wide or tight then you would adjust it with shims.
Lou

Re: Door Alignment

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 1:24 am
by CALIFORNIA CALIENTE
Lou nailed it!If the bolts for the hinges have been loosened before you may be able to use a 1/4 or 5/16 [can not remember,been A LONG time] wrench on the bolts from the out side [fender needs to be off],if not you need to do as Lou said!!Take your time!A bodyman told me you"Align the door to the quarter first as the quarter can not be moved"!!You can make them perfect,just takes time,cost is ZERO!! ROY.

Re: Door Alignment

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 2:25 am
by Comechero65
Don't know about comets especially earlier than 65 but if they are the same as on a 65 falcon the bolts that attach the hinges to the A pillar once loosened can be turned from the inside as the ends of the bolts have a hex end, don't know what size, that you can turn the bolts from the inside. Then you don't have to remove the fender. You just have to get the bolts loose initially. Then you can adjust the hinges from the inside. Much easier way to do it.
Might also want to check the hinge pins and bushings for wear and replace while you are at it.
Ron

Re: Door Alignment

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 7:55 am
by Lou's Comet
Comechero65 wrote:Don't know about comets especially earlier than 65 but if they are the same as on a 65 falcon the bolts that attach the hinges to the A pillar once loosened can be turned from the inside as the ends of the bolts have a hex end, don't know what size, that you can turn the bolts from the inside. Then you don't have to remove the fender. You just have to get the bolts loose initially. Then you can adjust the hinges from the inside. Much easier way to do it.
Might also want to check the hinge pins and bushings for wear and replace while you are at it.
Ron
Thought Falcon and Comets shared the same hinges. My 65 Comet you have to loosen the bolts from the inside. The holes in the hinges that attach the hinge to the A pillar are threaded and the bolts come from the inside of car. Need to take off kick panel inside to get to the heads of the bolts that hold lower hinges to A pillar. And reach up behind dash to get top hinge bolts. You dont need to remove fender to loosen bolts.


(Edit)
Looked at some pictures. Seems the early hinges are like my 65 and bolts come from the inside of car and thread into the hinge.

Here is picture of the type on my 65
http://www.ebay.com/itm/64-65-FORD-FALC ... 3641.l6368

And here is picture of the early type

http://www.ebay.com/itm/62-FORD-FALCON- ... 3641.l6368

Re: Door Alignment

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 12:31 pm
by CALIFORNIA CALIENTE
Lou;YES,the bolts come FROM inside the car! What Ron and I are saying is there is a hex on the ends of the bolts,look at second photo! I like having the fenders off as it makes access easier! ROY.

Re: Door Alignment

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 3:43 pm
by Comechero65
You know now that I think about it the bolts are as Lou and Roy mentioned, just the opposite to what I said. The heads are on the inside and the hex ends stick out on the outside. Makes it easier to adjust the hinges from the inside.
As Roy said it's easier with the fenders off bu still can be done with them on. Get the doors adjusted to the top, back edge and bottom first. Then you can adjust the fender for a good gap on the front edge.
Ron

Re: Door Alignment

Posted: Sat Jan 30, 2016 7:43 pm
by deusamo
Wow, great info. Thanks everyone!!

Re: Door Alignment

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 12:25 am
by Comechero65
Here's what the lower hinge looks like. You can see the hex end of the bolts sticking out. I think they were made that way to ease installation of the bolts on the assembly line. But once the bolts are loosened they can be turned from the outside as well as from the inside.

Image
Ron

Re: Door Alignment

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 7:27 pm
by deusamo
Thanks for the picture!! That actually brings up another issue, which just started yesterday. So, the arm in the picture that is on top that goes inside the spring...the point on the bend of that arm which is up against that bolt keeps jumping to the other side, which keeps the door from closing at all. Sorry if that wasn't specific enough. I'll try to snap a picture the next time it happens.

Anyway, I can pry it back into place with a flathead, but it's happening pretty consistently anytime the door opens beyond a certain point. From what I can tell, it looks like the bolt which the arm rubs up against has been rubbed down a bit over the years, so the arm just pops over it when the door opens enough. So...do I need to replace the whole hinge? Clearly I don't know the terminology here well enough to just order the bolt (is it a pin, instead?).

Thanks again for all the help! You guys are awesome.

Re: Door Alignment

Posted: Sun Jan 31, 2016 8:30 pm
by Comechero65
deusamo wrote:Thanks for the picture!! That actually brings up another issue, which just started yesterday. So, the arm in the picture that is on top that goes inside the spring...the point on the bend of that arm which is up against that bolt keeps jumping to the other side, which keeps the door from closing at all. Sorry if that wasn't specific enough. I'll try to snap a picture the next time it happens.
Anyway, I can pry it back into place with a flathead, but it's happening pretty consistently anytime the door opens beyond a certain point. From what I can tell, it looks like the bolt which the arm rubs up against has been rubbed down a bit over the years, so the arm just pops over it when the door opens enough. So...do I need to replace the whole hinge? Clearly I don't know the terminology here well enough to just order the bolt (is it a pin, instead?).
Thanks again for all the help! You guys are awesome.
If that pin the the upper arm goes up against is tapered then it could pop on top. Also the rivet the upper arm pivots on is loose could allow that. Maybe that rivet can be tightened some. It the pin has a taper maybe it could be filed to get rid of the taper and straight sided. I don't think those pins are available so unless you can find another hinge to replace or steal the pin from. You could probably pull that pin out and reweld it and grind the shape back in and reinstall it. I think the pin has a spiral spines that tighten as it's pressed in place.

I assume your hinge is similar to the one in my pic. That is correct for 64 and earlier falcons and probably comets. Since mine was an early 65 it had carryover 64 hinges. A correct 65 would have been like a mustang in terms of the door stop. I could probably swap the lower hinges with the correct 65 hinge which I like better. then it would have an intermidiate stop point instead of being all the way open. Makes it tough when parked too close to another car or obsticle. The doors are long and the same length as a 2 dr so when they are open they need a lot of room. But will probably leave it as is.
Ron

Re: Door Alignment

Posted: Mon Jan 06, 2020 1:21 am
by kevinshi
Lou's Comet wrote: Not hard to adjust, first take the striker pin ( the pin the door latch grabs ) off the post. Then close the door to see how it lines up...
Lou
Lou this makes perfect sense to me... I assume that the door should be perfectly aligned without the pin installed. E.g. the latch and pin should not have any impact on door alignment - rather they are "neutral" to alignment. There only purpose is to latch/release the door - not to pull/push the door up/down in/out to fix what are really hinge errors.

Question: Having achieved perfect alignment w/out the pint... what then is the exact behavior expected from subsequent installation of the latch and pin? For instance is the door suppose to be rattle free? (Is the latch suppose to "grab" the pin tightly enough to have no rattle?). Also is the door suppose to "spring" off the pin when opened (e.g. door opening should require very little if any actual push/pull)?

Also do I need to install either the bumpers or the seal before setting the latch position? I assume NOT - that if the door is correctly aligned, and the latch/pin are also correctly installed, that the bumpers and seal would conform and not work against the otherwise correct alignment?

(My driver's door is perfectly aligned without the pin however my pin is loose (as a result you can wiggle the door it a bit (my seals are removed)). My passenger door is not perfectly aligned - the pin pulls the door down just slightly (maybe 1/16th of an inch) - if there was no pin the door would be slightly too high on the latch side. I am now thinking I may replace my pins with the stainless steel ones from Scott Drake... but I want to have a game plan so I don't screw it up...)

Thanks,
kevin