Bending Door Hinges

Dennis Pereira

Dennis Pereira

Well-known member
I'm trying to fit a passenger side door on a 1929 coupe . The problem is when closing theres resistance about 1"inch from snug on the B pillar . I can see a small mark where the lower inside half of the door hinge is hitting the cowl post . Do I need to bend the door hinge towards the front ?
 

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It looks like your door gap at the cowl is already very narrow. Moving it forward would only close an already minimal gap. Are those the doors that came with the car or a door your are trying to fit? Possibly the wrong door??
 
It's tough for me to tell what's happening or exactly what your problem is. However there is one thing that I've found most folks overlook. From past door tweaking, it's not unusual for the doors to be damaged along the jams. Inspect your door gaps INSIDE the car. They should be quite even top to bottom. It may not be quite as evident with your '29 Coupe due to the front windlace flange. The inside edges of the doors SHOULD NOT be bowed fore or aft.
 
unclerichard said:
It looks like your door gap at the cowl is already very narrow. Moving it forward would only close an already minimal gap. Are those the doors that came with the car or a door your are trying to fit? Possibly the wrong door??
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These are just some doors I'm trying to fit .
 
When all is "right" with the hinge alignment, both the door and the a pillar, the holes in the hinges will align. Check and recheck with a small laser, long straight edge or the like before you start bending the hinges.
 
unclerichard said:
It looks like your door gap at the cowl is already very narrow. Moving it forward would only close an already minimal gap. Are those the doors that came with the car or a door your are trying to fit? Possibly the wrong door??
Click to expand...

Marco Tahtaras said:
It's tough for me to tell what's happening or exactly what your problem is. However there is one thing that I've found most folks overlook. From past door tweaking, it's not unusual for the doors to be damaged along the jams. Inspect your door gaps INSIDE the car. They should be quite even top to bottom. It may not be quite as evident with your '29 Coupe due to the front windlace flange. The inside edges of the doors SHOULD NOT be bowed fore or aft.
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Marco I visually checked inside alignment things seemed to fit good as far as vertical and horizontal but I found a few things I need to finish . Such as finish B pillar wood fastening and maybe the Door opening cover strip at the top . When I pull the door closed it hits at the bottom left and the top right corner with about 3/16 " of an inch 3/4 of the way down before it gets tight at the bottom .
 
I know its hard to guess at a problem from some photos . And because I started at the sub rails it could be anything . I done a lot of welding and wrinkle removing .
 
Is your car on a frame? or a squared up surface? In the photos it looks like it is just sitting on some stands. This will cause the body to tweak a little bit, so door gap will get messed up.
 
My 29 Tudor does the same thing. I'm sure due to the missing check straps the wind caught it and slammed it too far open, bending one of the hinges. This happened before I bought the car.
 
Dennis,

I am facing an almost identical problem as you on my 29 Tudor. I too have replaced full length subrails, rear cross channel, cowls, and the lower 6" of all body panels. That means I am aligning everything from scratch.

I notice your body may be temp mounted on wooden blocks/frame? I would suggest not bending anything until it is mounted on the chassis so you can align the doors when they are in their 'final' position.

My probelm door has been cracked around the check strap mount so the front edge hinge 'face' isn't square any more. I will repair this first. Also, is your A pillar bolted in its final position? If it is slightly twisted it will affect the hinge alignment.

If you need to 'open' the lower hinge to allow room, consider that the door will be slightly lifted at the back edge. A rag in the hinge when you close the door can do the job nicely so I am told.

Good luck.

Gus
 
Try placing a small block of metal 1/2" x 2" between the door and the hinge and gently try closing the door. You may have to do it in a few places. I have seen it done with problems like yours and it worked extremely well.
 
on doors , not trying to steal the thread ... my drivers door is out at the bottom , but good at the top . 1931 (early) coupe . how can i close the gap at the bottom ? .. thanks .. steve
 
Thanks for the help the body is on a steel tube frame that helps keeps things level and plumb . I have one more door to try before I decide which one to tweak to fit .
 
steve norcal said:
on doors , not trying to steal the thread ... my drivers door is out at the bottom , but good at the top . 1931 (early) coupe . how can i close the gap at the bottom ? .. thanks .. steve
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As a bodyman , I have had to put a twist in doors that fit like yours. It really doesn't take a lot of force. Do this at your own risk... I would hold the lower bead of the door against my knee while pulling out on the upper rear door frame. I would do this with the window down so as not to put pressure on the door glass. It will be trial and error untill the door fits as needed. If you go too far , just reverse the procedure Most model A door adjustments are made by shiming the body, springing the door, as in bending the hinge or twisting the door. Modern cars have adjustments but many times also need a slight twist to properly align.
 
My Fordor drivers door is a little hinge bound about an inch from closed, obviously due to the wind effect blowing it open, actually broke the check strap. This was done before my ownership, my fix, if I get time to enjoy working on it, is going to be a wood dowel between the hinges and a little body pressure, should be able to tweak it back.
 
It looks like the hinge has rolled forward so you need to bring the hinge back. One way to do this is to put a small hardwood block in the hinge and put pressure on the back of the door. This will roll the hinge to the rear. Go easy so you don't bend the door frame. If the hinge won't move you may have to use a little heat to help it along.
Do one hinge at a time and work towards getting about 3/16" gap top to bottom.

This should solve the problem. The Old Tinbasher
 
Re: Bending Door Hinges Update

Several FORDBARNERS suggested placing a block of wood between the hinges and cowl post this helped. Along with adjusting the 1/4 window sheet metal at the reveal where it meets the B pillar the corner was sticking out a little . And I loosened some of my top wood kit I think it was bowing out at the curved panel above the Door . The door will close with out spring back now. There's one small spot the size of a pencil eraser that's rubbing on the B pillar when I close the door . I'm going to finish the wood kit and tighten every thing and see whats next . Thanks
 
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