I have a new door and fender, but haven't installed them yet. I was wondering if the frame is bent from the collision that messed up the fender and door. The door does not seal at the top rear side and has about 1/4" gap.
im not positive but i think that can be overcome with adjusting the hinges. how does the door look opened? does it open and close right? almost need to see it in person.
Opens and closes fine, i just noticed last time I drove it that I could see light at the back seal. I didn't worry about it, thinking it was the door. I have a 72 comet door and fender to replace it with, as soon as I buy a HVLP paint gun and treat them first. If it is frame damage, can it be straightened out? Eventually, I want the car as close to perfect as I can before painting. If it is shot right now, I will just beat the hell out of it on the track until I find a straight body. I don't want to sink thousands into aftermarket steering and suspension if it will not straighten out. This is on the "bad side" of the car. The original owner, my wife's great-grandmother, hit a garage and bunged up the fender. It looks like the fender was pushed back to where it hit the door,and then the door was opened and closed to make the mess where the two come together. That is why I bought new door and fender...I never thought I would ever get that area straight enough for paint. I also have this lean to the driver side, and started to wonder if it is all frame-related
I would say it's just the door itself bent or something out of adjustment. I learned the hard way that these cars are incredibly strong for what they are. I think you would knock an entire wall of a garage out before you would even slightly tweak the frame. The frame on my '74 Grabber is bent badly, but the doors still open and close fine and the gaps are still fine all thew way around despite the passenger side of the car being pushed under somewhat. Maybe someone tried to close the door on something and bent it? I would slap the new door on and see if it is still like that. My bet is that it won't be. If it is the frame, there would be alot of variables I would have to consider first before replaceing the entire body. Main one being would it cost more to find another car or cost more to get the frame straightend? Then you have to decide what your own time is worth to swap everything over from one body to the other which could take months.
try adjusting the door striker first before you replace anything, it appears that it sticks out by some reason at the striker. if the door opens and closes then don't mess with the hinges. if some one hits or backs into a garage door or object then these cars will bend up a bit, the fenders and core support will bend easily, probably not enough to bend the frame though. just look over everything and check alignment and try adjusting before replacing.
Really hard to tell by the pics, but the striker sure looks like it needs to go in. The entire door appears too forward in the one pic, could be just the pic. I would for certain push the striker in about a 1/8" and see what that will do for you first. Many people get totally lost on body alignment by trying multiple alignments at once. Do not work on the striker and the total door alignment out of the gate. One thing at a time. Here is a tip, take a magic marker and follow the striker on the inside part of it, using the skinny side of the marker, or a sharpie is even better, Then loosen the striker and cover the marker area, that gives you reference on how far you are moving it. I would bet that is as far as it needs to be moved. Dan
Good cheap things to try next time I am in the garage...I need cheap (free) projects to do for a while. I will work on tweaking the existing door before I mess with the new door. It needs to have a small dent worked out and sanded, painted, and the comet armrest needs to go and the maverick armrest added. A bit of work before installation.
I cant tell by the pictures but the seal itself has a habit of pulling out of the top rear corner. Might need to reglue it back in. Second, if the rest of the body lines match up and the door is flush with the fenders and quarter, trying to move it by hinge adjustment will throw something else off. The window frame itself can be tweeked in by putting your knee against the top of the door and pulling on that back edge of the frame.
It is nice to know that these machines aren't such high-tech items that you can't bend things back into place every now and then
If you had to you could also drill out the spot welds of the window frame, adjust it back and reweld.
I don't want to do too much to the existing door, because I will be taking the guts and window out and putting it into the "new" replacement door. I might try the bending the top in, just to keep it water tight until I get the other door put on. The other door is from a Comet, and has a completely different door handle, opening levers, and all that,so I might have a major project ahead of me doing the swap. I havent even taken either of them apart to see how difficult. I am putting the entire swap on hold until I get a paint gun and can prepare the door and fender inside and out before installation. But I will maybe jamb a 2x4 or a leg in the middle and see if I can't bend the top part in 1/4" or so.
