Hood alignment. My next impossible mission.

[FormTA]

I think it's actually just sag. That is why you need to align it without the striker. These are just heavy doors.

[Wallington]

Makes sense, worn hinges and previous alignment issues means an off centre striker pin will lift a door into place when it closes.

[5th T/A]

I agree with Ben and Luke, remove the striker pin while adjusting the hinge. I would probably mark where it was with a sharpie so you have a rough starting position when you reinstall it. Get your FIL to come over and give you a hand aligning the door. With his years of experience and a second set of eyes you should be able to get the door properly aligned.

[Wallington]

Oh, hinges are new? They do have some play but shouldn't be too much. Can you hold the end of the door and lift up and down and feel movement? Otherwise, even new hinges with a striker sitting higher than the latch will lift to close. Do the doors line up when shut? Sounds like striker is close to position but hinges are set too low for door hang. Loosen bolts on cowl side, try to lift door up past the striker until it hangs down buy higher than now. Or, to re-explain that, if you remove the striker you'll find door shuts too low.

I thought FBW may have faded away to nothing by now. When Pete left, there was no one left with knowledge or interest in the hobby, just his Mrs trying to make a quick buck. Their website hadn't been updated in years, when I checked. And corrections went ignored and not replied to. I don't like when shops have blatantly incorrect and misleading information. And when they ignore corrections because they'd rather sell items at any cost, I avoid at all costs. Very different to 10-15 years ago.

[FormTA]

I thought the same thing! I bought some parts from Pete back in the day but I thought they were gone now.

[tinpusher]

I concur with all of the above. I would set the door body line high to the quarter panel and remove the striker.

[DeCaff2007]

I concur with all of the above. I would set the door body line high to the quarter panel and remove the striker.

Well, I could swear I've tried that.  Then again, I'm pretty sure I was getting aggravated by my lack of progress and having too many unknowns - and that alone is enough that I'm sure I've missed something.

I'm going to give it another go here soon.  I have, however, been diving head on into the interior re-assembly.  I'd love to get at least the seats and the door panels put together before I start the door hanging aggravation again.

Just waiting on a few parts......

[tinpusher]

Best direction to go…work on something else, then back to the doors. BTW, that red carpet really looks good.

[Wallington]

For the door, try loosening just one hinge on cowl, top or bottom depending on other tweaks. With the bottom bolts loosened the door will close the gap at the rear, with the the top bolts loosened it with pull the door away at the top. Both will tilt the door and lift it, probably won't even see either move. If door lines up well without striker, then reposition striker so it centres in latch opening without lifting onto it.

[79 Moneypit]

On my 79, I rebuilt the door hinges with the commonly available bushing and pins.  The driver's door still dropped when opened.  As much as I hated doing it, I bought billet
Ring Brothers hinges and they made a night and day difference.  Unfortunately, I ended up having to buy them for the hood too, after one set of reproductions and the worn-out
originals wouldn't work.  These hinges were also a great improvement, but it sure is tough coming off the money for hinges. 

[rkellerjr]

When I took off the entire front end and doors of my car when I replaced the floor boards, I looked at what I had to do put it back together and sat down for a minute and said, "serenity now, serenity now" then got to work. My story may or may not help but...

I first put the doors on without the striker. Got it all aligned, yammed those door hinge nuts tight, then added the striker. I then aligned the fenders and front end, then the hood. Making minor adjustments as needed.  And ya, I did this mostly by myself. In the end, my hood closes fine but the rear sticks up (it didn't before I started) but a little downward pressure and they go down. I've yet to figure out why.

I think aligning the door without the door striker is the way to go, once it opens and closes "in alignment" then put the striker back on adjusting so that the door closes perfectly into the striker and the striker doesn't lower or raise the door. Takes a bit to do but that was the easiest way for me to align the doors.

If I were closer I'd come over and we'd gitter done quick.