Re: 51Packard's....51 Packard

Posted by Larry51 On 2013/9/5 8:10:36

I did the measurements today of the door opening on my '51 coupe. I measured the opening height, from underside of the gutter to the top of the rocker (which is the actual floor level). Plus I checked the gap on the bottom of the doors (both sides).

Problem is that my doors are longer than the ones on your 4-door sedan (48" vs 39"), so there will possibly be a slight difference in the measurements but I think that it will be very small, because when I measured the height of the doors (around the curve) of a sedan door that I have compared with the coupe door they are both the same height at the door handle end (473/4"). That is what you'd expect because Packard would be unlikely to tool up differently for a coupe.

I made the measurements at 31/2inches, 15inches and 30inches from the B-pillar towards the front of the car. Can't be totally sure that a coupe will be exactly the same size but when you do your measurements I think you'll discover that they are.

Opening at 3-1/2" is 45-7/16"
At 15" it's 45-13/16"
At 30" it's 45-1/4".

Gap at bottom of my doors is 1/8" when the door is at correct height. I think this is a bit too narrow, I'd prefer 3/16". Keep in mind (for later) that the Manual says you can adjust the way the door sits (and adjust any uneven gap) by changing the thickness of some body mounting washers. That's hard work and a bit 'scientific' but something to use when all else fails I guess.

The best way to get things right is to hand the doors and line up the body belt 'crease', then weld in the rockers based on making a 3/16" gap. The body belt has to look right so get it aligned well. Hope this is helpful Charles!