Packard Forum Index » Post-War (1946-54)

Who can help me? My Packard, a 1951 convertible, had a recent paint job. We tried to replace the doors, but they didn't fit (they can't be closed completely). What can we do to make them fit and close properly?

Thanks, Tom
The Netherlands

Aligning a door can be a challenge. You need to follow the proper procedure, then it becomes simple. It will take some time but the door will fit.

Start by jacking up the car and putting jack stands under the front suspension and rear axle. DO NOT support the car under the frame. The body must assume the same position as if it was sitting on its wheels. Especially on a convertible. The body will bend slightly when you jack it up, it must be resting on its wheels or on supports under the axle and front suspension.

First question, was the front fender removed or disturbed? You have to align the door to the body, then align the fender to the door.

For the time being, ignore the fender.

Check the hinges for wear. Open the door 3 or 4 inches. Try to lift the back of the door. If the hinges are worn, you will feel a movement of the door. If the hinges are good, it will feel like you are lifting the whole car.

The hinge pins and bushings (bearings) must be renewed before aligning the door, if the are worn.

OK your hinges are good? Remove the latch pin from the door post. Only the hinges should support the door.

Now close the door and note how it fits. The first thing you need to do, is get the door fitting square in the hole with an even gap all around.

You must loosen the bolts that hold the hinges to the body just enough to move the door. If you have some small scraps of wood about 25MM thick you can use them as a gauge.

Get a nice even gap all around. Don't forget the top of the door, or in your case, where the door meets the windshield.

Once the door fits the hole with an even gap, you can fit the door flush to the body. Close the door and note how it fits. If the door is flush to the body from top to bottom you are done. If not you will have to loosen the bolts that hold the hinges to the door and move the door in or out. The door must fit at the back, along the rocker panel and at the windshield post.

Now the door fits the body perfectly. It is time to reinstall the latch pin. Close the door and peek in at the latch. Move the pin up or down so it lines up perfectly with the latch. Try the door. You may have to move the pin up and down a few times until it aligns perfectly. Move the pin in or out so the door is perfectly even with the body.

When this is all done correctly, the door should *click* closed with a light touch and fit perfectly with an even gap all around.

Except at the fender. You may have to align the fender to the door.

There are 2 bolts holding the fender to the body. One at the top, one at the bottom.You may have to loosen these bolts and move the fender, adding shims or washers as necessary.

It is quite possible to spend a day aligning both doors and then lining up the front end after a paint job. Because after you line up the doors to the body, and the fenders to the doors, you may have to align the hood to the body and the fenders.

And of course, the windows are adjustable too. They may have to be adjusted to fit the door and the roof.

This is truly the master stroke of the bodyman's art. To get all parts of the car fitting correctly, doors and hood opening smoothly, is something that is easy to take for granted. But it will make or break a good body job.

There is one other possibility that I fear to mention.

If the floor and sills are rotted away and needed replacing the body MUST be carefully aligned and braced before cutting out the old metal and welding in new.

The weakened body will sag if not supported. If you weld in new metal without taking this into account, the body will be permanently warped and the doors will never fit. The only cure is to cut out the new metal and redo all the work properly.

I have seen a Rolls Royce ruined this way. The bodyman removed the doors, then cut out the rusted floors and sills, and welded in new ones without supporting the body. When he put the doors back on they would not even close.

There is no door adjustment on a Rolls Royce.

I'd ask you to define fit and not close completely a little further. Do the doors appear to be rubbing metal or pinching the door jamb anywhere in front which keeps it from closing. If so, it needs alignment as Rusty mentions or is it you put on new weather stripping or windlace and now it won't close completely.

If it's the former, Rusty gave an excellent procedure although I believe there is a third body to fender bolt behind kickpanel. If the latter, some of the replacement weather strip is too hard and won't compress well.

The doors would pinch the body in front if I would try to close the door (wich I don't). I didn't replace the weather strip yet.

There is a third body to fender bolt indeed.

We are gonna work on it saturday and I appreciate your help!

Tom

If the fender was not removed, nor were it's bolts loosened, then I would say you need to play with the horizontal adjustment where the hinges attach inside the door.

It sound like the door adjustment is too far forward and needs to be moved back toward the B pillar.

The fender was not removed, nor were the bolts loosened. Thanks BigKev for this suggestion, I'm gonna try this within two days.
Tom

One other possibility I have run into is that the door is too far into the opening. It may need to be moved out some. Were there any adjusting washers or rectangular spaces under the hinges? If so, you must reuse them.
Good luck this can indeed take a great deal of time to get right.

In the typical American car of that era the body side of the hinge moves for up and down, back and forth adjustments.

The door side of the hinge allows for in and out movement.

It should never be necessary to use shims or washers on the hinge.

I believe in 51-6 Packards, the body side of hinge moves very little. Almost all adjustments are on the door side via oversize holes. Packard even mentions when removing a door, to remove the hinge by taking Phillips screws out on the body side. If the hinge to door cap screws are not disturbed, then the door can be replaced without alignment.