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I need help with the sprung door on my 39 Packard. My front driver door has been sprung from the wind and is very hard to close. It has to be slammed very hard to close. Anyone know how to get it back to it's original condition as there is no adjustments left in the hinges or the striker plate.

Anyone know if a trick to bend the hinges back to a somewhat original state?

G'day dtmcabbey,
to PackardInfo, although under difficult circumstances, Can't offer any direct advice, will leave that to the more knowledgeable and experienced here, but would suggest the hinges need to be removed for any re-shaping work.

But on a more positive note, I invite you to include your '39 Packard in the Packard Owners Registry here on PackardInfo.

Anyone know if a trick to bend the hinges back to a somewhat original state?

Not with them in place. I think you'll have to remove them first.

I had the same problem with my '40 Touring Sedan. The left rear door opened while I was driving. It had not been shut tightly. My restoration guru placed a piece of wood at the opening between the door and the body with the door half open and carefully pushed the door in. This straightened out the hinges with no damage. Try it.

If you have a copy of a Body Shop Manual you should find several pages dealing with aligning doors by various blocking and bending techniques. Also instructions for removing hinges, etc. Were it my car I'd remove the hinges and bend back to shape off the car which you MUST do on the wood-framed Seniors. But your choice of course.

My Body Shop Manual is for a 1936 "120" but I suspect it's generally applicable. I'll photocopy and mail you the relevant door alignment pages if you PM me with your snail mail address and name.

Owen- could you send a copy of the manual to BigKev so he could put it on the website? I have some sprung doors also that I haven't bothered to ask about yet (bigger problems) but I'll be asking some day!

(a) It's a bound booklet and it would take a bit of abuse to the binding to scan it properly and (b) it's not my property. When your day comes, let me know and I'll photocopy for you as best I can.

Fair enough on both counts. Thanks, as always, for your courtesy and consideration.

Received permission to scan and post here. Hope you find it useful.

http://www.packardclub.org/forum/viewtopic.php?f=7&t=1108

I found a reproduction of the same book for a '35 and '36 120.

This would also cover any questions on my '37 115, right? My understanding is that the body (at least the cab area) was fundamentally identical. Is that correct?