I'm curious if there is any adjustment allowance (at the hinges) for the drivers side door. The door isn't positioned correctly, the paint is scraping off at lower right bottom (kinda near drain hole), and the new rubber seal is starting to rip apart at top right.

When you look at it from outside, it's very evident that vertical gap between door edge and B pillar is much less at top, compared to bottom.

I'm assumming if I'll have to have the drivers side fender removed for this operation.

I just went out and measured my car for you to use for reference if needed. Mines a 65 with 73,000 original miles, no slop in the hinges and has never been in an accident of any kind.

Front door to fender measures and average of 7/32"

B pillar between the windows measures 1/16" (yes, pretty tight, but factory)

B pillar at the top corner under the brightwork is super tight. Probably a business card and a half at best.

Rear of the door to the quarter measures about 3/16". It varies a bit top to bottom due to the curve of the opening, but not much.

I'm not sure how dedicated you are to fixing the problem properly, but if the door can not be adjusted enough to yeild satisfactory results and you don't want to spend the money to have the quarter panel and rocker cut apart in order to remedy what sounds like shoddy bodywork, you could have the edge of the door ground down in the tight spots and have material added in the wide spots. This is very common practice in the hot rod and custom world. Early american cars left a lot to be desired in the fit catagory. Many times the only way to remedy excessive or overly tight gaps is to do as described. It would render the door dedicated solely to that vehicle, but it would be a whole lot cheaper than having the quarter and rocker cut apart and rewelded. Just something to think about I guess.

Chris

Is the gap from the front fender to door correct or is it off as well? Because if the gap between the fender and door are correct, you will not be able to adjust the door properly. As you raise the rear of the door, the front gap will start to close at the top. Your mention of extensive work being done on the left side of the car got me to thinking. If the car was hit in the left door pillar area hard enough, it is possible that during the impact the rocker panel was pulled upward. If this wasn't corrected properly when the repairs were made, this could account for some of the odd fit. Just something to look into.

Chris

Thanks for the insight Chris. The vertical gap between door and front fender is greater than the similar area on opposite side of car. Thing is, even though the gap appears to be too wide, it is consistent in width from top to bottom.

Another problem is the drip rail, where the long horizontal aluminum pieces are attached. By slightly adjusting door, it looks like the upper right corner of door is going to smack into trim when opening. But if I don't raise the door, it's gonna keep scraping at bottom. And I still have to get the vertical door edge (top right corner) away from the B pillar. There is a nice sized gap at the angled A pillar, so I think there will be space to move door forward.

I'm hoping a competent body shop will figure this all out, and correct all the paint/ bodywork mistakes I'm discovering. Be very very very careful who you choose to do your paint/ bodywork...

the doors go out of adjustment as the hinge wears, especially the 2 drs. I can't remeber if the holes are oblong for adjustment but I do remeber that you can pull the hinges without removing the fender, later models use an allen key on the door side which is easier, I had to really mess with the phillips head on my 65.
--
Patrick, '68 220, '83 245, '92 Eurovan (work truck).

Wish you could. The bolts are under the fender.

Open door all the way and lift on the end. If you have more than 1/2-inch of vertical "play" new hinges or at least hinge pins are in order. You might be able to adjust out some of the sag for the time being, but it is just as likely that a PO already adjusted it.

--
Mike!

Hinges on the drivers door seem to be doing their job; door isn't sagging, wobbling, etc... However, after they were all painted over, their now making a horrible creaking noise when door opens all the way. Gonna try to lube them up a bit, it's not a pleasant noise, kinda sounds like a dying rat.

The passenger side has a wee bit of the wobble, but I barely use that side (and the door closes absolutely perfectly on that side, so I'm not about to mess with it!)

The creaking noise is probably the limiting / hold open strap thingy (as that part is technically known). Give it a greasing and don't worry if the paint is scraping off it. That's how they are.

As for adjusting the door, I would take off the fender. Shouldn't be hard to do with no rust present.

Very good news. Hopefully, your model year has accessible hinge bolts. My '67, sadly, does not. That makes keeping both panel gaps consistant a bit of a bodge.

There is nothing wrong with making one or more mounting holes more oval if necessary to allow for additional motion. Oh, you are not suffering from sill rust? That also tends to make doors "appear" to sag. On hardtops like ours the door gaps will appear trapezoidal (tight at top, open at bottom).

g'luck
--
Mike!

There are two adjustments on the door, it can be adjusted to fit nicely onto the front and rear wing by adjusting it on the door part of the hinge with the screws from the hinge to the door.

If you want to lift the far edge of the door you loosen the hinge to A post 1/2 inch headed bolts. This can be done without removing the front wing, but you need a moon shaped obstruction spanner.

Regards


Pete

I've got philip head screws holding the hinges in place, looks like the front fender will have to come off, in order to readjust that door.

No sill rust, it's pretty solid. One thing I noticed, the vertical seam under door (is this area also called rocker panel?) has been filled in, while seam is visible on right side. That kinda bugs me, and will need some attention.

There was extensive body/ metal work completed on the left side of car. Door came from another vehicle, as did the entire left side/ rear quarter (B pillar back to tail light). Interestingly enough, I noticed last night that the left taillight isn't fitting perfectly into the hole. Even with rubber seal around it, there is a gap.

That area has to be reworked anyways, since no horizontal seam is visible there either (immediately to right of tail light lens), and the new paint is already cracking in that area. Fun continues...

Hello All:

1967 Volvo 122S Wagon. A distantly-related problem: my passenger side door is aligned just fine but getting very stiff to open and close. No squeaking, per se, but too much might required. What is the proper procedure and lubricant to solve this problem?

Cheers,

Jeff Pucillo