if you need to add more than 1/8" or 3/16 then welding a round rod on both edges will leave a rounded lip-- i would think you would need to TIG this not mig..

if its 1/8" and you are only doing one edge i would use a mig and just add spot welds next to each other to build up the area slowly and then grind it down with a 40 grit soft disk..

ideally i would be looking for better new parts! .. last door i had to "add" to reduce the gap to was a insurance write off nissan micra..

 

COuldn't find any original doors no matter how hard I looked. I just have to add to the bottom of the trailing edge, just not sure how to go about it. Or I could deal with a bad gap, but I don't think I want to do that! But I also don't want to ruin my new repro door. haha

 

I watched a video the other night with Ken White soldering the bottom edge of a door to fix this issue on an old Packard. I fell asleep.

Todd

 

If you just need a slight amount then I would just use a mig and spot weld along the edge. Keep jumping around so one area doesn't get too hot. Then grind the edge until you get the gap desired. Once the gap is good, then grind on the flat surface (outside of door and inside of door) until you've reached the correct metal thickness. The new edge will be too square so use a DA with 80 grit sandpaper to "round" the edge to match the rest of the door. You'll probably have to weld and grind a few times to get it perfect. If the gap is too big, then use a rod.

Doug

 

HI,

First put the wheels on the car and set it on a level surface with the weight of the car on the suspension. Next remove the striker plate from the lock pillar. Do a quick check of the measurements from the c/l of the body to the top of the leading edge of the quarter at the belt line and at the striker. Compare lt to rt you should be within 3/16".
Now check the length from the upper frt quarter edge to the rear edge of the front drip rail at the front belt line of the door ,again shoot for 3/16". One last check at the lower and upper door hinges. If everything is within the tolerance ,Then your ready to align the door.
Once the door is properly fitted then reinstall the striker paying close attention to see if its placement doesn't pull the door up or down due to improper striker adjustment. Are you aware of any prior body damage to this area of the car ? Improper repair or missed and uncorrected damage could also be a cause of your troubles.

Thank you...

 

Johnny, since the rod is not structural, you can get away with tack welding it from the inside about every inch or so. Make sure the rod is held tight. The only way to weld it complete, with any neatness would be to TIG it or use one of those micro torches (although this has more heat). Other than that, you can as pointed out here, build up an edge by welding a series of spots skipping and welding on top of the spots until you get the thickness desired. Go slow and use Gas not flux core (too much splatter and heat with .030 flux.) On the outside use a good filler (if you search here you can find lots of recommendations, just stay away from the Bondo brand.) Patience is about the only tool you really need. Go slow my friend, it's winter so you have plenty of time!

 

Thanks guys! Since it's a reproduction door, I'm having a hard time figuring out the final alignment before I start modifying it. I have the rocker gap good, and i"m wondering if i should sacrifice that to get the rear good and modify the bottom fo the door, or vice versa. In addition, the door seems to bow in a little in the middle at the rocker. Nothing that can't be fixed with a skim I assume, but.. Also, the contour on the rear bottom of the door is straight, where as the quarter has a mild concave shape. One thing at a time I suppose though.. Maybe I should deal with the concaveness first, but I have to figure out which part of hte alignment of the door I'm going to sacrifice first. ahh!

 

Also, the contour on the rear bottom of the door is straight, where as the quarter has a mild concave shape. One thing at a time I suppose though.. Maybe I should deal with the concaveness first, but I have to figure out which part of hte alignment of the door I'm going to sacrifice first. ahh!

if it's just the edge then just use a hammer and dolly to get the contour to match your quarter. i had the same problem.

how much material do you have to add? below are links to pictures of both previously mentioned methods of fixing the gap.

when i would get the edge close with a grinder, i would use a handfile on the edge and use light stroke to get the edges smooth.

drivers side door pictures by buckeyedemon - Photobucket

rear valance pictures by buckeyedemon - Photobucket

 

I had similar issues. I found it was easiest to align it closest to the quarter panel, and then i hung the fenders and made sure they would line up correctly. I made sure the fenders were perfect since that gap would be really hard to do any body work too. Then I added some metal and filler to the actual B pillar and not the door to get the gap right. This may not be the way others do it but my gaps look pretty nice now and you wouldnt know unless I told you that I added material there. It was just too hard in my mind to add to the doors

 

Ooh, I definietly plan to add only to the doors. I will also have to add a lot to the fender, as it's a reproduction. I guess I'll sucker a buddy to help me this week and see if we can't get the basic alignment down before i start welding!

 

For filler use the 3m gold bond, Its more expensive but well worth it, tough as nails but sands fine.

 

Yeah I've looked over those posts many times, thanks! Not much material to add or take away, just have to figure out if I need to add, or take away, really. The fender is a huge gap, I'll be using a rod for that, but the door is just going to be tacked with a mig. Just wondering how you get it straight without a jig or some such.

 

I wouldn't bother trying to just carefully mig weld the edge up without using any sort of filler rod. The idea of using 1/8" rod is simple and makes the job much easier. The rod is about the width of a folder over door edge and it is easier to weld two pieces together versus trying to build up on a narrow edge. I did my doors in several locations, the upper corners of my repro fenders and the ends of the always too short valence.

I used 1/8 6011 (or 6013) welding rod.. chipped off the flux, lined up the end and tacked it on with the mig welder. The welding rod is rigid, but flexible enough to follow the curvature of whatever edge you need to follow. As soon as you tack it, immediately line up your next tack. I typically tacked every inch or so, but on tighter curves you may have to go shorter. This was much easier than trying to pre bend the wire. On the doors just go as far as where you are already satisfied with the gap. You are going to have to stitch the whole distance and then file off the excess to get an even gap. Not shown in the pics but you'll want to weld from both sides to get a nice solid fill. When you grind, just be careful you don't want to take off too much. I worked the gap even first with grinders and files, then followed up and radiused the edges. It's not all that hard... On the valence below, I don't recall if I welded up the backside, I may have just seam sealed it since it's already pretty solid.

 

Maybe I should try it with 1/8" rod.. Not worried about my welding, so much as my grinding. The only reason I was hesitant for the rod, is the gap isn't ALL that much different down the door.. So now I'll have a 1/8" rod, and then it will just end suddenly? And then you try to blend that in?

 

Yep. You can blend it in. I think you just need to get out there and try. Once you get going, it will be pretty easy and self explanatory what you need to do. Buckeyedemon and Sstang those are pretty good pics. I tend to get going and then by the time I stop to get pics I'm way past step by step pics!

Doug

 

Yeah, I should just try it. As some on here know, I REALLY over think things. Now when doing my first alignment to figure out where I should add, should I be worrying about the front angle? Kind of hard to tell what it's doing obviously, but just wondering if I should forget about it, and deal with the two gaps, and deal with the fender area after?