Adjusting doors

[Doug B]

Does anyone know of a good (easy) way to adjust the doors?

e.g. Is it best to have the car down on all four wheels or on stands? Is it all trial and error?

Doug B

[1963r2]

I found that if you do the exact opposite of what you think you should do then you should achieve your goal.

Seriously none of it makes sense but I do recall Bez ( I Think ) detailing the process.

I can't remember if it was on this site or SDC but have a good look.

Have fun.

pb

Edited July 13, 2016 by 1963r2

[Avanti83]

The way I adjust the doors is to pull the striker and close the door. Loosen the hinges and start to shim and tape the door into the opening. When you have the gaps positioned and the door taped and shimmed where you like it, swing the hinges back into position. The secret is to shim the hinges so they are parallel to the door mounts. When the bolts are tightened, the door should be in place and the striker can be reinstalled and adjusted.

You need to have good hinges and a solid hinge mount on the door and body or you'll never get it adjusted properly.

This method sets the door where it should be and the shimming of the hinges maintains the required position. Any other way I have tried just has me chasing adjustment continually.

BTW, Support the car by the suspension, but no matter whether you have it on wheels or jacks, be sure the car is equidistant from the floor on all four corners.

This is the passenger door on my 74 that would not close when I purchased it and have since replaced the hog troughs.

Also remember that these are heavy doors and treat them as such. Be safe.

[1963r2]

Avanti83,

Was the inner fibreglass panel removed from your doors in the hinge area?

Normally you need to slide the hinge into place making the job extra painful.

If I have read your post correctly the inner panel has been removed allowing the hinge to open and close without removing the door all the time to add shims.

Thanks for the info

Pb

[Avanti83]

Avanti83,

Was the inner fibreglass panel removed from your doors in the hinge area?

Normally you need to slide the hinge into place making the job extra painful.

If I have read your post correctly the inner panel has been removed allowing the hinge to open and close without removing the door all the time to add shims.

Thanks for the info

Pb

Been a while so I checked the 74 today, if you look at the slot in the door there is room for moving the hinge enough to add shims if necessary but it's a bit of a bother without question. IAC, my doors fit quite well after I put them in the correct position. I did need to slightly modify the lower corner of the latch side of the passengers door but that's not unusual with an Avanti.

Bob

[mfg]

Doors on Avanti ll's are usually easier to adjust than the doors on original Studebaker Avantis.

That's because the Avanti ll factory people took much more time to 'get it right' than was possible in early Studebaker Avanti production...hence, Avanti ll doors fit better in the first place!

This point was stressed in Avanti ll advertising, when the company made the point of...whether it takes 10 minutes or several hours to fit a door...they'll spend the time!

in reality, doors on some early Studebaker Avantis cannot be made to fit perfectly without subtle (and sometimes not so subtle) body modifications, because they never fit correctly in the first place!....Ed

[Mike Sal]

I love the way my doors (RQA 0330) fit. I have to warn people not to slam the doors when the close them....it only takes one finger to close the door....like a vault door.

Mike Sal

[Warren Webb]

On normal steel cars I had always put the doors on slightly high in the back since they sagged down after installing all the window components, latch & things. With the weight of those items the doors would sag enough to align perfectly.

It's been 20 + years since I did my Avanti. I don't remember it having the same "sag" that steel doors had plus the hinge straps on Studebakers were heavy, cast pieces & didn't tend to allow any sag.

Regardless of the makeup of a door or any part of any car, the car should be held by it's suspension points. Try installing a quarter panel if it was suspended by the rear of the frame. When you'd lower it down on it's wheels the gap from the 1/4 to the top of the door will be wider, guaranteed!