Door to Rocker alignment. End of adjustment.

[HawkX66]

A while back I posted about my rocker to door gap at the front bottom PS. I’m having problems lining up the front of the door with the front of the rocker.
I have born with doors and the rockers are mint 69 transplants. All the measurements match PS to DS from the quarters forward, but I still need to move the PS door another 1/8” forward to line up the rocker to the front of the door. The doors measure out “perfect” also. I thought the PS door was off, but I was wrong.
It looks like my lower hinge mount plate is at the end of its adjustment. I think if I carefully opened up the hole slightly it would give me the adjustment I need. Any reason I wouldn’t want to do this? I hate to do it, but the only alternative I can see is moving the A-Pillar forward which I'm not doing...
Here’s what I’m talking about:

[Mike S]

Hi Dave,

  Are the door hinges original (or rebuilt original) or reproduction?

Mike

[HawkX66]

Hi Dave,

  Are the door hinges original (or rebuilt original) or reproduction?

Mike

They're original. I need to rebuild them though. They aren't bad, but they drop the door slightly. If they weren't original, I'd weld the mounting hole closed and re-drill it a little further back.

[X33RS]

Are you going to run the fender that tight to the rocker?  If you do, there is really no way to run the door up even with the rocker, it would be too close to the fender.

And, if you move the door forward even with the rocker, what is that doing to the rear door and quarter gap?

[Mike S]

My thinking is the fender gap in the picture was for illustration purposes only.
If it were my car I would elongate the holes in the door hinge using a dremmel and routering bit for the extra needed movement.
Would moving the door forward to be even with the rocker cause the rear gap to be too large?

Mike

[HawkX66]

Are you going to run the fender that tight to the rocker?  If you do, there is really no way to run the door up even with the rocker, it would be too close to the fender.

And, if you move the door forward even with the rocker, what is that doing to the rear door and quarter gap?

My thinking is the fender gap in the picture was for illustration purposes only.
If it were my car I would elongate the holes in the door hinge using a dremmel and routering bit for the extra needed movement.
Would moving the door forward to be even with the rocker cause the rear gap to be too large?

Mike

Yes, the fender was just loosely fitted on there to check contours etc. The gap at the back is about 1/16" right now, so there should be plenty of tolerance to get the front lined up or very close.
What would your reasoning be for elongating the hinge versus the hinge mount on the A-pillar?

[Mike S]

1/16" is too tight so you look to be in a good position to move forward a couple of ~16th's. I only stated the hinge itself because it may be easier instead to open up instead of trying to elongate the pillar sheet metal due to the captive nut. If the nut has some backward movement then maybe you can trim the edge of the pillar side but will that have any impact on the captive nut cage?

Mike

[X33RS]

My thinking is the fender gap in the picture was for illustration purposes only.
If it were my car I would elongate the holes in the door hinge using a dremmel and routering bit for the extra needed movement.
Would moving the door forward to be even with the rocker cause the rear gap to be too large?

Mike

Exactly what I was getting at Mike.

I would most certainly elongate the hinge itself.

[HawkX66]

1/16" is too tight so you look to be in a good position to move forward a couple of ~16th's. I only stated the hinge itself because it may be easier instead to open up instead of trying to elongate the pillar sheet metal due to the captive nut. If the nut has some backward movement then maybe you can trim the edge of the pillar side but will that have any impact on the captive nut cage?

Mike

There's some fore and aft movement in the captive threaded plate. I only was thinking about opening up the pillar a little. The cage only holds the threaded plate from falling out. Once you tighten the bolts, the cage does nothing. To be honest, I think taking a little material from the pillar area would be easier than elongating the hinge. I'm just not positive I want to do either. I don't know if I'll have a choice though.
This might give a better picture. I think the holes were drilled too far back from the factory. It had the same problem before all the bodywork.

[Mike S]

 You may want to verify that the nut in the cage isn't restricted by bent over metal at the ends to prevent the nut from falling out. I seem to remember on my 67 there was a limit the nuts could travel within the cage both vertical and horizontal.

Mike

[HawkX66]

You may want to verify that the nut in the cage isn't restricted by bent over metal at the ends to prevent the nut from falling out. I seem to remember on my 67 there was a limit the nuts could travel within the cage both vertical and horizontal.

Mike

Yes, there is a limit. If you look at the pic above though, you can see it goes well past the cutouts. Its one large plate with four threaded holes.

[Mike S]

2/16" is about a half door bolt thickness. If you have that much extra room then trimming the pillar is probably the better route.

Mike

[HawkX66]

The factory gaps are "supposed" to be .220" +/- .060. I'll call it a little more than an 1/8" min to 1/4" max. The max spec seems like a pretty big gap to me so I should have plenty to work with at the quarter to door gap. I hope... Now to decide which factory piece I'm going to modify... I think it'll end up being the A-pillar if I can't figure out a better idea.

[m22mike]

Hawk
 On more than one car I have relieved the metal on the bolt holes on the pillar and even went up a drill size or two on the hinges. Wont hurt a thing.

Mike

[HawkX66]

Hawk
 On more than one car I have relieved the metal on the bolt holes on the pillar and even went up a drill size or two on the hinges. Wont hurt a thing.

Mike

I appreciate that Mike. I'm just always extremely hesitant to modify original parts. Either the hinges or the A pillar would definitely work for what I'm trying to do, but I just wanted to see if there was a better way first. I'm thinking there isn't.