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hanging doors, bain of my life...


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Does anyone have any tips for putting doors on? I'm about to attempt it for the second time on my project. Last time i tried i realised the rear tub was not inline with the bulkhead, height wise, string tested and all seems to be on a level now, front bulkhead is loose although windscreen is attached, all front bolts, wings etc are all loose. Is there a trick to this and is it ok to bore out the slots in the bulkhead to get the right angle with the j nuts or is that a big no no?

Been dragging this out for some time so any advice will be much appreciated, alternatively if anyone is in the Portsmouth area do youfancy coming and giving a hand on Saturday :P really worried about this bit...

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I used my original hinges the other week (27 years old now!). They do need replacing but managed the job fine.

Just a job where 2 people help, as does lots of patience! Might be best to completely slacken the catch too in case that starts giving you problems.

Some jacking apart of the aperture may be necessary too. Depends how stiff it all is and how much adjustment you need.

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Ok. Doors have three methods of adjustment:

  1. Hinge position on bulkhead - changes 'pitch' of door. This should be set so that the 'kink' in the bodywork follows through from wing to bulkhead to door to rear tub.
  2. Shims between hinge and door - changes 'roll' of door. This should be set so that the door's leading edge sits flush with the bulkhead and windscreen frame all the way up. So if you look down the side of the vehicle there is no protrusion of the door frame.
  3. Striker position on B-pillar - sets closing angle. Obviously the vertical position of the striker is set by the door's position (just line it up with the latch), but moving it further in toward the vehicle will make the door close further inwards, so this needs to be set so that the door's trailing edge is flush with the rear tub/side panels all the way up.

Things that can hinder proper door closure/adjustment include:

  1. Rotten frames - door can twist and the lack of weight makes it hard to close
  2. Worn hinges - makes it practically impossible to get the pitch right
  3. Aftermarket door seals - well known for being too 'hard' and making the door impossible to close when fully adjusted in
  4. Worn striker - if the plastic around the metal pin has worn away this can make the latch reluctant to close over it
  5. Worn/sticky latch - If the latch arm cannot move freely the door tends to 'bounce' back onto the half-closed position.
  6. Badly set bodywork - of course if the body is not 100% in line then you'll never get a good shut line!

It can be a bit of a pain and there's a lot of trial and error involved, but persevere and you'll get there. I'm still not happy with mine, there are no drafts but the shut lines are not quite straight enough for my liking.

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Does anyone have any tips for putting doors on? I'm about to attempt it for the second time on my project. Last time i tried i realised the rear tub was not inline with the bulkhead, height wise, string tested and all seems to be on a level now, front bulkhead is loose although windscreen is attached, all front bolts, wings etc are all loose. Is there a trick to this and is it ok to bore out the slots in the bulkhead to get the right angle with the j nuts or is that a big no no?

Been dragging this out for some time so any advice will be much appreciated, alternatively if anyone is in the Portsmouth area do youfancy coming and giving a hand on Saturday :P really worried about this bit...

When I did my series 3... Fit rear tub as starting point. Then fix bulkhead so that distance between hinge side of door aperture and the tub, is parallel/the same all the way up. Then fit door with hinge bolts to bulkhead loose, but door hinge bolts tight. No need to fit door striker pin at this stage. With door held closed, and lifted if need be so that bottom of frame clears sill, tighten up hinge bolts in bulkhead. When that is all set, then you can fit and adjust the striker pin. You will never get it right if your bulkhead is all flappy!

I'm in Pompey most wknds - except for perhaps this one. If you still can't fix it, I should be able to give you a hand next wknd.

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Ok so day one of two. The passenger door is on and couldn't have been easier. Check out the pic - I think you'll agree the line on it is quite good and I cant see any daylight through the seal.

post-16322-0-35569600-1330198268_thumb.jpg post-16322-0-56514700-1330198292_thumb.jpg

Pretty good huh? Right now for the bit that made me cry, stamp my feet, and swear obscenities in the front garden for 25minutes (poetic license here but you get the idea). The drivers door just won't line up. After lots of investigation I've noticed that whilst there is very little play in the top hinge, there is a 5mm gap - incidentally the size it is off by at the other end. No matter how hard i lift the door I can't get the angle on it to fit properly.

I've left the hinge in the 110 at the moment but in comparing left and right hand hinges there is deffinately a HUGE gap between the side that bolts onto the bulkhead and the side that bolts onto the door.

Before I send this back to Craddocks (it's painted but I don't care at this stage. Bought genuine hinges because the last set had this issue as well) is this acceptable differences or have I got a dud hinge?

Thanks for the advice in fitting by the way, was on and lined up in 45mins (had to play about with the slam a bit).

Should I try and perceiver with this hinge or send it back and wait on one without an obscene gap between sides?

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I dont think your hinge is the problem, The doors will not line up perfect, 5mm gap!!!! Land Rovers tolerences are probably 15mm.

So 5mm is perfect, look at other peoples doors and you will find yours are not as bad as you think they are.

I thought mine looked awful, and like you swre at it and was about to get someone else to do it; then a mate came round to look........

Told me to go look at his, after that i thought mine looked ok. he said mine fitted better than a lot he had seen.

So dont be too critical at yours.

Hope things went better today.

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Hi there, sorry, not sure if i've explained this correctly. I got one genuine one and one in a bearmach baggie - thought it would be ok. Sent the blue bagged ones back to paddocks when they told me they were genuine.

It's the gap between the two parts of the hinge. It's huge on the drivers side and nothing on the passenger side. Not alot of play in the hinge either. I end up with the hinge sat flush with the front of the bulkhead and the door hitting the top side pannel. No amount of wiggling on either top or bottom hinges seems to bring it round properly.

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Guy commented that he expected the one I had had more play in it than my original hinges - guess this happens to them alot.

So If thats the case then-why do they still continue to send them out, Just daft and a waste of time too

John

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OK so got a new hinge and it still wont line up!!! Argh... However the gap in the new hinge is quite big still.

Interestingly, the genuine hinge was britpart that I had although it came in a bearmach box??? Still confused by that one Craddocks but ok... Anyway all Britpart hinges have been returned apparently because of poor quality issues.

Just out of interest - they have sent out a td5 hinge although I specifically said I wanted 200tdi hinges (I know the td5 are supposedly better). Anyway spoke to them on the phone and the guy would not accept that h had sent a td5 hinge not the thinner 200tdi style - I thought the part numbers were different for the two hinge types but am I wrong and he is right here?

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Hi Mr Pie Eater (good name)

The Hinges are different in that they have nylon inserts.. if they have nylon inserts they are TD5 or later.

I think you need to draw us a picture.. From what you've said:

"It's the gap between the two parts of the hinge. It's huge on the drivers side and nothing on the passenger side. Not alot of play in the hinge either. I end up with the hinge sat flush with the front of the bulkhead and the door hitting the top side pannel. No amount of wiggling on either top or bottom hinges seems to bring it round properly."

I have no idea where the gap is. "Between the two parts of the hinge" makes no sense mate :)

Better txt desciptions:

Gap is between front of door and bulkhead.

Gap is between back of door and rear tub

Need to say if the gap is linear.. ie. one dimensional (Up/Down/Left/Right) (this would indicate that the space for the door to fit isn't correct)

OR the top rear of the door frame isn't quite against the B piller/roof/tub.. (this would indicate you need some shims somehwere..)

get what I mean?..

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Ok so i must have the worst luck ever. Called up Craddocks about the hinge and the guy disappeared of the line after i sent him the pic below, sufficed to say their supply of bearmach hinges are now also being returned. So they are sending me out genuine hinges for next weekend. Fifth time lucky...

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Ok so new hinge, seems to fit ok but the door is not lining up with roof correctly. I am wondering if the tub is still sat too high or if the bulkhead angle is not correct. The fact that the gap at the top is fairly consistent suggests that the bodywork is too high still. I made up the brackets for the rear tub to sit on and am now regretting it somewhat as they appear to be a big cause. But before I readjust the rear tub height again, could someone have a look at the attached photos and let me know if my thinking is correct or not?

I have taken photos of both sides incase I have missed something but I think the only issue is the roof. To clarify its the drivers side door thats the issue.

post-16322-0-88691900-1331912683_thumb.jpg

post-16322-0-72032800-1331912687_thumb.jpg

post-16322-0-61996700-1331912690_thumb.jpg

post-16322-0-82567600-1331912692_thumb.jpg

post-16322-0-27637200-1331912695_thumb.jpg

post-16322-0-70110200-1331912697_thumb.jpg

post-16322-0-14280200-1331912700_thumb.jpg

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