Tuesday, April 18, 2006 - 05:21 pm, by: Sean Tusler(Viperlover55)
A passenger opened the passengers door a couple of days ago and it mad a rather terrible noise, apon inspection i saw the following :
picture one is of the door closed
as you can see in the blue ring the panel has been rubbing when the door is opened and its strating to wear the paint away.
picture 2 is the door opened to the point where the door and the fender are touching.
What is causing this and how do i fix it?? to my knowledge the car has not been hit before this started to happen. please help i dont want to open the passanger door anymore
Monday, April 24, 2006 - 09:19 am, by: Ian Johnston(Ted)
Sean, someone on here adjusted there door by using a phone book jammed in between the door and door pillar, then slowley try shutting the door. It will bend easy,so dont do it if not sure, look up in search first.
Ian - I should've tried that one, but my driver's door hinge, on the '30, grew beyond that method. Sean - easy as mate! Either go work out at the gym for a few weeks first, hire a door lifter or better still get a mate or two to help lift the bugger! Not that heavy really. I did it on my own with the assistance of a floor jack propped under the sill (use a piece of carpet or cardboard to save your paintwork) to take the weight while I undid bolts. Don't forget to unclip the wire harness from the kick panel first. hehehe!
Monday, April 24, 2006 - 02:15 pm, by: Roger Costello(Roger)
Sean
It was me, it works a treat if the hinge is still serviceable. Just use a thinner phone book with the window down so you can position it till the hinge clamps it. Do the top and bottom of the hinge above and below the cable cover to get the an even shut-line (gap) around the door. Push the door in (don't close it!) a few cm at a time at the handle end with the phone book wedged in the hinge while watching the gap at the hinge end. if you overcook it bend it back gently by pulling on the door when fully open. It's best done in very small steps. If the lock does not line up with the door, using a phone book as a paint protector try jacking up the end of the partially open door a few mm at a time. Or you can take it to a panel beater who may charge you hundreds to do the same thing while you are not looking. I was quoted over a thousand to fix it and it took me about ten minutes with a phone book to get it perfect. Keep in mind it is a long door with lots of leverage, you don't need to use much force and the hinges are not indestructible (but they are stronger than the mounting points).
Monday, April 24, 2006 - 09:22 pm, by: Sean Tusler(Viperlover55)
WOW, i thought you were going to say beat the door with a phonebook till it shuts again hahaha. But that sounds pretty easy and effective. It only just started to happen, so does that mean the phonebook thing will work?
Also im not fully able to picture where you placed the phonebook? im reading it but its just not computing in my head??
When the door is closed the shut lines and gap between the fender and door are just fine. Does that mean anything else? Im not letting anyone oepn the door till this is solved too.
Thanks for the help so far i was worried it was going to cost me lots money to get it fixed.
Monday, April 24, 2006 - 09:47 pm, by: Michael James(Wildwizard)
Sean compare the gap at the front of the door and the gap at the rear of the door while it's closed.
When the gap at the back is larger the front will clip at the part way open point, this is usually the result of the door hinge getting bent slightly out of shape by opening the door too far. Hence the suddenness of the problem.
The phone book fix involves sticking the phone book into the middle part of the hinge while the door is open and then closing the door onto the phone book and then applying a certain amount of pressure on the door to bend it back.
The hard bit is how much force you will require, just do it gently at first and then test it, repeat the process increasing the force until you get it right.
Thursday, May 18, 2006 - 11:54 pm, by: Joey Chow(Sin)
i have read this a thousand times and im still not sure where to put the phone book. doe anyone have a picture? i have read the other posts about removing the hinge etc, but i dont want to do that unless i absolutely have to.
Previous
thanks for the useful advice as always.
