I'm hanging new doors (inner doors) on my 63. To adjust fit, it does not appear that these cars use shims like a lot of later GM cars. The hinges do appear to be adjustable at the point where they connect to car...rather than at the door. I've never installed a door quite like this before (skins off, threaded hinges etc.) So far, I've got the best fit by actually clicking the entire door in the frame, then gently adjusting from the bottom. I've got the door pretty well set, but it drags a little at the back end of the door. Anybody out there have any tips for that perfect fit? Thx PRL

Pete,
You might cringe a bit at this but in the past I've had good luck with a 2 by 4. Tighten the bolts at the adjusting points medium tight but not fully torqued. With the door closed as much as possible, put the 2 by 4 between the far end of the door and rocker panel and lift, be firm but not crazy with these open structure doors. If it looks like the frame is deflecting at all don't go any further. Lift and check until the drag is gone then test fit your skin. Once everything is aligned tighten the bolts to torque setting. Disclaimer: I have not used this method on riviera doors but it has worked well on many others.

Make sure it is the door and not the striker that's binding. If the gaps around the door are good, loosen the striker and move it to align with the latch on the door. Look at the creases in the door and the body and make sure they're aligned. The top of the door, the body creases, and the gaps around the door are most critical for appearance. Don't adjust the door to get rid of a rub then find out that the door is not aligned with the body.

Some body shop might still have an older tool used to align doors, such as the 63's, which had a striker on the body. The tool had a striker built into it and a knob which went over the striker on the body. With the striker on the tool latched to the door, the knob was placed over the striker on the body. Bolts were loosened enough to allow for adjustment and, by lifting on the tool, the door could be raised into position. This put all the pressure where it should go, and not on the panels.



Ed

So I assume from your responses that the adjustment on the front of the door is only at the point where the hinges attach to the body (4 bolts each) rather than any type of shim treatment where the hinges attach to the door (3 bolts each). Also, the gaps look good, but the back end of the door actually appears to "jump" up about 1/8 inch when it hits the striker. That said, I'm doing all this with the skin off the door, so the whole thing seems to flex a little especially when I try to put any kind of lever on it. WIthout the weather stripping, it also feels a little tinny. Should I be doing all this with the skin on? PRL

PS-I hung a door on a Cutlass several years ago and it bolted on straight and true the very first time, so this Riviera door is a unique experience for me. Lot's of variables.

Pete,
This may sound like a lot of work, but I would recommend aligning the door frame and skin as a unit with the weather strip in place. Get your door gaps set and make sure that the striker doesn't put any type of upward or downward load on the door. Then check for your window seal. Now comes the fun part, if your glass isn't where it needs to be, you pull the door skin and adjust the window to where it needs to be. Now, reinstall the door skin and fine tune the fit. It's alot of hassle, but you will get everything where it needs to be. It is now officially Miller Time!
HTH,
Tim

There 's a second set of bolts inside the door panel for in and out. Hinge to body is high low adjustment. With the door skin off get even finger width gap all around and the lock mechanism aligned with striker. Sometimes a little strong arming is needed. Fine tune your window alignment with the door skin off. Tape off your tight spots on the panels and align the outer door skin. New hinge pins/bushings, door alignment, no new paint chips= 8-10 hrs for both sides...The perfect click as the door is swung shut...PRICELESS! God bless us all and our Country this 4th!

Steve

Thanks to all of you for your input. I'm getting close...but I still have a little "drag" at the back of the door. I figure that by the time I get good at this I'll run out of doors to do. My gaps front/back are good...it's the up/down so I assume that's the inside bolts (2 sets of 3) that will cure this. Here's another question: SInce I won't be replacing the weather strip until I get new paint, should I wait on final adjustment until then? Seems like the weather strip could affect the fit considerably. Thx PRL