66 newport door adjustment

[Mr Squirrel]

So the problem I'm having, which the pics below will show, is that the driver's door on my car is sitting wrong, hitting the fender and causing a large wind leak going down the road. So far as I know, the car has never been in an accident. Sounds like from the previous owner the driver's door used to only occasionally touch the fender, now it does every time.

The door is very clearly sitting too far in on the bottom left ( if you were standing beside the car looking straight at the door) and too far out on the top right. I should mention that I've checked for play in the pins. But no matter how far I have the door open I can find absolutely none. Every way I pull on the door, it just moves the whole car. It seems like it would be a pretty easy adjustment, loosening the bolts on the door side of the bottom hinge, but even though I've had the bolts all loose, for both hinges (top and bottom) on the door the door will not budge. Makes me think that maybe that side of the hinge doesn't adjust? Wouldn't see how to do it on the hinge where it's bolted to the car without putting shims behind the hinge?

Also, should mention that the front fender seems to sit perfectly flush with the the rocker panel.

 

[azblackhemi]

When you loosen the bolts in the door it should move. It should give you at least half an inch. Maybe the caged plate is frozen. Stay some wd40 in it and give it a tug. The top hinge bolts into the door need to also be a little lose.

 

[traintech55]

You are probably looking at worn door hinges. Not many people paid attention to the fact that the pivot points should be lubricated. Best way to check this is to open the door just enough and try to lift the rear of the door. Any movement and the hinge needs to be rebuilt or replaced. If you try to adjust on a worn hinge you will never get it right.

 

[CBODY67]

Unless the door hinges have loosened on their own . . . either where they attach to the body OR where they attach to the front of the door, which should be obvious as the cars were painted with the hinges/door already attached to the car body, then you've gotten some very worn hinges.

We normally looked at the hinges as an assembly, but their pivot points are a hinge pin and bronze bushings. Those items are probably the same as or similar to the B-body cars OR even some GM vehicles. That means the parts to repair the hinges should be available, but you'll have to remove the door from the vehicle to do that.

The way things look, you'll probably need to do both upper and lower hinges. Might need to take the inside trim panel off for good measure (while the door is still on the car). Roll the window down, too! The door will be a little heavy, so having a strong assistant would be advisable. OR you can find a body shop to do the work . . . they could well have experience in that type of repair from all of the GM pickups that have needed these things over the years.

CBODY67

 

[Davea Lux]

Another possibility if you are not finding loose pins or other signs of wear, is that someone might have "hooked" the door on something while backing up with the door open. If something got bent in this manner, you probably are going to need new hinges as that damage probably can't be adjusted away. The top of your door appears to be canted out which can be a classic sign of a bent hinge. There is also some displacement on the rear of the door where it meets the lower part of the fender. That line should be the same from top to bottom of where the fender and door meet and the line should be square if you stick a straight edge over the joint.

Dave