Door gaps. Pics inside...help

[dec322]

My passenger door just leaked like crazy last night and my carpet is soaked. The weatherstripping is supposed to be new (previous owner...I bought the car in Feb). I have new hinge pins for the door and will install them this weekend but I think the door gap is too big. Maybe a hinge issue. What do yall think?

Passenger door:

The driver side looks better. Here are some pics of the driver side door.....and my son trying check himself out:

View attachment 432320

 

[DMAN302]

Gap looks fine to me.

 

[dec322]

Gap looks fine to me.

Really? I know the driver side is good but the passenger side looks a little wide at the top compared to the driver side. Maybe its normal?

 

[billison]

was the door shut all the way?

 

[DMAN302]

likely the water entering is a result of the door sag, improper latch alignment or weather seals worn or improperly installed.

 

[dec322]

was the door shut all the way?

Yeah.


I'm sure the water is coming in b/c of the sag but I've been wondering about the different size gaps between the two doors. One day I will paint this car....(I hate the painted mirrors, door trim, door handle....) and am wondering about things like gaps and parts that aren't lined up correctly....(front corners of the fenders for instance).

 

[BlooDReigN]

Your door hinges are probly like mine...The hinge pins are fine, but the actual holes in the hinges are ovaled.

Open your door and try lifting it up. If you can feel the door lifting/wobbling when you lift it, then you probly need new hinges.

 

[funkytrunk92]

has it ever been wrecked? worst case could be some structrual damage. or just faulty hinges! Might want to check your fender aligment also.

p.s. --glad to see you gettin your son to an early start on mustangs!

 

[jtfairlane]

The gaps on my doors are way worse than that, but the car stays bone dry in heavy downpours or even through automated car washes. Shortly after I bought the car, the first time I took it through an automated car wash it dumped a ton of water onto my passenger, the culprit turned out to be a small tear/gap in the weatherstripping, but it was enough to let in a ton of water. Check your weatherstripping carefully, I replaced the weatherstripping on both the driver and passenger sides, and even with bad fender/door alignment, etc, the car interior stays bone dry now.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Either your hinges are going out (you'll know..try to lift up on the door...if it moves up then they're toast) or your door just needs aligned... (i'd worry more about the orange peel on the paint! )

 

[Roland69]

you need to get your door aligned. Sometimes it can be easy and sometimes it can be a big PITA. My Dad is a body man and I have helped him do quite a few doors. I would say you need to loosen the top hinge and just ever so slightly loosen the botom hinge. place a block of wood on a floor jack and with the door open jack up on the end of the door (furthest away from fender) and tighten up the hinge bolts. Close the door and check the gap you might need to play with it a little untill it lines up nice but with a little messing around you will get it.

 

[MAC'n89Blckstng]

you could actually adjust the fender by loosening the fender bolt at the bottem and pulling the bottem of the fender forward for a good gap. That looks like a simple fender allignment issue.

 

[Roland69]

do you have a pic of the passenger side higher up on the door like above the door glass

 

[Glaze]

As stated couple times above check for wear by opening door all way and lift up, open half way lift, than close to close and lift up. Any substancial movement should be addressed. Simply realigning will not fix problem. If the pin/bushing assembly is worn it will only get worse and than damage the hinge itself. Check hinge assembly itself where it bolts to post and see if it has moved (paint cracks). Also check for any signs of prev repair due to an accident. Once you get the hinge area fixed, make sure to properly align the striker bushing so you get a good clean fit and that it latches properly.

I didnt see a pic of the door to quarter panel (near door handle) on the passanger side.

 

[85_SS_302_Coupe]

Make a note though....if the back of your door has a good even gap where it closes, and your hinges are good, then you need to line up the fender, not the door. If you try to line up the door with the fender you might end up making a gap in the back and you'll just be pissed that you got nowhere.

 

[thehueypilot]

Close a sheet of paper in the top of the door and see if you can pull it out. If you can you know you have a seal issue for sure. Move the paper to different spots to check for good seal. Some of the aftermarket door seals are not as good or soft as the OEM stuff.

 

[billison]

My passenger door just leaked like crazy last night and my carpet is soaked. The weatherstripping is supposed to be new (previous owner...I bought the car in Feb). I have new hinge pins for the door and will install them this weekend but I think the door gap is too big. Maybe a hinge issue. What do yall think?

Passenger door:

The driver side looks better. Here are some pics of the driver side door.....and my son trying check himself out:

View attachment 432130

wow, is the whole car silver? looks kinda odd, no trim, no cowl, are the headlights sliver too?

 

[jrichker]

Some comments about the wear on the hinges and not just the hinge pins might be helpful...

Hinge pin & bushing kits are available at many auto parts stores. Or see http://www.texasmustang.com/ or http://www.mustang-unl.com/. Usually less than $7 for the kit with one pin & 2 bushings.

Th hard part is to get the old pin out. Some were spot welded in, others were hammered so that the end mushroomed. Either way, it takes a grinder or cutter bit in a drill or Dremel tool to cut the pin or grind off the weld. Once it is off, tap the pin out with a hammer. Only remove one pin at a time so that you don't have the full weight of the door to manage. I highly recommend that you have a helper standing by to hold the door.

Once the old pin is out, lower the door and tap out the old bushings. Put the new bushings in and have the helper lift the door in place so that you can slide the new pin in. It may have to go in differently from the way it came out. That's OK, as long as you put the cotter pin in the hinge pin.

OOOPS!!!The important thing to remember is that the hinge pin isn't supposed to move once you are finished. If it does, then you will end up like me - the pin moved, it wore the door hinge instead of the replaceable bushings. Now in order to fix it right, I have to remove the whole thing again and drill out the hinge to the same size as the bushing and use 2 sets of bushings in each hinge rather than one set.

The fix for the OOOPS was very time consuming and if you aren't up to some very interesting machine work, do it right so you won't have to do it again. I fixed the OOOPS but I had $43 worth of drill bit and specialized reamer plus pulling the fender off to fix it.

Close the door on a door bill and pull on it to check the fit of the weather stripping. Move it around to various places and recheck. You should have a nice even drag all the way around the door.

Adjusting the striker bolt can help with the gap around the top of the door. If the dollar bill has insufficent drag at the top of the door, adjusting the striker bolt up may help. The same torx wrench that fits the seat belts and brake bolts fits the striker bolt.

 

[bigcat]

look at these 2 photos:

View attachment 432102

the passenger side door moulding is closer to the fender than the drivers side is. the paint on the passenger side is also worn off where it has been hitting the fender as it opens. take a pic of the rear door gap. does it line up properly? the best way to diagnose the problem is to take the striker out. if the door shuts in the hole properly, and lines up to the 1/4 AND the rocker, then the problem is NOT in the door, but rather the fender.

like said before, the pins/bushings could be worn in the door hinges, or it could just need to be aligned properly. chances are that people lean on the door when getting in and out, this bends the hinges, and causes them to sag. if this is the case, you can grab the rear lower edge of the door and lift it up.

let me know what the other gaps look like and i can walk you through it. i am a ASE bodyman.

 

[dec322]

(i'd worry more about the orange peel on the paint! )

I guess you missed my signature...you can give towards the destruction of orange peel.

wow, is the whole car silver? looks kinda odd, no trim, no cowl, are the headlights sliver too?

Yeah the whole car is silver....including all the pieces that should have stayed black (window trim, mirrors, door handles, quarter window molding). I hate the current paint job and will one day fix it. I've been on stangnet for about 9 months and noone has donated or pm'ed me about giving towards my paint job .

like said before, the pins/bushings could be worn in the door hinges, or it could just need to be aligned properly. chances are that people lean on the door when getting in and out, this bends the hinges, and causes them to sag. if this is the case, you can grab the rear lower edge of the door and lift it up.

I can lift the door only when it is all the way open. The same is true for the driver side door. I thought this was a sign of bad hinge pins even though it doesn't look like the pins are warped or the bushings are stretched. As far as paint cracking, it is hard to tell b/c the current paint job was done by a highschool shop class (previous owner's brother) and it isn't top notch stuff.

I might need to get my wife out there and have her lift the door while I look at the hinge. My neck isn't long enough to lift the door and look at the hinge close enough

I'll get more pics tomorrow of the whole door and a few other gaps. Thanks for the input guys.:SNSign: