Does anyone have a good workup on how to adjust these so that they fit better? Thanks
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Does anyone have a good workup on how to adjust these so that they fit better? Thanks
Corey's method will get you done or very close........Don't be suprised if you have to do some file work to even things up or gain some additional clearance......Especialy on older CMCs and their ilk.... Ask Drclock.....
I assume you're talking about the door not being tight in its assigned space on the car? Misaligned, maybe?
There are 12 screws on each door. Three each on the inside and outside of each hinge. They're probably Phillips screws. To adjust your doors, loosen two of the screws on each plate until you can lift the door a little by the handle. Keep track of the screws; put them in a bowl on the seat or something (they're a pain in the ass to try to find replacements for for some reason).
Take a 10-inch-long piece of cardboard and fold it up twice or three times lengthwise, until it has the thickness you want for your door gap. Rest the door on top of it repeatedly, until you're sure its what you want. The spacing at the bottom of the door should be about the same as the spacing in front of and behind the door also.
When you've approximated where you want it to be, tighten your screws a little bit, then check again. Do not tighten all the screws all the way or all at the same time. A little on each, evenly, as many times as it takes to get the gap right. Plan on 30 minutes for each door.
The principle is the same for the trunk and decklid, but do the doors first so you get the idea BEFORE you mess with those hinges.
If the doors do not line up at the top of the rear the same way they do at the top of the front, see a thread here called "Butt Sag." CMCs, especially, have a tendency for the fiberglass on the back third of the car to droop a bit as they age. The fix for that is pretty simple, but might scare you a bit if you're not a car guy.
No worries -- there are Speedster people all over SoCal. I'm pretty sure one of them will spend some time with you and your car.
There are 12 screws on each door. Three each on the inside and outside of each hinge. They're probably Phillips screws. To adjust your doors, loosen two of the screws on each plate until you can lift the door a little by the handle. Keep track of the screws; put them in a bowl on the seat or something (they're a pain in the ass to try to find replacements for for some reason).
Take a 10-inch-long piece of cardboard and fold it up twice or three times lengthwise, until it has the thickness you want for your door gap. Rest the door on top of it repeatedly, until you're sure its what you want. The spacing at the bottom of the door should be about the same as the spacing in front of and behind the door also.
When you've approximated where you want it to be, tighten your screws a little bit, then check again. Do not tighten all the screws all the way or all at the same time. A little on each, evenly, as many times as it takes to get the gap right. Plan on 30 minutes for each door.
The principle is the same for the trunk and decklid, but do the doors first so you get the idea BEFORE you mess with those hinges.
If the doors do not line up at the top of the rear the same way they do at the top of the front, see a thread here called "Butt Sag." CMCs, especially, have a tendency for the fiberglass on the back third of the car to droop a bit as they age. The fix for that is pretty simple, but might scare you a bit if you're not a car guy.
No worries -- there are Speedster people all over SoCal. I'm pretty sure one of them will spend some time with you and your car.
Let me add one thing. The door panel will have to come off if you remove all the screws on the door side of a hinge. There's a metal backing plate inside the fiberglass which may or may not actually be attached with adhesive to the door. If it isn't -- and if you take all the screws out -- it will fall to the bottom of the inside of the door.
Don't panic if it does.
To remove and replace the door hardware (the little door handle on the inside and any 'pull' mechanism on the door skin is super easy. There's a cotter pin holding the actuator to open the door; again, if you remove it, you should put it in a cup or something on the driver's seat. It's easy to lose little pins and bolts, and hard to find replacement parts.
Remove the pull lever carefully from its splined shaft, then remove all the screws around the door's edge. The upholstery is only applied with screws in most cases, not glue. Remember to put the parts in the bowl, baggie or whatever -- and count them as they come out. You'll know they're all there when you go to put them back in. :)
The plate is super-easy to align with the door apart, so you might as well make your adjustments with the panel off (assuming the plate fell, naturally -- don't go through this if you don't have to!) and reassembly is easy also. The above steps to put the doors back into adjustment will still apply, once the plate is back where it should be.
The "car-side" hinge screws usually screw right into a two-inch piece of box tubing, and no disassembly is needed if those screws come all the way out -- again, easily avoidable if you only take two out, not all three -- but it's easier to adjust the doors if the door hasn't been completely removed from the car. You'll need help if the door comes off.
It also is possible, you're only making adjustments to loose screws and nothing untoward happens while you're tightening them, to put a floor jack, stack of books or whatever you want to under the trailing edge of the door in order to get the alignment you want with the door open. Check the height from the floor to the ideal height of the door's bottom edge, set your jack appropriately and then rest the door on the jack while you adjust the screws.
If you use the jack method, DO NOT attempt to sit on the door sill while making that adjustment. The car will sink a bit under your weight, and you'll wreck your door.
Don't panic if it does.
To remove and replace the door hardware (the little door handle on the inside and any 'pull' mechanism on the door skin is super easy. There's a cotter pin holding the actuator to open the door; again, if you remove it, you should put it in a cup or something on the driver's seat. It's easy to lose little pins and bolts, and hard to find replacement parts.
Remove the pull lever carefully from its splined shaft, then remove all the screws around the door's edge. The upholstery is only applied with screws in most cases, not glue. Remember to put the parts in the bowl, baggie or whatever -- and count them as they come out. You'll know they're all there when you go to put them back in. :)
The plate is super-easy to align with the door apart, so you might as well make your adjustments with the panel off (assuming the plate fell, naturally -- don't go through this if you don't have to!) and reassembly is easy also. The above steps to put the doors back into adjustment will still apply, once the plate is back where it should be.
The "car-side" hinge screws usually screw right into a two-inch piece of box tubing, and no disassembly is needed if those screws come all the way out -- again, easily avoidable if you only take two out, not all three -- but it's easier to adjust the doors if the door hasn't been completely removed from the car. You'll need help if the door comes off.
It also is possible, you're only making adjustments to loose screws and nothing untoward happens while you're tightening them, to put a floor jack, stack of books or whatever you want to under the trailing edge of the door in order to get the alignment you want with the door open. Check the height from the floor to the ideal height of the door's bottom edge, set your jack appropriately and then rest the door on the jack while you adjust the screws.
If you use the jack method, DO NOT attempt to sit on the door sill while making that adjustment. The car will sink a bit under your weight, and you'll wreck your door.
Are you guys abel to get these cars aligned pretty good? Do you guys do a lot of sanding and primer build up to level things out?
Without seeing what's going on with your car, specifically, it's difficult to say what kind of work you have ahead of you. Some guys here have to have their cars' bodies at 100 percent perfect, and others could care less.
I'm in the latter category.
I'm in the latter category.
I don't want to paint my CMC black gel coated Speedster for a few years. I plan to place a thin aluminum shim between door and hindge to give more space along the gap between that area. Bottoms on my door stick too far out in the back - seems only way to fix that would be to cut door liner from the door's other skin, remove a sliver and rebond.
Mat asked: Are you guys abel to get these cars aligned pretty good?
Yes - with a lot of effort.
Do you guys do a lot of sanding and primer build up to level things out?
Absolutely - it's a CMC after all........Gotta sand and file and bondo here and there to make things "right".
Yes - with a lot of effort.
Do you guys do a lot of sanding and primer build up to level things out?
Absolutely - it's a CMC after all........Gotta sand and file and bondo here and there to make things "right".
Because the lower door corners stick out on the CMC as long as long as the car will be painted, I build out the lower quarter panels and rear portion of thre rocker panels with a skim coat of bondo to make them even.
Yeah, and every car is different. My lower door corners were acceptable, but when I made the rear door gap right the inside rear of the door hit the body so out came the 80 grit paper and a block and ZAPPO! No more hitting, but now I have to fill in from inside of the body to close the hole from the sanding.
There was a time when I thought I could get away with the red gel coat and no paint, but after fitting the doors, finding a BIG chip in the hood caused by 22 years of garage storage and moving things around before assembly and just general storage wear and tear, it looks like the red may become something else. But not Pearl. She's unique.
It's always something with CMC's........
There was a time when I thought I could get away with the red gel coat and no paint, but after fitting the doors, finding a BIG chip in the hood caused by 22 years of garage storage and moving things around before assembly and just general storage wear and tear, it looks like the red may become something else. But not Pearl. She's unique.
It's always something with CMC's........
Gordon, there's a shade of blue they use on Coopers that appears to be a deep marine blue. Base and clear, apparently.
As for trying to get proper alignment of parts ... at least they're already shrunk. Spacing them with a known thickness, like a pencil eraser, and sanding seems to be the only real answer. Sorry, Mat.
As for trying to get proper alignment of parts ... at least they're already shrunk. Spacing them with a known thickness, like a pencil eraser, and sanding seems to be the only real answer. Sorry, Mat.
If my car is red gel coat right now how much sanding of the gel coat do you do first before applying bondo? Does Bondo stick well to gel coat?
Yes, Bondo wil stick to a clean non oily gel coat surface I suggest 120 grit . You only need to sand through the gel coat if you have repairs i.e. cracks.