Re: [DML] Door adjustment? (was Body shops near Seattle/Eastside?)

["Walter" <Whalt@xxxx>]

Aaron,

>The entire door itself is bent somehow. The front part goes down too far
>when closed, and hits the black windshield border. The back part doesn't
go
>down enough, and sometimes won't latch. Also, you can see when the doors
>are both fully opened that the passenger side is an inch or two lower than
>the drivers' side.

I hope you are mistaken about your door being bent. If you are correct, it
would sound like you have a twisting sort of bend. HOWEVER! My driver's
door has a problem similar to what you describe.

I had DMC Joe adjust my door (there is a picture of him doing it in a
previous issue of DeLorean World). At that time, the only fixes it really
needed was having the rear quarter panel gasket moved and the door posts
adjusted. Everything was great for a long time after that, but now things
have changed.

When the door closes, the front edge of the door is lower than the rear.
I'm sure this is an adjustment between the body & the hinge or the hinge and
the door. Also, from a previous owner's bad attempt at adjusting the door,
someone left little dings in the T-panel and the top of the door. I have
since bought a new T-panel and am wondering what to do about the dings in
the door. They are almost invisible unless you know where to look. Another
problem my door has had at one time is that the front edge caught the top of
the black trim piece over the windshield and bent it down. I ended up
buying a new trim piece. I think what caused the damage was having the door
adjusted too far forward.

Someday I plan on removing both doors, verifying hinge position and making
everything under the T-panel water tight.

So.... I think your problem is adjustment related and not that anything got
bent. I suppose it is possible that someone once slammed your door on a
seat belt or other object that bent/twisted the door. But if that happened,
then there should be other visible signs as well. Before you try
straightening anything that may not be bent in the first place, make sure
the door is properly adjusted.

DMC Joe told me that a common mistake people make when adjusting doors is
that they adjust them to line up with the body panels. This is wrong.
Instead the door should be adjusted to fit the fiberglass opening and THEN
the front fender & quarter panel are adjusted to align with the door. I'm
sure he will have something more to say about that.

Walt Tampa, FL