57 Ranchero door fit, square pegs in round holes springs to mind!!!

[Limey57]

I'm fitting my Ranchero up to check the panel fit before I blow it all apart for panel prep & paint, the one area that is bugging me is the fit of the doors, they are awful!!!!  I've replaced the outer rockers, even though the inners were good I braced the door appertures before the outers were removed.  After the rockers were done the body came off, the frame seemed straight and there was no sign of accident damage anywhere.  When the body went back on I fitted new body mount rubber all round.

The fit of the doors are bad on the rear edge, especially the window frame,no amount of adjusting can get the rear of the glass frame parallel with the body, it tapers. 

Were they all bad?  I've been scanning the 'net looking for close ups of 57 Ranchero door fit and they seem to vary, a lot!  I'm going to cut the door about to get the gaps even, but I'm just curious over why mine are so bad?

Thanks

[Frankenstein57]

Gary, the rancheros have always been a challenge to adjust the door gaps. My body guy spent alot of hours to get the gaps right. I think the design of the body has something to do with it, as far as it basically being a loped off wagon.I think the shorter roof takes some stiffness out of it. I had a body from middle Illinois that was soft, the rear door gaps were terrible, I could close the gaps by lifting or shimming the back body mounts. I cut that one up. I would be glad to take a couple pics if it helps, my 58, and I have a 57 from Vegas that probably has never been apart. I'll try to get them tomorrow. My body guy said to get my door gaps as good as possible prior to replacing the rockers, Mark

[57chero]

I had pretty good luck with my ranchero doors, I pre fit everything then took a part painted and put back together. I didn't take the body off the frame though, but I did replace the pass. side rocker. That's about the only part that needed to be replaced because of rust.

[Limey57]

Thanks guys.

57Chero, those doors are a good fit, but from what I have read the top of the doors usually is a poor fit with the roof/gutter line, yours look 100% better than mine!

I'll take some photos of mine later, Mark, I'll also experiment with jacking the rear of the body to see if it changes the door gaps.

One of my pet-hates is poor door gaps, so I'm determined to improve mine!!!!

[Limey57]

I'm working from home today and first thing this morning things were on the quiet side so I nipped out to the garage......

The attached photo shows the door fit.  The welds on the door are where I removed the entire skin in two pieces to shot blast the rust out of the seam (caused when the body was dipped....).  The fit of the door was the same before I removed the skin.  The door aligns well with the rocker and the roof drip rail (gutter) but is too tight at the front upper part of the frame, making it look like the cab has gone out of square with the floor (as if the top of the windshield surround has been pushed backwards, forcing back the top of the A and B posts).

I slackened off all the body mounts except for the ones at the front and under the seat and tried to jack up the rear of the body, nothing happened, I just lifted the whole car, so it must be reasonably solid.  I'm wondering whether something got distorted back in the early days when the body was taken on & off to be dipped.  Either way I think the only option I've got is to cut & re-weld the doors to fit the apperatures.

[gasman826]

Do the windows fit correctly?

[Limey57]

No idea, never tried them, they're in a box somewhere in the shed.  It had been completely dismantled before I got it, however the door frames are square & true to the skins so I THINK the doors are in-line.

[Limey57]

I have taken some pictures of the other side which shows the same problem, but on this side I haven't touched the door.  It looks worse than it is as I haven't adjusted the hinges, but you can see how the back edge of the door skin (and the lower edge of the door skin) align with the rear quarter and the rocker.

[Frankenstein57]

Gary, I tried sending pics but I lost the entire post,soooooo, Some of this is basic, but my Body man insisted that the hinges had no play, the gaskets were off, the car was on its wheels, while adjusting gaps. Also, the adjustments are 90 degrees, use them. I saw him wailing on the cowl of my friends custom 300 just to get fitment. I have the pics, I'll try to get them re-sized, Mark

[RICH MUISE]

Limey...unless I'm missing something here, it looks to me like 90% of the misalignment I see in the last pics is in the hinges. As Mark said, make sure you've rebuilt the hinges if necessary so there's no slop in them. Don't know about over there, but the hinge pins and bronze bushings are readily available at the local Auto Zones and O'reilly's here. If you're a real fanatic on even seams, you may end up building up the door edges where necessary via welding. After you get the alignment where you want it, drill the door hinges with about a 1/8 drill bit (I know...it's mm over there) to make reassembly after paint easier. imho, these '57's as they left the factory were a pretty sloppy fit. I still have a lot of adjusting to do with mine.
Good luck...from the work I've seen you do, I know you'll get them where you want them.

[Limey57]

Thanks.  The hinges have been rebuilt completely so there's zero play in them.  The last pictures of the drivers door show classic signs of the door needing to move forwards on the top hinge, which would then close up the gap at the top/front of the window frame (picture 1)  and also the tapered gap at the top/rear of the window frame (pictures 2 and 4), but doing that will then cause the lower rear of the door skin to overlap the body, it is already close (picture 3) and will also cause a big tapered gap at the rear vertical upright of the window frame/body clearance.

I'll have a play around with it tomorrow afternoon, I'll unbolt the hinges from the door and try to get the door to sit "right" in the apperture using bits of plastic as clearance shims.  If I can get that right I'll at least know the body is straight and can enlarge the hinge bolt holes in the door frame if necessary to give some more adjustment.

Drilling an 1/8" hole through the hinge/door when correctly aligned is a good idea, it'll save a load of grief when I re-assemble it after painting.  Heck, I might even splash out on an 1/8" drill bit rather than use a 3mm one to make it authentic!!!

[RICH MUISE]

Gary....you probably know all this stuff, but in case you don't or for others reading this post....you'll need your door latch and striker plate in place for your final adjustment. The striker plate does the final "lift into place" by a 1/16 or so when you close the door.

[Limey57]

So, today at mid day I shut myself in the garage & vowed not to come out until I'd sorted the door gaps.  No matter what I did, adjusted, pushed, pulled, the passenger door was way out of line, so I made a coffee & had a think while sitting inside the Ranchero.  Only then did I notice the door frame to body gaps from INSIDE the car, they were miles out.  Chosing to ignore the door gaps visible from outside the car I gapped them from inside the best I could, trying to get an even 3/16"-ish gap all the way around.  I did this using pieces of scrap plastic wedging them between the frame & body.  Once done I had a look from the outside & you know what?  It was 100% better than before!  Not perfect, but so much closer! 

I need to enlarge the hinge bolt holes in the door slightly to allow the door a bit more adjustment but thats about it.  I forgot to take any photos but I'll take some when I do the other side, hopefully this one isn't as bad.

Thanks for the advice, I've got no idea why I found it so hard to align it from the outside, but I guess sometimes a problem is so simple that you convince yourself there has to be a complicated way of solving it!

[Limey57]

Forgot to say I had to "tweak" the A-post.  The lower part of this was quite weak where it joined the rocker and floor so I suspect it had moved slightly before I braced it.  I moved it up by 1/4" and re-welded the joins.  I know it looks like a bit of an amateur attempt, but it worked!

[Frankenstein57]

Gary, here is two shots of door gaps I promised. Should have left the flash off on the black one, Mark