Ranchero Door to Roof fit

[kens65fb]

Putting  my Ranchero project back together again, and noticed that the gap between the top of the doors to the roof is a little weird.
The front of the door fits good to the cowl and fender, the pillar gap is O.K. and the gap to the roof is fine as well.
The rear of the door fits fine with even gaps to the quarter panel, and body line, but seems about 3/8 low at the roof line. The doors on BOTH sides fit like this.
Is it me or are they supposed to fit like this??
The vehicle is up on jack stands currently, could this have any effect on fit?

Any suggestions on  door alignment?

[KidKourier]

     Ford made the doors for '57 Custom Tudors but used the same doors on all post cars except 4-doors I believe.Look at any Ranchero,Wagon or Courier and they will all have the same gap along top of doors but on 2-dr Customs it's a perfect fit.Thought about having a body shop add metal to top of my doors to close gap but you can't see it at 60mph(LOL),I've seen this done on other cars,but if you've already got body work done and painted could be hard to match paint and probably need a new door seal. KID

[rmk57]

  My Custom has the same gap your talking about on both doors to. I've screwed around with it adjusting and could never get it right,
so I'm just going to live with it. I've looked inside the quarters,doors, frame and it  hasn't ever been hit so collision damage isn't
the problem. I found I can reduce the gap buy raising the striker but this makes the doors  harder to close. Like you said at 60 mph whose
going to notice......

[Frankenstein57]

We talked about this in an earlier post, on my 57  (rusty) when I shim or pickup the rear quarters, this gap closes.  That's what we'll wind up doing. My elusive bodyman says the car should have weight on all four wheels when adjusting body lines.  Mark

[Ford Blue blood]

My Ranchero has the same issue.  Best I can tell it is an unmolested original, no marks on the door fasteners etc.  I plan on putting an extension on to make it all line up as the cowl and quarter lines are very close to perfect as it sits now.....and yes, the car shouls be on it's wheels before body shimming starts.  Best to let it set for a couple of days as well.

[Ford Blue blood]

Pro built car in Street Rodder has the very issue discussed here......

[KidKourier]

    Okay, go to Gallery then "Under Construction" section,about 1/2 way down you'll see a green Custom 2Dr. (Custom_Shelby) Gap at top of doors is tight on both drivers/passenger sides even before body work pictures.I also have a Custom 2Dr. just like this except in Lt. Blue that the top of the doors are just as tight (no gaps--even all the way) we check ID Tags and both cars were assembled in different plants! Now my Couriers doors start at 1/4" in front to 3/8" at rear yet all body lines are perfectly aligned. I guess I should take these 2 rare Customs to Barrett-Jackson as these must be the only 2 with the optional "perfect aligned doors" from Ford! Must of been that German/Swiss door hanger that's now retired in Dusseldorf working on a Wednesday(LOL)!  KID

[Hoosier Hurricane]

Doggone you guys.  I've been reading these posts, and yesterday as I was waxing my Ranchero, I looked and found I have the dreaded tapered gap at the top of my doors.  Add mine to the list of faulty ones.

[CDN.SD]

The gap at the rear is always there on Wagons, Couriers, and Rancheros. If you put a
straight edge along the bottom of the drip rail of any of those, you'll find them to be
(hopefully!) straight, but if you do the same to the door, you'll find that it's curved
along the top.

Something has to give somewhere!

If you look at the rear of the door opening, just under the drip rail, there should be a
wedge shaped filler piece painted the body color that they added to make it a little less
obvious. Anyone planning to "fix" their door gap, should somehow remove the wedge (I
don't know what is involved, I've never tried it) or make sure that there's clearance
between it and your "repair"

Ford just got cheap and made one style of doors fit as many models as possible. It may
seem like a bad idea, but if you ever need to replace a door on your W, C, or R, you'll be
glad they did!