Hi Paul,
The usual method is to leave the stricker and dovetail in place, loosen most
of the bolts but not all the way. Leave one slightly tight so that you can
"bump" the door position just a little and still carefully open it to
re-tighten
one or two more bolts, then check the results. Once staisfied, go back and
tighten all the bolts.
Another method is to have someone else sit inside the car, loosen bolts as
mentioned above, and then you reposition the door and hold it where you want
it,
without opening it, while the other person re-tightens the bolts.
It's also possible to use plastic shims placed on the rocker panel, to hold
the door in position, while you reach inside to tighten bolts.
If you find the adjustment at the hinges isn't enough, did the repairer have
any reason to fiddle with the various body to frame mounts?
I ask because TR4A frames can get "hump backed" with time and that causes
problems exactly like you describe, a gap at the top of the door. It's
corrected
by loosening the body to frame bolts, especially the 3 near the base of the
B-post and the 4 near the base of the A-post, jacking the body up slightly and
slipping more shims in between body and frame, perhaps removing some shims in
other locations.
However, there is a limit. I think after 3 shims or so you'll start finding
problems aligning the rear bumper. It's been a while since I fooled around with
this on a 4A, so I may be wrong about the exact number of shims possible.
Anyway, if the frame has "humped" to the point where it's not possible to
shim enough, the next step is more radical. It involves cutting and rewelding
the
frame to reduce the 'hump".
Hopefully your car doesn't need this much adjustment and it's just a matter
of loosening the bolts at the hinges, or maybe shimming things a bit at some
locations or reducing shims at others.
Best of luck!
Alan Myers
San Jose, Calif.
'62 TR4 CT17602L
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Any clues out there to make this job simpler?
Paul Hingston
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