How do you align a 64 Chevy nova's door?

Answer 1

The only easy way is to remove the fender. There are three bolts going through each hinge and into the body. These bolts allow you to adjust the front and rear edge of the door up, down ,and forward and back. There are also three large Philips head screws going through each hinge into the door. These allow a little up and down movement but are mostly to adjust the front edge of the door in or out (towards the interior).

To start you should always align the door up and down first. You do this because it is the only alignment that requires you to loosen all 6 bolts at once. First loosen the bolts that go through the hinge into the body. It may be necessary to jiggle the door hard to loosen up the sealer under the hinge. On the ones I did we had to remove the door from the car, lay it on a stand and loosen the 6 screws in the door. we actually had to heat them to get them loose. You have to get them loose now because you cant get them loose with the door on the car. Once they are loose snug them up but don't tighten very tight.

With another persons help, put the door back on the car, raise the door to the desired height. You should be able to align the top front edge of the door with the top edge of the cowl panel. Only tighten one bolt in each hinge.

Next you need to adjust the forward and backward gaps. I like to do the top hinge first. Slowly loosen the bolt until you see the door begin to sag. Have a friend hold the door in the desired position and tighten the bolt. Repeat the steps with the bottom hinge. At this point you should be pretty close. you may need to redo each step several times. Sometimes when you tighten the other bolts the door may move a little bit, you will just need to keep making adjustments until you get it where you want it.

You may want to remove the rear latch so that it doesn't interfere. When the gaps at the bottom and rear of the door are even and where you want them you can start on the in and out gaps.

For this you need a special screwdriver shaped like an "L". You need to reattach the fender and align it to the front edge of the door. Next open the door and use the special screwdriver to loosen the screws going into the door on one hinge. adjust the in and out of the door and do any fine tuning. repeat on the other hinge tighten the screws and check the alignment.

Lastly reattach the latch and slowly close the door visually align the latch and tighten the screws. close the door. if the rear edge is in too far the latch needs to be moved out. If the door is out too far , move the latch in. Crouch down and look at the top of the door and quarter. open the door. if it jumps up then you need to move the latch up. If it drops down than you need to adjust the latch down.

Lastly you should be warned that these doors a particularly difficult to align. Most reputable body shops should be able to fine tune the adjustment if you cant get it just where you want it. Don't be afraid to contact a " Good " body shop and enlist their help. Most would gladly help with fine tuning the door alignment for a small fee.