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MG MGB Technical - Need to re-hang front door

Help! Just bought my first ever MGB GT. 1972 in tartan red. Really happy with it, some work to do. Previous owner has let things get a bit out of hand. The first job I need to do is re-hang the drivers door as the lower hinge has dropped! Consequently every time I ope or close the door, it drops. I have no idea how to go about this - can you help at all?

Many thanks for your response
R A J Barnes

The drop you mention may well be worn hinges. These can be checked by watching for movement between the body half of the hinge and the door half. Open the door and gently lift the door, check for any movement around the hinge. The most common cause however is weak metal around the hinge, usually caused by rust. If the sheet metal on either the A pillar or door moves when the door is lifted then you're in for some serious work.
If the hinges are the only worn item, then replacement is the easiest solution. You may have to add shims under the hinges, usually the lower one to get the height at the rear of the door that is necessary for correct alignment.
Bill Young

RAJ
Also, something to help you support the door while working on and adjusting it, is helpful. I use my engine hoist and some nylon straps to take the weight. Saves the back. A rope over a rafter would be better than nothing.
Joe Ullman

Doors can be a pig to fit accurately in any colour !! Firstly make sure that you can slacken all the screws. You WILL need an impact driver. Take each screw out in turn, grease it then refit. Remove the door trim there are three screws holding each hinge to the door. Then remove the splash panel behind each front wheel as there are two large nuts on the face of the A post which also retain the hinge. If you have to lift the door or move it out or in to flush it with other panels then move the hinges in, out,up or down. If you need to locate the door in the opening then adjust this by slackening the screws on the door and moving. NO shims are required on any of the mountings.

Allow plenty of time for this job say a whole afternoon for each door and be prepared to lose a lot of hair. Language can also deteriorate fast !
Iain MacKintosh

I left the posts alone,too hard, and instead loosened the hinges at the attachment points on the door. They have slotted holes for this. It wasn't too hard, but did take about four hours all up and about a thousand adjustments.
Take off the inside trim obviously.
I supported the door with a trolly Jack and a piece of wood to spread the load, which is not heavy but you don't want a mark on the bottom of the door. If you don't have a trolly jack, buy one. They can be got cheaply enough at Kmart etc and will always be useful. Doing this without one would be awful.
On my '75 there are three allon key type screws for each hinge.
Support the door, loosen the screws. The door can now pivot up and down and move forward and back a little in its slotted holes and do damage if you don't support it securly.
Start by setting the gap between the front of the the door and the body by tightening the innermost bottom screw. Once that is right, then set the angle of the door. In order to set the gap the trolly jack needs to be close to, and idealy a little to the rear of, the centre of balance of the door.
Set the angle of the door by small adjustments of the trolly jack, pivoting around the bottom screw.. Tighten one of the top hinge screws then check for fit by carefully closing. You will probably have to loosen the car body side of the door lock so you can move that up or down. You need a very large phillips head screw driver for this (nothing else will do) and if you're unlucky (like me) have to spray WD40 on the back of the threads. To acess these threads, Rear trimm off and that means roof frame off. Don't try to use a "too small" screwdriver or you'll probably burr the head and have to drill it out. Hopefully you can leave the door locks alone and save some sweat.
At this "test closing"point take great care because if you've got the gap at the front of the door wrong (too close) you can dammage/bend it. So cautious closing, watching all the edges.
If you incredibly tallented you've got it right first time. If you're like me you will repeat the above about a thousand times till it's right or you're sick of it.
So- Trolly jack, Allon Keys, big screwdriver and good luck.
Peter

The reason for moving the hinges is to get height and flush adjustment. If you don't move them then you will only get limited height adjustment between the hinge and the door and the only way you can flush the door to the front wing is by cutting and inserting shims between the hinge plate and the door. I've done this and it is possible it just depends on how much adjustment you need. I like to fit doors with the latch plate removed from the B post. That way you can adjust it to ensure thet the body swage line between the wing/door and rear wing are exactly lined. Then finally fit and adjust the latch to ensure that the door closes without the striker touching the latch otherwise the door will lift of drop as you close it.

This is not a fun job !!
Iain MacKintosh

Just a reminder that to correctly adjust the pillar part of the hinge, you have to loosen the bolt in the fender well. I figured this one out after hours of trying to adjust the pillar hinge with no success. Soon as I loosened the back bolt, they moved fine.

BTW If done with the feder on, You need a LONG socket extension.
Bruce Cunha

Another door question. I have a rusty door with good gaps. I have a replacement. Is it realistic to expect it to fit well (ie just the door to hinge adjustment) or should I figure on having to loosen the hinge to shell fixings?

Also, I have heard of people packing between the door and sill (with the door closed) to the correct gaps and the simply tightening the bolts (with the trim off obviously). Anyone tried this and did it work?

Cheers
Iain
I D Cameron

I wouldn't advise loosening all the screws at the same time as the door will flop all over the place and each time you tighten one set it will alter the alignment set by any previous sets you have just tightened.

The hinges to A-post adjustments sets the overall height of the door and the in and out setting of the leading edge. The hinge to door adjustment sets the overall fore and aft position of the door and the height of the rear edge relative to the front. There is also the 'twist' of the door carcass to consider, and even adjustment of the front wing to get the seam/trim strip running in a straight line through both wings and the door.

To the above you can add the relative difference in skin size and shape between different doors and its fit to the doorway i.e. the gaps all round. I doubt original doors were identical, and a reskinned one has almost no chance of being the same as anything else. I have known of people having to weld fillets on to the edge of a reskinned door to reduce huge gaps.

Certainly if replacing the door I would leave the hinges alone until I had got the door an and the hinge to door adjustment to best fit. It is only then that you will be able to see if the hinges need to be moved on the A-post.

Can't see how packing the gap between the door and sill will help especially if it *forces* the door upwards, because as soon as you remove the packing the door will drop again. However if the door is only *resting* on something to allow you to tighten the screws without having to manually hold the door up then it may help. But it will always drop a little when the full weight of the door is on the hinges, trial and error will be needed to determine how much the door has to be raised above its ideal position while the screws are tightened so that when the door is released it drops into the correct place.

I've counted 12 seperate adjustments to get correct wing, door, 1/4-light and screen alignment and there are probably more. You might like to have a look at http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/wn_bodyframe.htm and click on 'Doors.
Paul Hunt

Well Iain, It's all been said now and I'm sure you realise what a pain this job can be. I feel that fitting a door from another car would be a real hit or miss. New doors are expensive £200 and they don't fit either, you generally have to twist them as I have found that the bottom of the door at the B post can be flush with the top as much as 1" proud !!

I'd reskin your original door provided that the shell is OK or just needing a new "bottom" Skins are about £35 and don't take too long to fit - about 1 hour after you have the door stripped. Whilst the skin is not welded to the door you need a couple of spots of braze just to hold it in place and a small bit under the quarterlight. It will still cause hassle to realign the door but it is a lot cheaper and you have a virtually new door very cheaply. Incidentally I've used both Steelcraft and Rover skins, both are OK but the steelcraft one may be easier to work as it is a slightly heavier gauge.
Iain MacKintosh

The screws that hold the hinges to the door are a Posidrive style that use a No, 4 bit. These are different than Phillips drive. McMaster-Carr sells them in the USA but not sure of a source in the UK. They will have 30 years of corrosion and will be very hard to loosen. Use an impact driver if you have one. Once you have them loose, clean the corrosion with a wire wheel brush. Use antisieze when putting them back in. As mentioned above, about 1,000 tries to get the door just right. Keep the faith!
Mike Crowley

RAJ
Just a thought, If you're happy with the location of the door, gap etc (mine was all over the place) then address only the angle of the door problem, that is it dropping off the locking mechanism when you open it.
Undo only the top set of door screws, lift it up a bit and re-tighten them. That would be quick and easy and might just do the job.
Peter

This thread was discussed between 03/11/2004 and 12/11/2004

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