door adjustment- gap good, bottom sticks out

[jensenflagg]

I researched this and it appears that the posts talk about gap adjustment. The gaps around both doors are even. But the bottom of my passenger door, side away from hinges, sticks out about 1/4" from the body. Opens and closes fine, just looks bad. Hinged side of door is flush with body. Upper part of door is flush. Can this be adjusted? Thanks

[Todd66]

If the front side is flush, then you have something that is tweaked. My suggestion would be to adjust the hinges (lower in, upper out). It will leave the front side off a little, but less noticeable than rear being out.

[bluntlunchbox]

I had a similar problem and ended up placing something in the lower hinge and VERY gently pushing the door closed. It "tweaked" things back to a more normal door gap. I think the door had been opened a little too far a few times through the years. I tried using sponges at first but saw the best results after placing a deep socket in there. Remember to push very gently and slowly til it looks right and you obviously won't close the door all the way during this process. Push the door a few times, remove the "spacer" and check the gap. Bent hinges i think is what my problem was. Good luck!
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1966 Beetle "Old Girl"
1990 Vanagon GL

[stale air]

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WANTED: Henry Veale Santa Rosa plate frames
WANTED: Brittsan Motors Fresno plate frames
WANTED: Any Georgia plate frames

[jensenflagg]

Thanks all, put together I have a better understanding of how to correct the problem. I'm sure it relates to opening the door too far over fifty plus years.

[laguest]

stale air, what book do you have that had these instruction in them. I need to do this adjustment on a 67 vert. I would like to see if I can buy this book. great info!

[61SNRF]

If the fit is good at the front, I'd be reluctant to try and adjust with the hinges.

The issue you describe can often be the result of the passenger inadvertently dropping the seat belt latch on the door sill when they exit the car and then trying to close the door.
With the latch at the bottom acting as a shim and pushing in at the top the door itself gets warped or twisted, not the hinges.
Does the car have or did have seat belts?
Look at your door sill to see if there is any evidence of this from happening in the past.

If so, warping or twisting the door back in shape is easy enough and could help.
Do this by opening the door half way and resting the rear lower edge of the door against the calf of your firmly planted leg.
With both hands along the top rear door frame give the door a firm tug or two outwards to warp or twist it back. If you hear it creak you are doing something so stop and check your progress by closing the door.
Ultimately the top of course will come out a little but your objective is to make it all even along the back.
Once it is even, you can pull it in tighter so it fits flush with a small adjustment to the striker plate.

Hope this makes sense, but more so hope it helps.
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-Bruce

An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.

[sundialer66]

This is great thread. I just had this exact problem on a freshly painted car. Tried the hinge stuff. Nope. Just a foot on the bottom and pulling it hard from the belt line and crack!!!! She’s back to perfect now. Tried to go light many times at first but it needed some heft. Seat belt theory +1
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Stock never goes out of style