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herndog67
Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2017
Posts: 37
Location: carson,ca
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 Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 7:51 am Post subject: door alignment |
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| does anyone know how I can adjust my doors? the gap and the bottom is out ferther than th top...the top of the door is actually good.[/b] |
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KGCoupe
Samba Member
Joined: July 01, 2005
Posts: 3580
Location: Putting the "ill" and "annoy" in Illinois
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| Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:04 am Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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If you look in the 1960 Karmann Ghia Workshop Manual - Body which can be found along with the 1960 Owner's Manuals under the Technical tab above, there is a section on page A-63 3 about making small adjustments to the door gaps by inserting/removing shims between the body and floor pan.
This is performed with the body mated to the pan and sitting on the ground on all four wheels so that body flex is taken out of the picture.
Gap adjustments (which I believe are pretty much limited to the gap at the top of the door) involve removing specific body-to-pan bolts so that shims can be inserted. |
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kiwighia68
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Joined: October 20, 2013
Posts: 2877
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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| Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 10:19 am Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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Here's the page you need:
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015 |
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swavananda
Samba Member
Joined: February 14, 2009
Posts: 889
Location: Can o' Scruz
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| Posted: Tue Oct 23, 2018 8:49 pm Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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| It may be the lower hinge adjustment if you mean it is protruding away from body. In that case you will need to free up the hinge screws and slightly adjust the lower hinge in. I suggest to trace the hinges to the pillar first with a sharpie so as to keep a starting base line, you can lose that fast once the screws are freed. Before you do that though , check to see if the door wedge isn't interfering with the alignment. |
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herndog67
Samba Member
Joined: April 03, 2017
Posts: 37
Location: carson,ca
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| Posted: Wed Oct 24, 2018 4:55 am Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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| thank you for info, this should be very helpful!! |
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vw donvieira
Samba Member
Joined: May 11, 2004
Posts: 617
Location: stockton, California
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| Posted: Sun Jan 13, 2019 10:14 am Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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Is there anybody in the Sacto area that knows how to properly align the ghia doors.
-I just don;t have the skill-set to be messing around with body bolts/shims and risk a crease in the body.
Thanks, vwdon
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tommu
Samba Member
Joined: November 15, 2011
Posts: 618
Location: L.A.
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| Posted: Mon Jan 14, 2019 10:41 pm Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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Where exactly is your door not aligned vwdon? Some adjustments are pretty straight forward.
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vw donvieira
Samba Member
Joined: May 11, 2004
Posts: 617
Location: stockton, California
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 12:35 am Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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door is too close to striker. I have rebuilt Copello hinges too.
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art_lessing
Samba Member
Joined: February 20, 2014
Posts: 154
Location: Sacramento
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 10:15 am Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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| I believe you can adjust the position of any of the contact points. It sounds like the striker plate needs to be loosened and moved in a hair to let the door close all the way...pics? |
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vw donvieira
Samba Member
Joined: May 11, 2004
Posts: 617
Location: stockton, California
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| Posted: Tue Jan 15, 2019 6:24 pm Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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See if this loads up
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art_lessing
Samba Member
Joined: February 20, 2014
Posts: 154
Location: Sacramento
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| Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2019 11:59 am Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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| So I am looking at this picture and it seem like the door is sagging about 1/4"...you can tell by the alignment of the trim metal striping on either side of the door seam. Are your hinges in proper condition,? If you open the door can you lift it up about 1/4" or so...It looks like the hinges are making the door sag a bit, and that sagging has gradually knocked the striker plates out of alignment. |
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vw donvieira
Samba Member
Joined: May 11, 2004
Posts: 617
Location: stockton, California
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| Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2019 12:00 pm Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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I have the hinges loose so I can move the door around.
So is there anyone in Sac that knows how to align these doors?
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c21darrel
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Joined: January 22, 2009
Posts: 8211
Location: San Dimas
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vw donvieira
Samba Member
Joined: May 11, 2004
Posts: 617
Location: stockton, California
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| Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2019 8:02 pm Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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I bought the car that way. I know it had some bodywork done but the doors did close with the worn out old hinges.
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kiwighia68
Samba Member
Joined: October 20, 2013
Posts: 2877
Location: Auckland, New Zealand
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| Posted: Wed Jan 16, 2019 8:11 pm Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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You should be able to lift the doors slightly by adjusting - jiggling - the fasteners at the front - both on the door and on the car. Big screws - and they might be very tight after all these years. But I think the fact that the door sits so low means those screws must have been loosened some time in the past.
This should not be a job beyond the average panelbeater's skills and there should be many near you. I've watched my panelbeater guy adjust the doors on my Ghia, and it wasn't all that complicated.
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Festina lente - hasten slowly
1968 Ghia named Emiko
Resto completed Dec 2015 |
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John Moxon 
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Joined: March 07, 2004
Posts: 13958
Location: Southampton U.K.
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vw donvieira
Samba Member
Joined: May 11, 2004
Posts: 617
Location: stockton, California
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| Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 8:33 am Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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Thanks but no panelbeater is touching this Ghia, it is too nice a car.
I will try the door adjust recommendations and go from there.
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c21darrel
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Location: San Dimas
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John Moxon
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Joined: March 07, 2004
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Location: Southampton U.K.
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| Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 12:25 pm Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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| vw donvieira wrote: |
Thanks but no panelbeater is touching this Ghia, it is too nice a car.
I will try the door adjust recommendations and go from there. |
I think your view of "panelbeaters" is pretty wide of the mark. Panelbeaters are trained craftsmen even if the name doesn't reflect that reality. Karmann employed hundreds of panelbeaters...they constructed your car.
If you lay out clearly what you want any good panelbeater will treat your car with respect. Select one with a reputation of quality work on classic cars.
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KGCoupe
Samba Member
Joined: July 01, 2005
Posts: 3580
Location: Putting the "ill" and "annoy" in Illinois
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| Posted: Thu Jan 17, 2019 12:39 pm Post subject: Re: door alignment |
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| vw donvieira wrote: |
See if this loads up |
| c21darrel wrote: |
Note the location of your trim, its more off than the door. Ghia trim should run directly below the hard body line. The trim IMO is making it look like it is out of adjustment more than it actually is.
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I see what you're saying and also why you would say that, my other brother Darrel, however I just may have to disagree with you this time.
To me it appears that when comparing the body to the door, the difference in height of the upper hard body line, lower hard body line, and the trim all seem to be equal.
However, those differences in height appear to be much greater that the difference in height between the body and the top of the door.
I believe that is all likely an optical illusion created by the fact that the entire door appears to be tilted inward near the top and outward near the bottom.
Hopefully when the top hinge is moved slightly outward and the bottom hinge is moved slightly inward, the hard body lines and trim will match up properly as they should. |
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