Drivers Side Door

[HVACMAN]

I haven't messed with the drivers door in some time due to frustration. I originally aligned the belt lines on the outside but the door seems to be twisted and the inner panel is not aligned with the outer panel. the inner belt line is off by ~3/8 inch. I have shimed the front of the door almost 3/8 inch to remove the twist and it still needs another 1/4 inch. It will take a ton of grinding and glass work to get this door looking half way decent. My question is: Has everyone had the same problem or is this a bad door?156239156240156241156242156243

[HVACMAN]

Here is one more shot from the inside.156244
I apologize for some of these being sideways. I think it has something to do with the OS14 update on my phone.

[33fromSD]

Not sure how Gen1 door frames (not the fiber glass but the metal) differs from Gen2 but I had bad twists in my doors (Gen2) until I discovered some stuff with the metal framing. Check out post #182-185 on my build. Probably doesn't directly apply but maybe you'll see some things in the metal on your Gen1 door frame you can tweak similar to what I did on the Gen2.

I found the twists in the assembled doors was most due to the flex in the fiberglass shells from being bolted to the frames which had issues. Once I took care of the door frame issues on the Gen2 kit all the flex was out of the fiberglass door shells and they fit really nice with the body.

Jim

[RoadRacer]

That does sound a lot. I can't help directly because I bought in stages, and ended up with a Gen2 body on a Gen1 chassis. But my experience was similar to Jim's- I had to modify the metalwork a little.

But, can your doors be made to fit, without any metalwork? When I was fitting/gapping, I was just pushing it into the hole, holding with clamps and duct tape, and I could easily push the warp out to make it fit all around. If you can't even do that, I'd talk to FFR.

[FF33rod]

The twist isn't surprising, happens to most of the doors. Even once you shim to get it to fit, wait a year and it will be slightly different again (ask me how I know).

The belt line inner vs outer is tougher. The inner shells on my original doors were out of alignment when bonded to the outer shell so they were replaced. The second set I got to fit in the opening fine with the outer belt line lined up BUT the alignment of the inner lines with the dash were significantly off. In the end, I added material to the edges of the dash to get things aligned better. Was much easier than playing with the doors. So, my take on your problem is a) you're always going to have twist to get rid of, b) if you can get the door fit the opening and have the outer belt line to line up then you're good, c) if there is inner belt line alignment issues with the dash then consider adding material to the dash.

Hope that helps
Steve

P.S. Have a look here (post 138) for a couple of pics showing what I dealt with for the door to dash alignment https://thefactoryfiveforum.com/showthread.php?30110-1104-(Gen1)-Steve-s-33-Rod-Build-door-poppers-pics-amp-Graduation!!!/page4