I have a bit of a problem, The driver side door rubs on the fender when it is opened. When looking at the door, it stick out farther than the fender...


The passanger side looks different, the door actually is behind the fender, it sits farther in towards the frame...


What must be done to fix this problem... the Drivers side door also does not line up with the quarter pannel, it is a little inset, while the passanger side lines up perfectly with the quarter pannel. The gap at the rear of the Driver Door is less than the gap at the passanger door. I also noticed that the gap where the hood and the fender meet up is large on the drivers side, and small on the passanger side.



Is all this body pannel alignment easy to do, is it something I can do at home?

When I bought the car, I noticed the problem, the seller said it was because of the pins in the drivers side door. I have looked at it, but can't really figure anything out. It appears to me that either the door or the fender must be moved.

 

So..your not sure if your pins are bad? This is how to tell, open your door and pull up on the back of the door. If it has a bunch of play....your pins and bushing are bad. As far as lining everything up....I would open the door and place a jack underneath the very back of the door. Then start turning the bolts that hold the door in place. It almost looks there has been shims placed underneath it or something because that is sticking out pretty far....you kind of jsut have to play around with it...adjusting and turn bolts. You have any pictures of the inside where the pin and bushings are?

 

I just double checked the play in the pins/bushings, I can lift up on the door about 1/2 inch before it moves the car, so there is a little play. The doors don't really rub at the bottoms when opening or closing, just the drivers side door at the fender.

Here's Pictures of the hinges...

Both.


Bottom.


Top.. Bad pic.

I guess I need to do the pins and bushings first, then figure it out.

I have another set of hinges off a low mileage car which is being parted, they have no play, should i just swap those on here?

 

I have the exact same problem on my car. The passenger's side is perfect but the drivers side is tweaked.

I decided to buy and aftermarket bushing and pin kit for $80 which is supposed to keep the doors from sagging.

Well after I installed it, the door didn't really have any play in it, but it was still out of alignment just like yours. The door isn't flush with with the fenders. What drives me really crazy though, is how the ground effects don't line up. The door ground effect twords the front of the car is pointed upwards and doesn't line up.

I think I'm just gonna take the damn thing to a body shop and have them do it. I've been told it's really not that expensive and you know they'll do a way better job than you can.

After I get some estiments I'll give you some numbers. I'm hoping it's less than $200.

 

Look at the bottom bolt that holds the fender. If your car has been jacked up by an idiot, the fender tab will be way crazy bent, producing the results you have. Bend the tabs back to factory position and your alignment prob will be solved. Enjoy!

 

That was the solution, I looked under there and instead of the tab facing straight down, like it should have been, it was at almost a 45* angle towards the center of the car. I unbolted the fender and pulled off my GFX, then straigtened that tab the best I could, I also had to straigten the tab on the fender. It was a major PITA, because it was so badly bent and mutilated, but I got it fairly close to how it should be, and the door doesn't rub anymore.

Interesting thing, the other side the fender is out way farther than the door. Just out of curiosity I looked at the tab on that side, and it is bent exactly the opposite way (away from the center of the car), but it is bent much much worse. I will leave that to another day, but it is now on my list of things to do.

Interesting thing, the bushings are worn out, but it doesn't seem to have an effect on the alignment of the door, it doesn't really drag on the GFX, nor is the gap that un-even. I will replace them eventually, but probably not until I have trouble again.

Thanks for the help guys!! It was kinda a simple fix, just something I overlooked.

 

Enjoy
Zero Dollar Fix

 

You took the fender completely off?

 

No need to completely remove the fender, just loosen the bolt at the bottom of it, and straighten the mounting tab on the frame, and the one on the fender. I just finished the other side (passanger side), it took me about an hour and a half to do.

I had to pull the ground effects to get a little more clearance to straighten the tabs. I didn't pull the back bolts out of the GFX, just the front ones inside the fender, and the ones along the door jamb, and the ones on the under side of the frame along where the door is. Then the GFX swung out far enough to get a bit of clearance.

The passanger side was much harder to straighten, since it bent so close to the frame, I had a hell of a time getting it straight. I couldn't get it completely back to where it should be, but the fender is now pretty much lined up with the door here also.

I am very happy that this was a free fix, as it was one of the things I hated the worst about my car. Now I can open the drivers side door and there's no SCREECH, because the door doesn't rub on the fender. That Screech used to make me cringe, and it was sorta embarrasing.

I only did the passanger side door for cosmetic reasons, and let me tell ya, it looks so much better having both doors and fenders line up. Now I have to look at the hood, it's always something!

 

Thanks for the info man, greatly apreciated.

BTW, my hood is also out of alignment. It's slightly angled twords the passengers side. How do you plan on fixing yours?

 

I'm not sure about the hood yet, I guess it's time to do more searching on the boards, see what I can find. Mine is a little lower than the fender on the passanger side, and the gap between the hood and the passanger side fender is about 1/8 inch. The gap on the Driver side is about 3/8", so I would like to raise it up a little on the passanger side, then split the gap between the 2 sides evenly, that would be 1/4" on both sides. I don't really know how to adjust it though. I think my hinges on the hood are worn out, but I do have a spair pair of hinges in the garage.

It'll have to wait until another day.

 

If you want to adjust the height, I believe there is some hood stops that you can adjust for that. Not sure though.

 

Another you could do if its not to your liking after bending the lower mounting tab back straight, when i put my fenders on I put a shim between the fender and that lower tab to bring it out a little, worked great. But i used aftermarket fenders so they required a little coaxing to get in place. Good luck!

 

You want the fender to stick out further than the leading edge of your door. This prevents wind noise and debris (rocks and stuff) from hitting your door and ruining your paint. To do this you shim the fender as mentioned above.

 

No sir. Correct alignment does not include extra shims to "prop" the fender out past the door for sound supression. Factory fitment is a continous blend from panel to panel.

 

Let's fix this statement a little.... Factory fitment should be a continuous blend from panel to panel.

My 87 has the right front fender sticking out further than the leading edge of the door. I bought te car with 6k miles on it and I have seen many new 3rd gens that came this way. I wish they were all lined uo,but body fit and alignment was one of the selling points on 4th gens. GM used this to show their new levels of quality to compete with the imports. 1st thru 3rd gen panel alignment was not good from the factory.

 

Is the tab I need to bend in this pic?


Here is where it rubs.

 

You can try bending the hem flange in your first pic back straight towards the ground, but by your second pic, you're better off opening your door, grabbing the center of the fender at the body crease (where the paint is chipped), and giving it a good yank outwards. I'd bet it got slightly bent in the past (should be a little more definition in the body crease there... looks as though yours has been partially straightened in the past due to some sort of damage).

 

Can you elaborate/dumb it down? lol

 

Where that bolt in your first pic is? That whole strip of metal, running from the front of the car to the back, is called the hem flange. It's commonly bent due to technicians lifting the car by the hem instead of the frame rails like you're supposed to. If you're going to straighten just the bolt, I'd straighten the whole thing (and will do so when the time comes).

:edit: And for anyone who sees this that may say something, I ALWAYS lift my car by the frame rails, even if I have to haul up on the side of the car to get the lift arm under the exhaust pipe.