I have a 1987 firebird formula that I am working toward restoring. The drivers door however sets an nearly an inch lower than it should. It has brand new door pins and bushings but are there any ways to adjust the door to make it close right?

 

An inch off sounds like you have something more going on than just an adjustment. You may want to post some pictures to help figure out what's going on.

 

Yeas there are 6 bolts that hold the door on you can loosen them up and move it up or down you have to get one of the lower bolts from the inside behind the kick panel

 

Yes it needs an adjustment. The problem is that the door hinges can bend due to the HEAVY door that is cantilevered so far out from the hinge. All you need to do is bend the door hinges back into place. Here is the tool for the job.

http://www.top-downsolutions.com/too...alignment-tool


Lon Salgren

 

You have also replaced the "UPPER" door hinge pins and bushings?

 

Yes I have.

 

Then the door must have been way more out of adjustment prior to rebuilding your hinges?

 

Yes. It was about an inch and a half or more down from where it should be

 

Does the whole door need to come up or just the back

 

The back sags real bad.

 

with the door sagging that low, does it even shut?
does the car have ttops?

reason I ask is because i noticed how misaligned mine were until I put my car on the lift. weight on the chassis transfers from the wheels to the insides of the subframe and voila, door closes like new. SFC's should help my situation, just something to think about.

 

Yes it has t tops.

 

You should be able to loosen up the top hinge then move the door up you may need to go a little past were you need to be

 

Could be a combination of hinge adjustment and bent hinges.

That's what mine was. Even after installing new pins and razing the door at the mounts I still had to use the tool Lon suggested.

 

Each hinge is attached to the body by three bolts, two of these bolts are adjustable, the remaining bolt is NOT. The lack of adjustment is why the door can be removed and then reinstalled right back to it's original position.

When one of the "body side" portion of the hinge is replaced with a new one, the replacement only has two holes, the exact location of the third hole must be transferred from the original hinge.

On page two of the Chevy High Performance article has a very nice photo of the old and replacement hinges.

Thanks, Andy

 

I stand corrected .

Its been 6 years since replacing the door pins but I still have the removal and installation instructions from the kit I bought from Lonsal at Top Down Solutions.

It says "move the door back into its original position".

No mention of adjustment as ANDYZ28 says.

I installed the new pins, and then needed farther adjustment by bending the hinges back in place with the alignment tool mentioned. Just had it done at the body shop where I was having the car painted.

 

My new inner, lower drivers hinge had 3 holes. I replaced the upper bushings/pins and lower inner strap, bushings and pins. Now my door is too high in the rear. As others have stated each body hinge has a hole with no adjustment so it won't move. I presumed the new lower strap is the culprit so I was gonna slot it a little to allow some adjustment. Is this the way to go or should I use the "door adjusting" jack bar and bend them? This is the first car I've had which didn't have hinge adjustment. Oh and the striker has no adjustment either so it pretty much has to be on the money (and these hinge issues eat up money lol)

 

By the way I checked the new inner hinge (lower) I bought, it's an OER brand. The "3rd" hole (front, non-adjustable) was not in the same location as the original, it was about 3/16" forward which was what was making the back of the door too high. I matched it up, used my die grinder to slot it, and now it lines up perfect.
Also note, I purchased Hawk's stainless strikers, they are great looking, well made parts. They are about .010" larger in diameter which should help with latch wear some. The only issue with them is they are about .100" shorter than the stock one's so I had to use an additional spacer washer.

 

Hey, thanks for the info. I did not realize that the new hinges were a problem. Thanks again, Andy

 

Hey Andy, are you the Andy with the web site for 3rd gens? If so it's great and I appreciate all the info. If not glad you are here and thanks for the advice.

 

I am the one and only!

 

I put the drivers door back together yesterday. Man, replacing the rivets with bolts is tough to get behind to install nuts and tighten. While I had everything out I tore the PW motor down and got all the gunk out of it. Looked like powered rubber but I think it was just brush wear and grease. Anyway, pulled the latch mech and cleaned it all up and re-greased it. Same with all the window rollers and tracks. After re-assembly and some adjustment the door just "clicked" closed, like a new car. That is until I installed the new weatherstrip. I chose the Metro brand and they didn't have the plastic reinforcements so I had to glue them everywhere. Not a big deal but getting it just right took some finagaling. I had to shut the door with authority (slam) to get it latched. It sat overnight and it is a little better today so maybe it'll settle in. Now on to the passengers side!