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I have to move the door back 1/8"

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bochnak

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Discussion starter · #1 ·
I have been working on rebuilding my front suspension and installing new inner fenders.

My fender to door gap was marginal to begin with, and now is very tight, and can't open the door.

Looks like I have to move the door back +1/8". BTW, the door to quarter gap is huge....+1/4".

Off to use the search function on fender removal...ect.

Feel free to offer tips...

I have to pull the hood, right?
 
#2 ·
What did you do to change the gap up front? Were the doors opening before? If you can get the door open, the bolts can be reached with a combination wrench. Try carefully prying the fender out as you open the door. Once you get it past the first bit of interference, it will open the rest of the way. Once you do get it open, loosen and then tighten one hinge at a time to kind of walk the door back.

Tom
 
Discussion starter · #3 ·
The only thing that could have possibly changed the gap is the new metal inner fenders. My old fenders were plastic and in really bad shape. The new inner fenders were off in some spots and cranking down the fasteners sucked it into place. This must have changed the gap.

Hopefully, I can loosen all inner fender bolts and open the gap back up. If I can open the door at this point, maybe I can get a wrench in there and walk the door back some?

How does that sound?
 
#4 ·
inner fenders dont have anything to do with door gaps.
Is the car up on jacks?
If so this can throw the door gaps off as the car is no longer sitting in its normal position.
 
Discussion starter · #5 · (Edited)
sevt_chevelle said:
inner fenders dont have anything to do with door gaps.
Is the car up on jacks?
If so this can throw the door gaps off as the car is no longer sitting in its normal position.
Click to expand...
The car has been sitting on jack stands since November 07’. Yes, the gap closes all the way when on stands, and opens up when taken off the stands. Well, that was the case until now. I wouldn’t have thought that this would have an impact on gaps?

So, the only thing(s) that are different from Nov’ 07 is that 1. it sat on stands for almost a year 2. new inner fenders

The gap has always been tight, but I have been able to open the door (off stands) until now.


So if I do get the door open, will I have access to the hinge to body bolts to move the door back?

Would I have access to these bolts with the inner fender removed?

If not the neighbors are coming over tonight to help me pull the hood.

THE CAR IS ON THE GROUND
 
#6 ·
How do both door gaps compare at the quarter panel? The chevelle normally has large gaps. Make sure both left and right gaps are similar.

Have you tried loosening all the inner fender bolts, to see if the gap opens up? The only bolts in the inner fender that could pull the fender back are the two lower bolts just behind the front tire.

If the gap opens up, I would loosen up all the inner fender bolts, (don't take them out) tighten the two lower bolts first, and proceed to tighten the remaining fender bolts.
 
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Discussion starter · #7 ·
EdCarpenter said:
How do both door gaps compare at the quarter panel? The chevelle normally has large gaps. Make sure both left and right gaps are similar.

Have you tried loosening all the inner fender bolts, to see if the gap opens up? The only bolts in the inner fender that could pull the fender back are the two lower bolts just behind the front tire.

If the gap opens up, I would loosen up all the inner fender bolts, (don't take them out) tighten the two lower bolts first, and proceed to tighten the remaining fender bolts.
Click to expand...
I want to mention that only the driver side door is interfering. The gap between the door and quarter is huge..+.25”.

I haven’t tried to loosen the inner fender bolts. I will try that tonight. It was getting late and the frustration was rising….that is when I call it quits.


Thanks for the tips.
 
#8 ·
Remove the inner fender, you will have access to the hinge bolts at the cowl.
Loosen the hinge bolts at the cowl will allow you to move the door back closing the gap at the 1/4 and making the fender gap larger.
 
#9 ·
Before you do ANYTHING, take the car off the jack stands!!!! Think about it, was it doing this before you did the suspension and changed the inner fenders? It sounds like it wasn't, so something YOU did in changing the suspension or the inner fenders changed the door gap. Now, can changing suspension parts do that, nope. Can changing the inner fenders if you left the fenders bolted on do that, nope. So that leaves what......the car is up on jack stands and the frame is flexing, this is totally normal.

Now, if you unbolted the fenders to install the inner fenders, what bolts did you loosen and can you return it back to where it was? Most likely if this is the case you loosened the bottom bolts at the rocker and the fender moved back, probably BECAUSE it is on the jack stands! The jack stands are probably under the cowl area and the front of the frame is flexing down, closing the bottom of the door gaps.

The large gaps at the back are again proof of this. The cowl is leaning forward because the front of the car is flexing down. This closes up the bottom of the front gaps and increases the size of the rear gaps.

Take it off the jack stands and take another look.

Brian
 
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Discussion starter · #12 ·
I was able to solve my door gap issue.

I loosened/removed some inner fender bolts. With the car on the ground, I removed the 2 lower fender bolts, and was able to pull the fender out enough to open the door. Then, I started playing with shims on the top bolt behind the door, and adding a bit of twist at the bottom 2 bolts. I pulled on the one closest to the door, and pushed on the 1 closer to the wheel opening.

I can fit a paint stick in the gap, top to bottom.

Looks like I will be rebuilding door hinges and replacing body bushings this winter.
 
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bochnak
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