Hi all,

So...I've had one of those days...all started well with the hanging of the passenger door, slight adjustment required, but was happy with the result. A quick "well that was easy" comment to my right hand man and we started to tackle the drivers door. We couldn't for the life of us get it to fit, the chrome trim is rubbing at the A pillar end to the point where the door won't shut and it is adjusted all the way to the rear with no more room for adjustment. It's almost as if the door won't fit in the hole. Has anyone ever had this problem or heard of doors not fitting?? Any advice? I've removed the chrome trim now and the door shuts, but is still rubbing at the A pillar end. grrrrrrr

The door aperture is probably out of shape due to accident damage.... Even a light hit in the front can and often will move the Wimdscreen Pillar.
Mini Body shells are very easy to bend in this area and poor fitting doors are very common,
have a look around next time you go to a mini show, you will be surprised how many cars have bent door apertures and the owners dont even know...

Good news is it can be fixed, by someone who knows what they are doing, with a Porta Power and some rubber blocks......

Dave

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maybe a sill question but have u got the right hindges in the right spots i no my brother when he was younger his doors would never shut right and he had the hinges in the wrong spot for example upper right on the lower right ect might worth checking this should be on the back of the hindges

Thanks for the replies! Yeh hinges are definitely on correctly so it must be as sitnlo62 suggests. I've attatched some pictures

Here's the left door, pretty happy with that


And the right after I removed the trim, with battle scars and all. Seems to have a reasonable gap, but with the trim on the door it won't actually close at all


Here's where it is rubbing, even with the trim off


And no room for adjustment at the rear of the door


Thinking I may need another trip to the painter....

Ouch to the battle scars...

Are they the doors that came off it.. prior to re spray


Rodney

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The best part of fixing your mini is the test drive

Minis..

1976 van daily drive
1975 van
1968 deluxe in the shed
1967 deluxe high strung 1310
1959 austin healey sprite

Might pay to measure the door aperture and the shell from side to side from the front guards back to the windscreen. It looks like it has been nudged pushing the A-pilar back. Check if the front subframe is square and the bracket on the body where it bolts to the subframe at the front on either side. The difficulty is giving the car a stretch back or porta powering the aperture without cracking any paint.

Don't stress too much about it, many Ferrari's are inches apart in length side to side....seriously!

Take it to a panel beater!

I was at the end of my tether when those scars happened boomini...rounded the afternoon off nicely...I'm pretty sure the door was replaced because of rust in the original...didn't think the door would be out by that much though!!

Monaco, Did think about that but the subframes went in without any problems at all, and the front subframe bolts have exactly the same amount of shims. Think a panel beater needs to work his black magic on this one...

My thoughs are because everything was hand built back in the day there might be a bit of difference between doors/shells.

Btw looks really really nice.

_________________
The best part of fixing your mini is the test drive

Minis..

1976 van daily drive
1975 van
1968 deluxe in the shed
1967 deluxe high strung 1310
1959 austin healey sprite

G'day mate just a thought I had a door and tried it on one of my minis and it disnt line up too well at all. tried a different door much better you probably should have checked to see if doors fitted before painting. And tried a couple of different doors

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1964 smooth roof panel van
1967 Mk 1 X-Police cooper s
1970 mini k
1975 leyland

Looking at the waist rail trim at the bottom of the window aperture, it appears to me the door is not quite right. The trim seems too short at the quarter vent end. As suggested by Monaco, check the door aperture distance diagonally from the lower corner to where its binding & compare with other side. I am betting it will be OK. I have been informed it is not uncommon for doors to vary in size.

I feel your pain. I have had the same problem - passenger door fitted purrfect, driver's door to me 2 weeks to get right. Fortunately I was able to get it to fit by moving the hinges slightly forward after adjusting the holes in the A panel, but this will not solve your problem obviously. Another door may be your only solution if my analysis is correct.

Don't lose heart - rest of your work looks excellent.

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1967 Cooper S - new front bearings to do.
1965 Cooper S shell - Slow progress. No time or money!
1966 Deluxe- next rustoration!
Mk 2 & XJ6 Jags. Less said the better.

Put your windscreen in before you start to move the A panel
This will help you see if the pillar is out of alignment or not
and if so will show by how much

Use a old windscreen for this , not a new one , as some of the new screens are not
exactly right

Mark

Thanks for all the advice...I'm hoping the door won't have to be replaced. Will have a chat with the panel beater and see what he says, in the mean time, it's off to get an interior.....