1937 Packard 115 coupe

[smallfoot]

You'll find it! Something just wiggled on you...[P

 

[Skip]

How close to full size it that temporary hinge pin? Could it be allowing a bit of sag?

 

[Old Iron]

I see the same solution you do ZZ
[

 

[zzrodder]

How close to full size it that temporary hinge pin? Could it be allowing a bit of sag?

I see the same solution ZZ
[

You guys are sharp [cl - yeah, it is a bit loose but not the real problem. ( I need to dig around in my junk pile/parts stash to see if I kept some of the old hinges from my 36 to snag a proper pin from)
Today I cut the cowl loose and pulled it back 1/8" and that brought the door up.
But of course that created a new problem - now the door is too tight at the back edge, binding on the latch mech. and door frame. I can section the back of the door for clearance but that shouldn't be necessary, it used to fit before. As I'm typing this, the light bulb just came on! The cowl needs to come up, not back, so the rear gap is not closed - tomorrows project............[

 

[Torchie]

[cl
Good example of the "Cause and effect" school of thought.
This points to why some, when chopping a car, get the door gaps perfect then tack weld the doors shut.
I have never done it that way as I always seem to find a need to get into the car.[ddd
Looking good ZZ
Torchie

 

[zzrodder]

[cl
Good example of the "Cause and effect" school of thought.
This points to why some, when chopping a car, get the door gaps perfect then tack weld the doors shut.
I have never done it that way as I always seem to find a need to get into the car.[ddd
Looking good ZZ
Torchie

Cause and effect for sure! Tacking the doors in place would have worked all right, but like you point out, access to the interior was needed. (and I didn't think of that ) Clearly my bracing was not enough though, I'm thinking that when I pulled the rear of the roof down after tacking the A pillars together, it not only flexed at the top of the A pillar but also tipped the entire cowl section back a bit.

 

[zzrodder]

I shimmed the cowl up 1/4" and that brought the door up in line.
Trimmed a bit off the rear edge to get the gap right and welded it back together.

Cut a 1/8" slice out of the doors inside structure, now the latch clears and inside gap is right.

Drivers door has the same issue, confirming my diagnosis of the cause. Shimming the cowl has brought it in line too, now it needs trimming to fit. This door already had issues though, the fit was poor before the chop, so I knew it would need some slicing and dicing. It came from another car and someone had already replaced the lower 5" of the door skin and the gap at the lower rear edge is way wide, needing material to be added to it, so I will build that up as well.

 

[kenny c]

Glad to see you found the solution. great work as always.[P[P

 

[Old Iron]

[cl
[P[P[P

 

[05snopro440]

You guys are sharp [cl - yeah, it is a bit loose but not the real problem. ( I need to dig around in my junk pile/parts stash to see if I kept some of the old hinges from my 36 to snag a proper pin from)
Today I cut the cowl loose and pulled it back 1/8" and that brought the door up.
But of course that created a new problem - now the door is too tight at the back edge, binding on the latch mech. and door frame. I can section the back of the door for clearance but that shouldn't be necessary, it used to fit before. As I'm typing this, the light bulb just came on! The cowl needs to come up, not back, so the rear gap is not closed - tomorrows project............[

Fun fact, you adjust the doors on a Model A by shimming the body mounts. Same idea as what you're needing to do at the moment I think.

 

[zzrodder]

Fun fact, you adjust the doors on a Model A by shimming the body mounts. Same idea as what you're needing to do at the moment I think.

Yep, I did that on my golf carts too bodies with no roof can be pretty flexy.
Doing some jigsaw puzzle work, got the PS door frame tacked together.

 

[Old Iron]

Gaps are lookin good now [P[P[P

 

[Torchie]

[cl
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[zzrodder]

Finished up the door tops and took a few spray bombs to
the weld areas to get a better look at the new roof shape.

If you didn't know how it looked before, you might not even think it had been chopped [S

 

[zzrodder]

Before and after pics

 

[earthman]

I usually like to see major chops but seeing these side by side shows what an improvement this subtle chop made.

 

[DozerII]

Very subtle changes but, it looks like it should have been that way from new. [cl

 

[Torchie]

The very definition of a "Mild" chop.[cl
[P [P [P
Torchie

 

[Old Iron]

I know there's something different about it but, what is it [S
[cl[cl[cl
[P[P[P

 

[05snopro440]

You took the bulbous look out of it, I think it's perfect. I always think some of the best modifications are where most people can't tell anything was done. That looks like they should have made it that way, awesome work ZZ!