Door hinge adjustment hell

Good thinking. But there is no corresponding locating holes on the hinge/body junction. So it is still two unknowns with one equation. Crazy.

They wouldnā€™t need them if they left the hinges on the body and just removed the door from the hinge to do whatever needed to be done.

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Late to the conversation but a word of caution when it comes to narrowing the gap at the front of the door. Because of the curvature of the door and the A-post this is the single trickiest clearance to get right. As the door is opened its leading edge closes in toward the edge of the A-post. Get the front gap too close - say less than an eighth inch - and you risk fouling the edge and peeling off a strip of paint.

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Hello John,
But thatā€™s exactly what is done and the reason for the two holes drilled and tapped through the hinges and the door frame. The door is removed from the hinge and the hinge stays with the body.

Regards,

Bill

[quote=ā€œvlad11, post:1, topic:370523ā€]
The hinge-to-body bolts were at full stop against the holes, and could not be moved any further. I resolved that problem by enlarging the holes in the hinge enough to allow extra movement in the right direction.
[/quote I did that and it almost gave me enough relief.However the ā€œcageā€ holding the plate can be limiting also, and thereā€™s little you can do about that!]

What you describe (removal by detaching hinge from door, not A-pillar) makes sense and would be pretty straight forward on the door you show:

But my door had more metal and the forward screws were almost hidden:

I got it done (by undoing the pillar connection) and it went back fine (had made some witness holes to guide me) but I wonder if I would have been able to do it the other way.

Paul,

So, If Iā€™m just getting started aligning the door, I should locate properly sized sheet metal screws in the two holes of each door and then move on the the A post hinge. The holes are clearly off (i.e. a screw will not go in) and the screws are missing in all but one hole. Of course Ill use plenty of painters tape and other precautions.

It seems like the logical first step. Appreciate any input

What I would do is to mount the door on its standard bolts, then fiddle diddle around with it until it fit well, then, at that point, I would either drill in or use existing holes to put in large sheet metal screws to hold it, generally in alignment for painting, and the like.

Maybe Iā€™m being confusing. Iā€™m back from paint and I want to put door on final. If the screws were the final fitment at factory, and I had no body work done on the doors, then Iā€™m simply doing what they did in the factory to get back to original fitting (at least on hinge to door) via using the set screws. Iā€™m sure I wont be done fiddling and diddling there. So, I would move on to the a pillar hinge. Clear as mud again Iā€™m sureā€¦

I used those set screws took the doors off for the painter ,then reinstalled with little effort. As has been said thats what those 2 machine screws were for , can be no other reason for them . Actually very smart of Jaguar to do it that way. Only works with original doors though.

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Thank You. I will try that as a first step and work from thereā€¦