Any tips for mounting doors?

[Calfdemon]

I have taken the doors off of my 72 F250 and am putting them on my 69 F350. I know there are 6 bolts for each hinge (3 on cab side, 3 on door side) and 2 hinges on each door.

What I am looking for are any tips or tricks for mounting the doors and getting everything to line up right. We took the doors off by unbolting the bolts on the cab side of the hinges and tried bolting them straight on to the cab of the 69, but cannot get them to line up properly by adjusting just those bolts. I am sure that taking the door panels off and adjusting the doors further using the bolts on the door side will correct any problems I am having, but before I start trying to do this and possibly reinventing the wheel, I am just looking for any input from those of you that have swapped doors and what you did to adjust them and get them to fit properly in hopes that it makes this easier and to cover anything I may be overlooking...

A secondary problem I am having is that I sheared the head off of one of the bolts for the driver's side door hinge. Unfortunately, it is the center bolt for the upper hinge where it goes into the cowl about 6 inches deep inside the door jam. I am going to have to try and figure out how I am going to get the rest of the bolt out of the hole, and having it 6 inches deep inside the doorjam is going to make things VERY interesting because it is a pain in the @ss to get to! But that will get figured out.

Thanks again in advance for any input!

[fordman]

that center bolt is important. it needs to be there for in and out adjustment. i know i broke mine off too. i have yet to try and fix mine.

[Calfdemon]

Oh yeah! I figured that center bolt is important because there is a lot of play in the door even with the other 2 tightened down. So I plan to get that broken bolt out as soon as I can (once I figure out how... ). But looking for tips for getting the doors lined up well. WIthout any suggestions, I would be a blind squirrel trying to find a nut because I would be sitting there loosening and tightening every bolt until I could figure it out. Thought maybe there is a "system" that someone knows which would make it easier.

Doesnt hurt to ask, right?

[forrestbump]

Calfdemon, not sure I'll be any help, but here goes... I loosely bolt the door to the cab (yep, you'll need to remove the broken bolt, try a long drill bit and long easy out) and rest the door on a plastic milk crate with various, random thickness pieces of lumber stacked on top of the milk crate.

The stack of lumber on the milk crate allows me to eyeball the doors placement before I start tightening the hinge fasteners. Hope this is making sense so far. You'll be opening and closing the door a LOT as you go through all of this to trial fit everything.

Occasionally I have used fender shims to get a door to align. My local body shop just gives me used ones, but you can also find them in pick-n-pull yards too. They're kinda horse shoe shaped with a long tab on the end...allows you to add or subtract them as needed without having to removing the hinge fastener.

It's easier to have help, my way is for a one-man show. Patients is required in big doses.

[Calfdemon]

Thanks for the replies! Well, I have to defeat the broken bolt before I can worry about adjusting the doors and I tried to do that today. I went and got a new set of Craftsman easy outs and drilled out the center of the bolt. I then got the easy out in there and started turning it. It bit really good and threaded itself into the bolt, but then proceeded to snap once it bottomed out in the hole. The bolt did not even budge.

I was able to get my dremmel in there and cut off the end of the bolt which removed the broken part of the easy out as well. I then tried to drill out the center of the bolt a little bigger and when the drill bit grabbed, it snapped as well. Now the hole is filled with the broken tip of the drill bit.

Next plan of action is to drill out the entire bolt with a titanium bit and hopefully I can get the bolt drilled away without too much damage to the threads. If that works (even if I damage the threads), I can re-tap the hole and run a bigger bolt.

But the way this bolt is going, it is as if it is completely fused to the threads and nothing is moving it at all even the slightest (and generous amounts of WD-40 have been applied). If drilling out the entire bolt does not work, the only other option I can see is to cut a square around the bolt away, and cut the same piece off of my 72 donor, and weld a new hole into place. I really dont want to even think about doing that though as it is the most god-awful place to try and access. The hole is halfway deep into the cowl between the doorjam and the inner fender mount. It is going to be a nightmare to try and cut a portion out, and then try and weld in a new piece.

I am praying that I will be able to drill this bolt out successfully...

[forrestbump]

For rusted bolts, try this: Mix ATF (type F of course, just kidding, any brand will do) with Acetone 50% each in to a metal can that has a long flexible neck and pump trigger (available at various hardware stores). Squirt this mixture all over the offending area and let it set for 24 hours. I got this mixture idea from Bobby Ford, Thanks Bobby!

The other option is to drip bee's wax on to the threads and let it set for 24 hours. This method gives the best results, but it's tough to get the bee's wax to migrate horizontally on to the bolt threads. It's best to have the bolt mounted vertically so the wax will travel down the threads of the bolt. I don't suppose you can tip the cab vertically? Oh yeah...it's a Crew, never mind...

[Calfdemon]

The problem here is the bolt does not appear to be stuck due to rust, it appears to be cross threaded and cross threaded very badly. I can try the ATF mixture above, but I think my only hope at this point is to drill or cut.

[Calfdemon]

Well, got the bolt drilled out today but hit the threads a little when I did it. So I just drilled out the hole a bit bigger and re-threaded it for a bigger bolt. Now its all good and working again!

Took off the inner door panel and tried adjusting the door a little using all 6 bolts on the door, and all 6 bolts on the cab, but still cannot get it to line up properly.

Should I use the hinges from the 69 and just the doors from the 72? Right now, I am using the hinges from the 72 as well, but maybe they have a slight shape or bend difference between the 2 trucks? I would think the doors would be identical, but maybe the 69 hinges would work better?

With the naked eye, they look identical, but is there a difference? I didnt spend a ton of time on the door to get it lined up, just enough to see that its going to take some work. So I am not stuck to the point where I have tried everything, but figured I would ask about the hinges before I get to the point later where I start throwing things.

[hazelnut]

Go to dennis-carpenter.com theres a write up there somewhere with pictures to help you out. Im useing 72 doors and hinges on my 69. I pulled the hinges out to paint everything and put it all back together and didnt have any problems. Wasnt fun getting the door to line up right, But a floor jack to help hold the door is priceless.

[Spraygun]

Hi, next time I would drill an 1/8 inch hole through the hinge into the body/door before removal. That way you can insert an 1/8 pop rivet to get you in the right place, then tighten bolts.
As for your situation, I would remove hinge from door, remove latch and striker items. Then bolt hinge to cab ( if you can see where it used to be all the better, if not center it) I adjust door to hinge finding it easier to work on door hinge first. If you can't get proper adjustment, then shim/adjust hinge to cab.


30 year body/paint

Spraygun

[Calfdemon]

Go to dennis-carpenter.com theres a write up there somewhere with pictures to help you out. Im useing 72 doors and hinges on my 69. I pulled the hinges out to paint everything and put it all back together and didnt have any problems. Wasnt fun getting the door to line up right, But a floor jack to help hold the door is priceless.

Thanks for the tip re: Dennis Carpenter.. I will look that up.

Hi, next time I would drill an 1/8 inch hole through the hinge into the body/door before removal. That way you can insert an 1/8 pop rivet to get you in the right place, then tighten bolts.
As for your situation, I would remove hinge from door, remove latch and striker items. Then bolt hinge to cab ( if you can see where it used to be all the better, if not center it) I adjust door to hinge finding it easier to work on door hinge first. If you can't get proper adjustment, then shim/adjust hinge to cab.


30 year body/paint

Spraygun

I would have done guide hole if I was removing the doors and then putting them back on the same truck. But what I am doing is using the doors from my 72 and putting them on my 69 where they have not been hung yet, so there is no proper alignment for the doors on my 69 yet. I have to find that spot.

As for putting the hinges on the cab first and then adjusting to the hinge, thanks for that tip! I will give that a shot when I get back working on the doors... Right now, I just have them hung temporarily to where they partially close just to make it look like it has doors. That way the property values in my neighborhood dont drop too far.

[Whateverman]

you can use the striker to help make things easier to set up

after you get the hinges mounted onto the pillar -and hopefully aligned pretty close to where you need em (they don't adjust very much anyway) you can slip the door on to them , chuck the bolts thru the door into the hinges (almost snug) , and, if the bump gods smile upon you , you can latch the door onto the and tighten things down

sometimes you'll need to loosen the striker and adjust it up,down or sideways

that method has worked for me on 4 different cabs,the only one it didn't work on was an accident victim cab that needer the door pillar bashed back into shape first