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MG MGB Technical - Door drop

Hi guys I have door drop drivers side on my 66 roadster how best to tackle this and is it a big job?
Keith Smith

Is it in the hinges? That information is important. If it isn't in the hinges or hinge adjustment it usually indicates the sills or other structural body parts have some serious rust cuasing the doosrs to sag.

Clifton
Clifton Gordon

No it is the hinges are these easy to remove the play appears to be more int the lower hinge do I have to removed the cross headed screws and what is behind them inside the pillar?
Keith Smith

You can get information on door alignment on Paul Hunt's web site. From Hammer and Spanner find body, go to doors and find hanging and adjustment. You will have to loosnen the cross head screws in the pillar. There is a nut on the hinge behind the pillar. Remove splash plate at the rear of the wheel to access the nut on the hinges. You will probably have to loosen the three screws in each hinge where they are attached to the door. The cross head screws are actually pozidriv and are easier to remove/loosen with a pozidriv bit or driver, #4 for the door screws.
http://www.mgb-stuff.org.uk/hammerframe.htm

Clifton
Clifton Gordon

Keith,

Please remember that a Pozidrive #4 is NOT a Phillips #4. Pozidrive is a UK design by GKN but, I believe, is compatible with the US Prodrive. If you try to remove a very tight Pozi screw with a Phillips, you'll probably ruin it.

Good luck

Peter
P L Hills

A good upgrade for those screws would be to replace them with stainless countersunk socket head capscrews and be sure to use anti-seize on the threads. These will be easily adjusted should the need arise in the future, and look much better in the hinges, but the real advantage is that the allen wrench will stay in the socket while you are making adjustments, so that you can easily loosen it a bit, reposition the door, and then simply reach back and snug down the screw without fumbling for a screwdriver. During an akward process like this every advantage helps.

Btw, check for wear in the hinge pins. It doesn't take much to get beyond the range of adjustments. If worn it may be possible to fit oversize pins or re-bush.

Jim
Jim Blackwood

Getting the screws out of the pillar is very difficult without the right gear. A pneumatic spanner or similar. It probably isn't necessary at all. Adjusting the hinge fit on the pillar is for getting the door flush with the body and unless you’ve had an accident this shouldn’t have changed.
You can adjust the angle of the door very easily by loosening those screws holding the hinge to the door itself. You need to take off the trim panel which will take about 10 minutes. There are three screws for each hinge, top and bottom. These are not particularly hard to get undone. On my car these are Allan keyed screws, which if you don't have a set of Allan keys, a cheap set can be bought for about $5 anywhere. You can get very good socket spanner style allan keys for a little more, which makes the job even easier. The holes for the screws in the door are oversized to allow for door angle and gap fit adjustment.
I supported the door with a jack, however a stack of wood, phone books etc would do. Loosen two of the three bottom screws then loosened the top three. Raised the end of the door a little, then tightened one of the top screws. After I checked the fit, I tightened all the screws up.
Make sure the Allan key is a tight fit or you might burr it.
If you want to adjust the gap between the front of the door and the body then do this by loosening that remaining bottom screw slightly (just barely enough for the door to move) and setting the gap there first. However if you do this then take care when closing the door that you have not gone too far and got an overlap in the middle, which will bend the panels if you try to close the door. It would not hurt to put some tape on the edges of the front of gap, in case you slip and cause a chip.
Adjusting the angle shouldn't take more than half an hour, however getting the gap just right took me about three hours of trial and error. It just depends on how precise you want to be.
Peter
P.N. Sherman

Peter is correct in that it is the screws on the door you have to slacken to get the adjustment you need. Dont slacken the ones on the pillar or you are into a whole new ball game. I fear that the screws in the door will be pozidrive and that you will not be able to slacken them just with a normal screwdrever. I think you will need an impact driver to start them off as they can be very tight.
Iain MacKintosh

I found I needed an impact hammer to loosen mine. Also as everyone says use the correct pozidrive bit. As soon as the head is in any way buggered I found I couldn't retighten them enough. Always meant to find some allen head ones to replace them with.
Simon Jansen

This thread was discussed between 03/02/2007 and 05/02/2007

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