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MG MGB Technical - The adjusting doors thread

I have tried searches on this subject- Adjusting doors-
unfortunately I havent quiet found the answer Im looking for! :)

Here goes..

Im in my garage pondering life and looking at my drivers door. I notice that it has that classic sag at the front edge. The chrome strip is slighty lower at the front wing, enough to make it noticeable. The back edge is sharp and the line is good.

Now Ive read both the manuals I have by this time, both of which dont really make me any the wiser as how to solve this problem. I start to experiment, after a few hours I give up.A day later I go back, experiment a few hours later I give up.

Today a third attempt. Better this time, although not quiet how I want it and still a bit saggy. I am considering the thought of the door skin not bieng correct. Ive checked the rear wings, measured and checked the front wings, both seem reasonable. The doors however are different widths, only slightly.

Any Ideas? And those three adjusting screws in the door- are there any specific ways to make the door move by adjusting them independantly? Do they individually affect the angle of the door or act as a trio to just keep it firmly inplace?

Cheers in advance for you help and thoughts. Im hoping to nail this one!
JS Ahlund

The 3 screws will not adjust it up and down at the front.
You will need to remove the splash guard under the front wing first. Then undo the 2 nuts on the back of the hinges. This will then allow you to undo the 4 screws fixing the hinge to the A post so you can move the door up and down and in and out.

Ste
Ste Brown

There is a little play with the hinge bars in the door slots so you *may* get enough upward movement of the door (it's natural position will be in the lower position) *if* the difference in the strips is very small. However slackening those six screws will also allow the door to move fore and aft so you will need to watch out for that. Try doing one hinge at a time.

If you move the hinges on the A post (which is the usual way of aligning the front edge of the door with the wing as Ste says) you will almost certainly leave a mark.
PaulH Solihull

Perfect! Thanks for the replies :)

Well if I get time tommmorrow after work Ill remove the plate in the inner wing. Im confident now that i can resolve it. I was dubious to that as I didnt want to do anything apart from the obvious before I got some feedback. At the moment my door sags at the front chrome strip and the rear bottom edge is sunken inwards. Both way more than is acceptable.

Ill put in a before and after pic when Im done.

Thanks guys!
JS Ahlund

Well,Ive been having a bash at it so to speak.

Ive hung off, pushed, shoved, wedged and leaned on that door so much now hanging inside and out in various interesting positions that Im beginning to believe the MG guys at Abingdon were no less than fully qualified circus acrobats with very small hands!

After taking the door completely off to gain full access to the hinges and after loosening the inner wing bolts I adjusted the height as far as I dared. It worked a treat, that is until I noticed the rear was now rendered too high.


I have come to the conclusion that the front wing is not in line and has been fixed too high at the rear end.

So...The best way to adjust that gentlemen? Any Ideas? Also the quart window/frame can that be adjusted aswell? That ofcourse is also a tad out of line too.

Thanks
JS Ahlund

As you say you have the front in line. All you will do now is adjust it on the screws in the door.
Under the two outer ones on the top and bottom hinge then undo the middle one at the bottom to let it door drop slightly then tighten
See if it's in line then look and make sure it isn't fowling the wing at the front and the sill along its length.
Open the door carefully to make sure it doesn't catch anywhere
Once you are happy with the line. Reset your B post latch to suit the door not the door to suit the latch.
You don't say if it is a roadster or a GT
If its a GT undo the 2 bottom nuts then put a washer or two under the front or rear one between the door and the quarter light to tilt it back or forwards.
If its a roadster you will have to adjust the screen as you can't tilt the roadster ones due to not having the long stainless trim hiding the bottom on a GT.
Ste
Ste Brown

I adjusted my door so the trim lined up across the door gaps, then looking along the line of the side trim it was like a pulled out letter Z! The trim on the front wing was higher than on the rear. I slackened all the bolts down the rear edge of the wing, put a piece of timber between the top of the wing (with suitable padding) and the car port roof, and jacked the car up ...

PaulH Solihull

This thread was discussed between 18/06/2012 and 28/06/2012

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