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Triumph TR3 - Hood and door alignment

I'm finishing a "frame off" restoration on a 1962 TR3B started by others and need advice on aligning the hood (bonnet) and doors. The hood has a 1/4 inch gap to the apron on the left but is against the apron on the right. The right door latch hits the bottom of the striker plate by about 1/16 inch. A TRF tech rep suggested the I attempt to improve the alignment by use of the body to frame shims (packing). Have anyone of you done this? Do I start from the front and work to the back, or vice versa? Should I do one side and then the other? Do I try to get the hood or doors aligned first? Is there any thing else that I should try to get the hood and doors correctly aligned? I would really appreciate help from any of you who have aligned the hood and doors.
Gary

Work one side at a time. Remove the seat cushions and pans, then the carpets.

If the door scrubs the outer sill (top horizontal flat section of the rocker panel when the door is open) below the door handle, this means that the sill at the rear is too high. So the rear sill has to be moved downward. Remove the two bolts through the floor below where the latch is screwed to the "B" post. Then use a lift type scissor (or hydraulic) jack and a block of wood. Lift up the rear sills about 1/2" and reach under where the 2 bolts were and remove a flat rubber pad. This is located between the top of the outrigger and the bottom of the similar plate welded to the inner sill. Then lower the jack and re-bolt the 2 bolts. Then try to close the door. If you need more clearance, remove another pad. Then do the other side.

If its just that the latch plate on the door and the srtiker plate on the "B" post don't line up, loosen the screws and adjust these so the door closes.

All this assumes that you have a solid body, good sills and the car is not sagging too much because of weak sills etc., due to rust rot. Bondo covered rusty sills and rockers will not be solid enough to repair and/or correct the sag, but give it a try.

If you only have two rubber psds and you have removed these, but need more, start adding pads to the supports near the "A" post to kift the front of the door.

The gap can be parallel between the hood and the front fenders by adjusting the front fenders inwards or out till you have the right gap. At the same time you need to adjust the chrome hinges which hold the hood to the front scuttle.

If this is all OK, you can adjust the gap across the front of the hood where it matches the valance to get a parallel gap. Let's say that the RHS is too tight. Lift the hood and try to rotate the valance down the front curves of the front inner fender and outer fenders where it all bolts together from below. Maybe you need to elongate the slots. If this is at the limit and you still need more of a gap on, say the RHS, take a block of hardwood and a 5 pound hammer and hit the two supports forward where the valance is bolted (2 bolts) to the tangs that stick up from the top of the inner fender just above where the horns will be.

I had to cut these off and re-weld them forward about 1/4" to get a parallel gap.

Don Elliott, Original Owner, 1958 TR3A
Don Elliott

Check the two rectagular tabs on the upper part of the valance which bolt into the fender tangs Don mentioned.
Because these are hollow in structure, they can be distorted. Mine were pretty well crushed from being over tightened throughout the years. I straightened out the tangs, filled the tabs on the valance with solid hardwood, and viola! (to borrow from Don's vocabulary) my seams were pretty good.
Check the through bolt underneath the hand crank stay. I think there are adjustable rods coming off the frame for this; be sure the assembly is not bent or twisted.
Mike G. '56 TR3
Mike Gambordella

I hope your engine, gearbox and diff. are in place. If not, put them in or at least onto the frame to make the frame sag as it will when they are there. Also make sure the jack stands are directly under the front and rear axle lines. This will be the same as if the frame is sitting on the tires so the sag will be the same now as it will be later.

After you have done this, check your sill to door gaps again as do as I suggested earlier.

The hood to valance gap may improve too.

Another thought about the RHS front hood gap. I can't say it will work but . . . .

Loosen all the bolts for the RHS front fender to the valance plus the 2 top bolts on the 2 vertical tangs (ears) sticking up on the RHS. Loosen the 2 bolts under where the carbs are (or will be later). Loosen the body to frame bolt way up front just behind the front valance skirt. Jack up the front end of the body (not under the frame) using a scissor or hydraulic jack and a block of say 2" by 4" with a pad on the top end under the front RHS fender just under those two ears and lift the body up off the frame to take up the slack in the bolts. Loosen them more if needed. Check the gap between the hood and the valance. If better, look under the RHS front end and add rubber pads under the 2 bolts below the carbs and under the front one. Then tighten all the bolts, a bit at a time till they are all tight. Start with the 3 that are holding the front clip to the frame. Then lower the jack and check if the gap isn't better.

If none of this works, go ask a body man to come over to your place with his hydraulic jacks and extensions to get it right for you.

The British are very concerned about gaps. So are judges at the concours at TRA or VTR. In London, the tube (or Underground - subway) has gaps at some stations between the cars abnd the platform. When the doors open, there is this loudspeaker that keeps reminding everyone, "Mind the gap !". "Mind the gap !". So that's why it's so important !

Thus enedt the second lesson for today.
And now you know the rest of the story.

Don Elliott, 1958 TR3A
Don Elliott

Thanks for the advice. Adding and subtracting pads made very little difference in improving the gap between the hood and the front apron, but I was able to influence the gap by using the five pound hammer and 2x4 to the tangs on the rhs. When I reinstalled the apron the front gap and even the side gaps were much better. By removing all but one pad at the B post and leaving only two pads at the A post, the bottom gap at RHS door was improved. The same problem at the LHS door was not helped by subtracting pads.
I also need to increase the gap at the rear of the LHS door while reducing the gap at the front of the door. Any advice on how to do that? The hinge on the LHS door also seems to be worn and lets the rear of the door drop. Can the hinge be adjusted or must it be replaced?
Any help is appreciated.
Gary

Loosen the screws for the bottom hinge and slip a piece of brass shim (sheet about 0.015" thick) in behind the lower hinge. That should lift the bottom of the door below the door handle. If you need more put in a second shim. This may take away space where the door latch plate is supposed to freely enter the striker plate screwed to the "B" post. If is is scrubbing here, re-adjust the striker plate up or down to be central. If it still scrubs here, remove the strike plate and hand file a bit off the grooved back of the striker plate. Remove as much as you need to from the back to eliminate the scrubbing.

To lift both the front and back of a door truly vertical, loosen all screws and physically lift the door within the space permitted by the nuts in the captive boxes behind the "A" post. If you still need more, remove that door. Use a die grinder on a Dremmell to elongate the round holes upwards in the "A" post. If there is still space for the square nuts inside the captive boxes, you can lift the door by the amount you have elogated these hinge holes.

If you haven't welded the "A" post to the sill you can lift it a bit, then weld it.

Don Elliott, 1958 TR3A TS 27489
(doing all this right now on the total restoration of TS 81551 L)
Don Elliott

Most restorers replace the door hinges. On my early TR3A I used the same hinges. They are like new. The TR I'm doing now is a late model (after TS 60,000 Comm. No.) and they seem to get sloppy. The owner supplied new hinges, so I'm using them.

Don Elliott, 1958 TR3A, TS 27489 LO
Don Elliott

This thread was discussed between 24/02/2004 and 07/03/2004

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