Stumped - Door won't close
 

ok. I'm at a loss. The beast has been in the garage for about the past
six weeks. I repaired a few areas of rust on the frame, replace the floor
boards and a few rust through spots on the body. "Discovered" many other
oppurtunities to buy new parts (springs, alternator, etc). It's finally
painted and almost all the way back together. I put the doors on, and they
won't close. No problem I thought, maybe the hinges need to be adjusted
slightly.

No such luck.

I measured the door frame opening on both sides (latch to dash?). Passenger
side is 33.5", Drivers side is 33". So it looks like I lost .5" on the
drivers side door opening. There is only one explaination I can come up
with: The body flexed while I was doing the floor work. I have a few
thoughts on how I might fix this, but was wondering if anyone here has had
luck similar to mine.

Here's what I'm thinking:

1. hydrualic jack to push the opening .5"
2. large pry bar of sorts to direct pressure on the floor under the door
area.
3. sell the jeep and buy a new pair of shoes.

Any thoughts? (constructive only please! :) )

Re: Stumped - Door won't close
 

I think you'll have to cut your work out before you jack it out,
the put in a new section. Try to do it in as few welds as possible, and
never reweld a weld thinking you'll make it stronger, it'll shrink like
crazy.
God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
mailto:-------------------- http://www.----------.com/

Doug wrote:
>
> ok. I'm at a loss. The beast has been in the garage for about the past
> six weeks. I repaired a few areas of rust on the frame, replace the floor
> boards and a few rust through spots on the body. "Discovered" many other
> oppurtunities to buy new parts (springs, alternator, etc). It's finally
> painted and almost all the way back together. I put the doors on, and they
> won't close. No problem I thought, maybe the hinges need to be adjusted
> slightly.
>
> No such luck.
>
> I measured the door frame opening on both sides (latch to dash?). Passenger
> side is 33.5", Drivers side is 33". So it looks like I lost .5" on the
> drivers side door opening. There is only one explaination I can come up
> with: The body flexed while I was doing the floor work. I have a few
> thoughts on how I might fix this, but was wondering if anyone here has had
> luck similar to mine.
>
> Here's what I'm thinking:
>
> 1. hydrualic jack to push the opening .5"
> 2. large pry bar of sorts to direct pressure on the floor under the door
> area.
> 3. sell the jeep and buy a new pair of shoes.
>
> Any thoughts? (constructive only please! :) )

Re: Stumped - Door won't close
 

I think you'll have to cut your work out before you jack it out,
the put in a new section. Try to do it in as few welds as possible, and
never reweld a weld thinking you'll make it stronger, it'll shrink like
crazy.
God Bless America, ßill O|||||||O
mailto:-------------------- http://www.----------.com/

Doug wrote:
>
> ok. I'm at a loss. The beast has been in the garage for about the past
> six weeks. I repaired a few areas of rust on the frame, replace the floor
> boards and a few rust through spots on the body. "Discovered" many other
> oppurtunities to buy new parts (springs, alternator, etc). It's finally
> painted and almost all the way back together. I put the doors on, and they
> won't close. No problem I thought, maybe the hinges need to be adjusted
> slightly.
>
> No such luck.
>
> I measured the door frame opening on both sides (latch to dash?). Passenger
> side is 33.5", Drivers side is 33". So it looks like I lost .5" on the
> drivers side door opening. There is only one explaination I can come up
> with: The body flexed while I was doing the floor work. I have a few
> thoughts on how I might fix this, but was wondering if anyone here has had
> luck similar to mine.
>
> Here's what I'm thinking:
>
> 1. hydrualic jack to push the opening .5"
> 2. large pry bar of sorts to direct pressure on the floor under the door
> area.
> 3. sell the jeep and buy a new pair of shoes.
>
> Any thoughts? (constructive only please! :) )

Re: Stumped - Door won't close
 

Ouch!

Man that sucks the big one.

Your body mounts are obviously bad. They have gotten soft or have
rotted out allowing the sag to happen.

You now have made that sag permanent with the new floors....

Can you see the wrinkle in the tub just at the back bottom corner of the
door? I bet if you run a straight edge there it will be obvious.

Short of removing the floor and starting over, 'maybe' you could make a
vertical cut at the back door bottom and jack up the tub under the door
middle to open up this cut, then reinforce the heck out of it while
fixing that rotted body mount just in front of the back wheel.???

I had the opposite problem when my rear body mounts rotted away. My
door opening got too big to grab the door latch. Basically I had to
have someone lift up on my tail light so I could close the door. I had
that kink or ripple at the bottom door corner.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Doug wrote:
>
> ok. I'm at a loss. The beast has been in the garage for about the past
> six weeks. I repaired a few areas of rust on the frame, replace the floor
> boards and a few rust through spots on the body. "Discovered" many other
> oppurtunities to buy new parts (springs, alternator, etc). It's finally
> painted and almost all the way back together. I put the doors on, and they
> won't close. No problem I thought, maybe the hinges need to be adjusted
> slightly.
>
> No such luck.
>
> I measured the door frame opening on both sides (latch to dash?). Passenger
> side is 33.5", Drivers side is 33". So it looks like I lost .5" on the
> drivers side door opening. There is only one explaination I can come up
> with: The body flexed while I was doing the floor work. I have a few
> thoughts on how I might fix this, but was wondering if anyone here has had
> luck similar to mine.
>
> Here's what I'm thinking:
>
> 1. hydrualic jack to push the opening .5"
> 2. large pry bar of sorts to direct pressure on the floor under the door
> area.
> 3. sell the jeep and buy a new pair of shoes.
>
> Any thoughts? (constructive only please! :) )

Re: Stumped - Door won't close
 

Ouch!

Man that sucks the big one.

Your body mounts are obviously bad. They have gotten soft or have
rotted out allowing the sag to happen.

You now have made that sag permanent with the new floors....

Can you see the wrinkle in the tub just at the back bottom corner of the
door? I bet if you run a straight edge there it will be obvious.

Short of removing the floor and starting over, 'maybe' you could make a
vertical cut at the back door bottom and jack up the tub under the door
middle to open up this cut, then reinforce the heck out of it while
fixing that rotted body mount just in front of the back wheel.???

I had the opposite problem when my rear body mounts rotted away. My
door opening got too big to grab the door latch. Basically I had to
have someone lift up on my tail light so I could close the door. I had
that kink or ripple at the bottom door corner.

Mike
86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's

Doug wrote:
>
> ok. I'm at a loss. The beast has been in the garage for about the past
> six weeks. I repaired a few areas of rust on the frame, replace the floor
> boards and a few rust through spots on the body. "Discovered" many other
> oppurtunities to buy new parts (springs, alternator, etc). It's finally
> painted and almost all the way back together. I put the doors on, and they
> won't close. No problem I thought, maybe the hinges need to be adjusted
> slightly.
>
> No such luck.
>
> I measured the door frame opening on both sides (latch to dash?). Passenger
> side is 33.5", Drivers side is 33". So it looks like I lost .5" on the
> drivers side door opening. There is only one explaination I can come up
> with: The body flexed while I was doing the floor work. I have a few
> thoughts on how I might fix this, but was wondering if anyone here has had
> luck similar to mine.
>
> Here's what I'm thinking:
>
> 1. hydrualic jack to push the opening .5"
> 2. large pry bar of sorts to direct pressure on the floor under the door
> area.
> 3. sell the jeep and buy a new pair of shoes.
>
> Any thoughts? (constructive only please! :) )

Re: Stumped - Door won't close
 

Think I would look at body mounts and change before I did any cut an weld,
when I changed the mounts in my CJ there were 2 washers on that paticular
body mount, almost 1/8" each, I didn't put them back on and when I went to
use the door I found it bound on top, so I had to take that mount bolt back
out and put in the washers. Mine is a fiberglass tub and will flex a lot
more then his, but it may be worth trying the mount before cutting.

"Mike Romain" <romainm@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:418A30EA.E252DF4C@sympatico.ca...
> Ouch!
>
> Man that sucks the big one.
>
> Your body mounts are obviously bad. They have gotten soft or have
> rotted out allowing the sag to happen.
>
> You now have made that sag permanent with the new floors....
>
> Can you see the wrinkle in the tub just at the back bottom corner of the
> door? I bet if you run a straight edge there it will be obvious.
>
> Short of removing the floor and starting over, 'maybe' you could make a
> vertical cut at the back door bottom and jack up the tub under the door
> middle to open up this cut, then reinforce the heck out of it while
> fixing that rotted body mount just in front of the back wheel.???
>
> I had the opposite problem when my rear body mounts rotted away. My
> door opening got too big to grab the door latch. Basically I had to
> have someone lift up on my tail light so I could close the door. I had
> that kink or ripple at the bottom door corner.
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
>
> Doug wrote:
>>
>> ok. I'm at a loss. The beast has been in the garage for about the
>> past
>> six weeks. I repaired a few areas of rust on the frame, replace the floor
>> boards and a few rust through spots on the body. "Discovered" many other
>> oppurtunities to buy new parts (springs, alternator, etc). It's finally
>> painted and almost all the way back together. I put the doors on, and
>> they
>> won't close. No problem I thought, maybe the hinges need to be adjusted
>> slightly.
>>
>> No such luck.
>>
>> I measured the door frame opening on both sides (latch to dash?).
>> Passenger
>> side is 33.5", Drivers side is 33". So it looks like I lost .5" on the
>> drivers side door opening. There is only one explaination I can come up
>> with: The body flexed while I was doing the floor work. I have a few
>> thoughts on how I might fix this, but was wondering if anyone here has
>> had
>> luck similar to mine.
>>
>> Here's what I'm thinking:
>>
>> 1. hydrualic jack to push the opening .5"
>> 2. large pry bar of sorts to direct pressure on the floor under the door
>> area.
>> 3. sell the jeep and buy a new pair of shoes.
>>
>> Any thoughts? (constructive only please! :) )

Re: Stumped - Door won't close
 

Think I would look at body mounts and change before I did any cut an weld,
when I changed the mounts in my CJ there were 2 washers on that paticular
body mount, almost 1/8" each, I didn't put them back on and when I went to
use the door I found it bound on top, so I had to take that mount bolt back
out and put in the washers. Mine is a fiberglass tub and will flex a lot
more then his, but it may be worth trying the mount before cutting.

"Mike Romain" <romainm@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
news:418A30EA.E252DF4C@sympatico.ca...
> Ouch!
>
> Man that sucks the big one.
>
> Your body mounts are obviously bad. They have gotten soft or have
> rotted out allowing the sag to happen.
>
> You now have made that sag permanent with the new floors....
>
> Can you see the wrinkle in the tub just at the back bottom corner of the
> door? I bet if you run a straight edge there it will be obvious.
>
> Short of removing the floor and starting over, 'maybe' you could make a
> vertical cut at the back door bottom and jack up the tub under the door
> middle to open up this cut, then reinforce the heck out of it while
> fixing that rotted body mount just in front of the back wheel.???
>
> I had the opposite problem when my rear body mounts rotted away. My
> door opening got too big to grab the door latch. Basically I had to
> have someone lift up on my tail light so I could close the door. I had
> that kink or ripple at the bottom door corner.
>
> Mike
> 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
>
> Doug wrote:
>>
>> ok. I'm at a loss. The beast has been in the garage for about the
>> past
>> six weeks. I repaired a few areas of rust on the frame, replace the floor
>> boards and a few rust through spots on the body. "Discovered" many other
>> oppurtunities to buy new parts (springs, alternator, etc). It's finally
>> painted and almost all the way back together. I put the doors on, and
>> they
>> won't close. No problem I thought, maybe the hinges need to be adjusted
>> slightly.
>>
>> No such luck.
>>
>> I measured the door frame opening on both sides (latch to dash?).
>> Passenger
>> side is 33.5", Drivers side is 33". So it looks like I lost .5" on the
>> drivers side door opening. There is only one explaination I can come up
>> with: The body flexed while I was doing the floor work. I have a few
>> thoughts on how I might fix this, but was wondering if anyone here has
>> had
>> luck similar to mine.
>>
>> Here's what I'm thinking:
>>
>> 1. hydrualic jack to push the opening .5"
>> 2. large pry bar of sorts to direct pressure on the floor under the door
>> area.
>> 3. sell the jeep and buy a new pair of shoes.
>>
>> Any thoughts? (constructive only please! :) )

Re: Stumped - Door won't close
 

Good point Greg.

He could be lucky and it still could be soft enough to bend back with a
spacer under that mount. A 1/2" is a fair bit though.

Mike

Greg wrote:
>
> Think I would look at body mounts and change before I did any cut an weld,
> when I changed the mounts in my CJ there were 2 washers on that paticular
> body mount, almost 1/8" each, I didn't put them back on and when I went to
> use the door I found it bound on top, so I had to take that mount bolt back
> out and put in the washers. Mine is a fiberglass tub and will flex a lot
> more then his, but it may be worth trying the mount before cutting.
>
> "Mike Romain" <romainm@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
> news:418A30EA.E252DF4C@sympatico.ca...
> > Ouch!
> >
> > Man that sucks the big one.
> >
> > Your body mounts are obviously bad. They have gotten soft or have
> > rotted out allowing the sag to happen.
> >
> > You now have made that sag permanent with the new floors....
> >
> > Can you see the wrinkle in the tub just at the back bottom corner of the
> > door? I bet if you run a straight edge there it will be obvious.
> >
> > Short of removing the floor and starting over, 'maybe' you could make a
> > vertical cut at the back door bottom and jack up the tub under the door
> > middle to open up this cut, then reinforce the heck out of it while
> > fixing that rotted body mount just in front of the back wheel.???
> >
> > I had the opposite problem when my rear body mounts rotted away. My
> > door opening got too big to grab the door latch. Basically I had to
> > have someone lift up on my tail light so I could close the door. I had
> > that kink or ripple at the bottom door corner.
> >
> > Mike
> > 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> > 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
> >
> > Doug wrote:
> >>
> >> ok. I'm at a loss. The beast has been in the garage for about the
> >> past
> >> six weeks. I repaired a few areas of rust on the frame, replace the floor
> >> boards and a few rust through spots on the body. "Discovered" many other
> >> oppurtunities to buy new parts (springs, alternator, etc). It's finally
> >> painted and almost all the way back together. I put the doors on, and
> >> they
> >> won't close. No problem I thought, maybe the hinges need to be adjusted
> >> slightly.
> >>
> >> No such luck.
> >>
> >> I measured the door frame opening on both sides (latch to dash?).
> >> Passenger
> >> side is 33.5", Drivers side is 33". So it looks like I lost .5" on the
> >> drivers side door opening. There is only one explaination I can come up
> >> with: The body flexed while I was doing the floor work. I have a few
> >> thoughts on how I might fix this, but was wondering if anyone here has
> >> had
> >> luck similar to mine.
> >>
> >> Here's what I'm thinking:
> >>
> >> 1. hydrualic jack to push the opening .5"
> >> 2. large pry bar of sorts to direct pressure on the floor under the door
> >> area.
> >> 3. sell the jeep and buy a new pair of shoes.
> >>
> >> Any thoughts? (constructive only please! :) )

Re: Stumped - Door won't close
 

Good point Greg.

He could be lucky and it still could be soft enough to bend back with a
spacer under that mount. A 1/2" is a fair bit though.

Mike

Greg wrote:
>
> Think I would look at body mounts and change before I did any cut an weld,
> when I changed the mounts in my CJ there were 2 washers on that paticular
> body mount, almost 1/8" each, I didn't put them back on and when I went to
> use the door I found it bound on top, so I had to take that mount bolt back
> out and put in the washers. Mine is a fiberglass tub and will flex a lot
> more then his, but it may be worth trying the mount before cutting.
>
> "Mike Romain" <romainm@sympatico.ca> wrote in message
> news:418A30EA.E252DF4C@sympatico.ca...
> > Ouch!
> >
> > Man that sucks the big one.
> >
> > Your body mounts are obviously bad. They have gotten soft or have
> > rotted out allowing the sag to happen.
> >
> > You now have made that sag permanent with the new floors....
> >
> > Can you see the wrinkle in the tub just at the back bottom corner of the
> > door? I bet if you run a straight edge there it will be obvious.
> >
> > Short of removing the floor and starting over, 'maybe' you could make a
> > vertical cut at the back door bottom and jack up the tub under the door
> > middle to open up this cut, then reinforce the heck out of it while
> > fixing that rotted body mount just in front of the back wheel.???
> >
> > I had the opposite problem when my rear body mounts rotted away. My
> > door opening got too big to grab the door latch. Basically I had to
> > have someone lift up on my tail light so I could close the door. I had
> > that kink or ripple at the bottom door corner.
> >
> > Mike
> > 86/00 CJ7 Laredo, 33x9.5 BFG Muds, 'glass nose to tail in '00
> > 88 Cherokee 235 BFG AT's
> >
> > Doug wrote:
> >>
> >> ok. I'm at a loss. The beast has been in the garage for about the
> >> past
> >> six weeks. I repaired a few areas of rust on the frame, replace the floor
> >> boards and a few rust through spots on the body. "Discovered" many other
> >> oppurtunities to buy new parts (springs, alternator, etc). It's finally
> >> painted and almost all the way back together. I put the doors on, and
> >> they
> >> won't close. No problem I thought, maybe the hinges need to be adjusted
> >> slightly.
> >>
> >> No such luck.
> >>
> >> I measured the door frame opening on both sides (latch to dash?).
> >> Passenger
> >> side is 33.5", Drivers side is 33". So it looks like I lost .5" on the
> >> drivers side door opening. There is only one explaination I can come up
> >> with: The body flexed while I was doing the floor work. I have a few
> >> thoughts on how I might fix this, but was wondering if anyone here has
> >> had
> >> luck similar to mine.
> >>
> >> Here's what I'm thinking:
> >>
> >> 1. hydrualic jack to push the opening .5"
> >> 2. large pry bar of sorts to direct pressure on the floor under the door
> >> area.
> >> 3. sell the jeep and buy a new pair of shoes.
> >>
> >> Any thoughts? (constructive only please! :) )

Re: Stumped - Door won't close
 

Thanks for the suggestions. I placed seven washers between the body & mount.
The door will close now, but it's not a "perfect" fit. I suppose it will get
me through the winter though, and in the spring I can fix it properly.

If anyone is interested, I think I know where I went wrong. I took the jeep
apart down to the frame. The section of the frame in need of repair was best
fixed with the tub off. While the tub was off I figured I'd fix the problem
rust areas. One of the more extensive areas was the driver's side floor
(almost non-existent!) and the side immediately in front of the door. I cut
out the bad sections, then cleaned the surface rust with a wire wheel. After
the rust was removed I welded in new metal, did the filler thing and
primed/painted. What I believe I may have done is moved the tub with the
floor / side section removed thus changing the dimensions of the opening.
welding the new floor in sealed the deal!

In retrospect I should have tacked in a piece of angle iron to keep the
opening from changing.

Thanks again for the suggestions!

Doug