66 Impala SS 427 Door Alignments DTR Automotive

here we continue on the 66 Impala SS by getting the doors aligned before moving too far. its wise to figure out problems long before paint.
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[@canerod1]

"They're too busy doing burnouts and looking at their tattoos." Love it

[@georged3736]

Thank you. Been working a 65 ss convert. Quite a learning experience.

[@DreamstoRealityAutomotiveTV]

Glad to help! Good luck with your project!

[@user-wc4uh4rl3z]

1966 good year 🇺🇲

[@junkyarddawgfixit8970]

Great video, great car, great work. That car really deserved to go to you for the restoration repairs. While it looks like whomever painted that car did not block it very much or at all is tragic for the customer. The variation in the panel alignment at the top of the door/quarter is common on these cars and can vary substantially from the left to right sides. It seems like a story is told about how different the stampings were and how different the line assemblers were from left and right. Many of the waves or depressions in the sheet metal are normal for the manufacturing processes at the time. Everyone loves a laser straight car and I tend to think that a balance should be made between fixing damage and restoring as built condition while reducing some of the unfavorable tolerance stack up. Keep rolling....

[@DreamstoRealityAutomotiveTV]

Thanks for the comment, it’s funny, as a body man I’ve heard old timers say to me, “cars aren’t meant to be straight, they were made wavy”. Maybe that’s true but in 66, cars also didn’t have the finishes they have now and the waves wouldn’t show. These days most people see perfect gaps and perfect finishes and that what they want, unless you’re into the whole pebble beach concours thing where cars have to restored like a shitty factory built them.

[@dukeallen432]

Excellent. Adjusting long Gm doors has been a nemesis. Tape and pivot. Thanks for sharing your experiences.

[@DreamstoRealityAutomotiveTV]

Thanks for watching, glad to help!

[@geerider1]

Thanks for posting! I need to adjust the driver's door on my 65 Impala. I was hoping I wouldn't have to remove the fender, but if I do, I'll just take my time...

[@DreamstoRealityAutomotiveTV]

Well depending on how bad it’s hanging, you could also possibly shim between the door and the hinge

[@dukeallen432]

If you can remove fenders do it.

[@DreamstoRealityAutomotiveTV]

@@dukeallen432 yes! Unfortunately gm cars are designed in a way that you can’t just remove the fenders, it usually means taking the entire front end off. Fords are better in this example. Fenders can come of without hood removal etc

[@midnighttutor]

This is a very well done informative video. I am struggling with some of the same issues now. My question: now that you have adjusted the hinges and there is bare metal underneath, what are you going to do? If you remove them before primer you will be back to square one. Isn't there some kind of factory coating on the metal...didn't they dip the whole frame during production? Thank you.

[@DreamstoRealityAutomotiveTV]

@@midnighttutor after the doors were re adjusted I then removed them and stripped and painted the entire car. All DTR projects get painted completely apart.

[@normanaguilar4376]

So a closed end rachet wrench or one with a slight bend will work with the fender on?

[@DreamstoRealityAutomotiveTV]

Adjusting a door with a fender on with most old cars is nearly impossible

[@CraigFulton]

Won’t it all change when you put the glass and internals back in? It’s gonna add weight. I always align these fully loaded

[@DreamstoRealityAutomotiveTV]

Very true, but if you have figured out how to align the empty door, you’ll easily be able to adjust the door once the glass is in. In my experience I have rarely had to make many changes once the guts are installed but some doors are different then others. And of course thanks for watching, I do hope it helped in some ways.