Experience Dealership line mechanic on MG, Triumph, Jaguar for 15 years, Instructor in commercial mechanics school 2 yr. Product information manager for piston and valve manufacture, Instructor & hotline answer man for import car parts importer 15 yrs.
Organizations Associate member SAE
EAA member
Publications Import Car magazine
Education/Credentials ASE Master Auto with L-1 certification up to 2000
Question Hi there,
I have a 1977 Spitfire 1500. The floor pan is very rusty but worse is the lower A post, Outer Sill and inner reinforcement panel. The car is sagging slightly and the doors are getting harder to shut with the door class now touching the windscreen pillar.
I know I will need to brace the door gap before I cut out the remaining mess prior to the new panels being fitted but I have no measurements to reference what the gap should be. I do not want to end up with a solid car full of new metal that the doors will not fit into. Are there any measurement reference points I could use to brace the door aperture into the correct place before welding in.
Thanks
Paul
Answer Hi Paul,
I found that I could jack the body up in the center until the doors seemed to fit correctly then very accurately measure the distance at the top. Then I remove the door and make a "A" frame that bolts to the two hinge points and the top of the "A" bolts to the striker plate area. By adding and subtracting shims I was able to match the same distance at the top that I had with the door in and jacked up to a good fit. This now allowed me to do structure work on the sill and rocker panels etc. and know that the door opening would stay correct while I worked. I found this to work well on any convertible car.
If you going to remove the body off of the frame you should first accurately measure from the A post area to the striker plate on the other door and make a cross brace too as the body is too flexible off of the frame. This will help keep the body square.
If your frame is in good shape you can add shims to the body mounts to alter the flex somewhat too.
I have never seen any specs anywhere for what the body measurements should be. I do have frame measurements if you need to weld in any frame pieces.
