/////The driver's door, front top will not adjust flush with the fender. It sticks out about 1/4 inch, if I elongate the adjustment holes in the hinge further will I be able to adjust it flush? Has anyone done this?//// fleetcare@ameritech.net -------------------------- I'm painting my car so I finally got around to adjusting the door. I had to remove the upper hinge and elongate the 4 holes about a 1/4". I was then able to move the door flush at the top. Jim Wood (Sep 2010) -------------------------- I've not done this, but a couple thoughts: 1. it won't hurt anything to elongate the hole, but if you do and need that adjustment to make the door align, I'd worry about the door shutting properly or rubbing against something. 2. if you've taken up all the adjustment available, maybe you should/could look at sanding the door down? How would the factory have handled it? Richard Morris ------------------------- My car has the passenger door sticking out about quarter inch at the bottom rear. They factory noted on their inspection sheet to fix it. They didn't. The dealer noted on their paperwork to "adjust" it. They didn't. I would like to do something about it. I haven't (but the century is still young). The door was simply built crooked. I think some past Avanti magazine or something had it where a guy rigged a turnbuckle inside the door to tweak the entire door. Otherwise, it probably takes some real expertise to repair a door that wasn't jigged and bonded together right in the first place. (Or maybe it's the body?) At any rate, you may have that sort of a situation along with an adjustment problem. So you might want to be on the lookout for it. Chuck Kinzer (R5586) ------------------------- The “early” bodies were “off” My right front door stuck out about a ¼” past the fender, well it did until today. I glassed it up and feathered it back into the fender. The right front door now is flush to the ¼, rocker and fender, just like my left door. I also had cracks at the top back of both ¼ windows and both seams of the upper rear body and ¼’s. They are all fixed. This week will entail a lot of blocking before a 2 part polyester primer is sprayed. I’ve been taking photos, and will get them into a file or on the web soon. Jim Turner -------------------------- My guess is: it will either fit the fender or ¼, but not both. A turn buckle is a BAD idea on fiber glass! And if you sand it down, the door skin will be very thin. Adjust it so the door fits the rocker and ¼, then glass up the fender to fit the door. Jim Turner ---------------------------- Jim: I've had a few Avantis, both early and late and none had perfect fitting doors. I've also looked at a lot of other Avantis and most didn't have perfect fitting doors. Lets face it they just were not made to fit in the first place. I am having my '74 painted and along with a tasteful fender flare I had the fenders filled to match the doors. Often if one corrects one area by adjusting, another area will not fit. Very frustrating. Frank Dittrich RQB2079 --------------------------- Avantis did have issues with door fittment - it is one of the common areas reworked during restoration. The door should be aligned so that the hinges and latches work easily, and the window goes where it should (side window alignment is its own problem). Then rework (pie cut, lower, raise, etc.) the door shell or quarter panel until desired fit is achieved. Fiberglass does not bend like steel, turnbuckles should never be used - reworking the panel(s) is the only solution. Thomas Cummings --------------------------- Some fellow really did make a turnbuckle arrangement that, hard to believe, apparantly worked. He had some thin band of steel or stainless steel inside the door going from corner to corner as best he could. I know that it's hard to believe this worked. Fiberglass may not bend like steel, but it is not totally rigid either (or all of our cars would be hopelessy cracked and in shards from the flexing they must endure). Chuck Kinzer. R(5586 --------------------------- Okay, true enough, reworking the panels is not the "only" solution - but the stress of a tensioned turnbuckle on a door assembly will probably result in its own kind of damage over time. Stressed fiberglass usually always fractures. Hey, I'm all for whatever gets the job done, turnbuckles included. Thomas Cummings -------------------------- I agree with Jim. Don't try to warp the door with a turn buckel, you have a great chance in cracking the door. Your best fix is just what Jim said. Elongate the holes make the best fit and fill the body next time you repaint the car. If you ever watch any of the old movies based on Studebaker former employees, (IE Studebaker Less than they promissed) they all commented on how poorly the early Avanti's fit, and if you remember the first hand full were not assembeled in a jig, they were assemeblled by haand with pop rivets. These problems including the well known early rear windows that first didn't fit at all. Then after the rear window problem was addressed the first high speed test drives the rear window blew out at high speed. In the PBS television movies, the employees commented that "in steel bodied cars we would take a block of wood and warp the doors and trunks to fit the bodies, but in the Avanti's we couldn't do anything" The consus is......the only reason they put these doors and trunk lids on the Avanti's is that they wouldn't fit anything elses on the production line. Stude at that time didn't have the time to correct the molds to make these parts fit right. Crallscars@aol.com -------------------------- Greetings From Vermont & Happy Holidays To All. I have noted various comments about the poor fit on Avanti doors, bodies, etc. I formerly worked with a former employee who worked for MFG (Moulded Fiber Glass) in Astabula, Ohio. MFG was the company who made the Avanti bodies for Studebaker. According to him, the problem wasn't really caused by bad or improper forms or moulds. It was more frequently caused the the 'nature of the beast' of fiberglass and the fiberglass curing process. No two fiberglass panels would cure exactly the same way. When fiberglass cures there is a chemical reaction occurring which creates a substantial heating process. During this heating process very often the panels/doors would 'warp' during the this curing process. He advised that MANY panels were simply discarded because of the warpage encountered during this curing process. Other car manufacturers are fully aware of this 'curing' problem with fiberglass --- hence very few cars are made with fiberglass. Because of this erratic 'curing' problem, the people at MFG were very selective on any Avanti body which was to be painted black - as black showed up the problem the worse. So in conclusion --- the poor fitting doors and panels were not so much an oversight by Studebaker or MFG --- it is the 'nature of the beast' with fiberglass. I'm sure that Studebaker went with fiberglass and MFG as a cost- cutting maneuver. We probably should be thankful, as the fiberglass bodies certainly vastly increased the survival rate of the Avanti's. Lorin Warner, 2439 Carter Rd., Lowell, Vt 05847 Phone: (802)744-6372 Email: lorinwarner@yahoo.com