Door top issue

[Cevan]

I installed my door tops last night and it appears they don't angle in enough to conform to the seals as you can see from the photos. The driver's side isn't as bad but still noticable. I am using new seals between the door and door top that I got from RovahFarm. Varying the tightness of the nuts securing the door tops doesn't seem to change the angle. There doesn't appear to be any real adjustment of this angle. The door bottoms are aligned properly in relation to the tub.

I can think of two ways to correct this. 1) Bend the door top studs slightly. This seems fraught with danger (I imagine snapping the studs off from whatever is holding them inside the door tops). 2) Shim the outside edge of the seal.

Any suggestions?

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad90/Cevan65/doortop2_zps97c50391.jpg (http://s924.photobucket.com/user/Cevan65/media/doortop2_zps97c50391.jpg.html)

http://i924.photobucket.com/albums/ad90/Cevan65/doortop1_zps46b298e2.jpg (http://s924.photobucket.com/user/Cevan65/media/doortop1_zps46b298e2.jpg.html)

[Apis Mellifera]

I had the same problem. I bent the studs.

[Partsman]

Don't try to bend the stub, you snap them off, then you have to cut the door top open to get the balance out, and it's pressed in, nearly impossible. I did that on one of my tops, and I ended up having to put new threaded rods on with nuts to hold them, as I couldn't get the broken bit out of the pressing. I would shim if I were you.

[TeriAnn]

They look like typical aftermarket door tops. For some reason they didn't get the stud angle correct. I had a set once & never did get them to seal properly. I tried bending them but was afraid to bend them much.

I finally replaced them with D90 door tops. Pricy but a very good fit on a Series truck.

[Boston]

Mine are nowhere near that bad.
What brand?

[Cevan]

They look like typical aftermarket door tops. For some reason they didn't get the stud angle correct. I had a set once & never did get them to seal properly. I tried bending them but was afraid to bend them much.

I finally replaced them with D90 door tops. Pricy but a very good fit on a Series truck.

The door tops are at least 30 years old so could they still be aftermarket?

[TeriAnn]

The door tops are at least 30 years old so could they still be aftermarket?

I don't know when they started making aftermarket door tops. I purchased mine in 1996 and they were very common back then.

[I Leak Oil]

30 years ago they were still making new factory parts. Not sure how much demand there would be for aftermarket. I'm guessing most door top fitment issues with factory parts have more to do with the upper door frame structure geometry than the tops themselves since even the doors don't always transfer from one truck to another very well.

The last pair I put on were the RM tops and they fit fine, never looked back.

[mearstrae]

I also put the Rocky Mountain door tops on my SIII a few years back, fit great. Can be seen in my little pics here. Don't know if they're still available.

'95 R.R.C. Lwb
'76 Series III Hybrid 109
'70 Rover 3500S

[disco2hse]

Can happen with LR tops too.

Check that your windscreen angle is correct. Too much angle can squeeze the tops out from the bottom by the dash. The door height be an issue and apparently, so can the firewall if it is not quite perfectly perpendicular to the chassis rail.

There was a discussion about how to resolve this on AULRO a while back. I will try to find the thread. It could be useful.

[Cevan]

Mine are nowhere near that bad.
What brand?

I believe they are original. The guy I bought the truck from bought himself in 1988 and promply dissassembled it and stored it inside a concrete floor barn. So all the patina that was on the doors had accumulated prior to 1988 so I'm guessing they are many years older than 1988.

Anyways, I took the door tops off the vehicle and used a pipe to incremently bend the studs. That did the trick.