Door Skin dimensions

[jcramer67]

Hope to get some help from some fellow seried owners. I am doing a frame off restoration on a SWB and I'm doing a dry run on assembling the tub, bulkehad and doors on the new chassis. What I cant figure out is why the bottom of the door skin is about 1/2" short. That is the bottom of the door does not align with the bottom of the tub or bottom of bulkehad. the bottom of bulkhead to the top of the curve where it turns flat again is 21 1/2". The tub has the same measurement. but the bottom of door skin to the same point is about a 1/2" to 3/8" shorter to the bottom. Any help or ideas would be appreciated.

[Dav1550]

The doors are just a bit short 1/8 th or so,,,, Though 1/2" seems excessive.

Has the door skin been changed ??.....

For the lower edge of the door skin does not get folded at the point of the lower frame edge..... In that the lower fold is spaced from the frame on an original skin extending the door a bit.

Dave

[jcramer67]

Thanks Dave,

I do not believe the door skins have been changed. I however welded in new door bottoms and used a jig from the old frames to make sure the new frames were consistent with the old. With the door skins back on and the holes in alignment from the door latch backing I believe the skins are in the correct position and at the bottom fold there is about 3/8" from bottom of skin to bottom of frame. That part seems right but I still can't figure out why I'm that much off at the bottom of door to tub?

[Woodslug]

I checked the gap on my 88 and it is about 1/4" on one side and close to 7/16" on the other. The gap is there so the bottom of the door won't hit the skirts that run under the door.

Ted

[J!m]

I checked the gap on my 88 and it is about 1/4" on one side and close to 7/16" on the other. The gap is there so the bottom of the door won't hit the skirts that run under the door.

Ted

This is correct.

Ideally, the gap is the same all around the door. On a rover, this is all but impossible...

I find that if you mount the tub first, then the bulkhead and doors, you can get it to line up quite well. Mount the doors (loose) and use a come-along to move the bulkhead into proper position. (no latches on doors) adjust until the body line lines up and the front and rear gaps are the same. The rocker trim sits against the bottom of the rear body tub, and under the door. This gap should be the same as the front and rear gaps of the door. Once all this is aligned, start tightening bolts on the bulkhead and doors. THEN install the latches and be sure the door skin is flush with the tub side. THEN install the door seals last.

If you do it in this order, everything will line up and work correctly. You may even reduce the amount of water that pours in when it rains.

FREE TIP: use the defender seals rather than the series door seals... They work SLIGHTLY better.