Door gaps

[Andrew1967]

What are the generally accepted correct gaps for a Mk1/2 door ? Had a look round the forum and the main site but can't see anything.

I have been known to look with my eyes closed before, so apologies if it was staring me in the face

[Dearg1275]

Andrew, on my unmolested 1962 Cooper the gap around the skin of the door varies between 0.10 to 0.15 inch mostly near 0.15 the verticals of the window frame again around 0.15 but across the top near to 0.25in.

The gaps on my 1960 car,as found were, somewhat larger. As long as you can get the rear of the door to clear the body as it opens then you are winning. Good luck. It can drive you wild trying to get it looking right. Much of it depends on how tightly the doors have been skinned. There seems to be a huge variation in dimension and shape from door to door.

D

[Callum]

To keep it simple I used a 1 pound coin around the door skin, boot lid and bonnet. I chopped the window frame and welded up again to make the gaps more or less even, slightly larger than the skin to body gap.

callum-4254.JPG

[360gts]

To keep it simple I used a 1 pound coin around the door skin, boot lid and bonnet. I chopped the window frame and welded up again to make the gaps more or less even, slightly larger than the skin to body gap.

callum-4254.JPG

Looks really great ...you put a lot of effort into the finish...great job......however, most cars coming from the factory were not that good as seen in this picture of the 64 car that sold on BAT a few weeks ago.

[Peter Laidler]

There was a question that was regularly asked on all of the pub quizzes around these parts.
Q; What are the only two man made things visible from space
A; The great wall of China and the door shut lines of a Morris Marina
Could apply to Mini's I suppose.......

[surfblue63]

....however, most cars coming from the factory were not that good as seen in this picture of the 64 car that sold on BAT a few weeks ago.

By how much of that is due to 50 years of wear and tear?

The £1 coin rule sounds good to me, but as long as it is even then I'd say it was OK.

[Andrew1967]

Thanks for the replies thus far

You can probably guess that I am making a start hanging the doors on HOY. The L/H door has gone in reasonably well 'out of the box' and there's enough gap to play with to get it looking nice. I thought this was going to be the worst to do as there was nothing left. Typically, the 'better, as found side' , the R/H side is proving more tricky to get the outer A panel to fit nicely, but it will get there.

I certainly do think we strive for gaps that were never achieved by the factory, or at least rarely. The application of the 'That'll do' attitude probably applied

I like the £1 coin idea Callum.

The gap along the sill always seems to be quite narrow compared to the rest, certainly its like that on all of my cars, including the '60 that has original door steps etc.

[IslandBlue]

....however, most cars coming from the factory were not that good as seen in this picture of the 64 car that sold on BAT a few weeks ago.

By how much of that is due to 50 years of wear and tear?

The £1 coin rule sounds good to me, but as long as it is even then I'd say it was OK.

I don't think the factory fit was that great, weren't there service notes for dealers about adjusting doors? IIRC they were pretty crude measures to basically bend and force doors to fit flush to the body. I can't imagine there was a lot of time devoted to this on the lines!

Edit: thought so, here's a link to the Mini forum which contains a link back to the Mk1 Performance archive - so quite circular!
http://www.theminiforum.co.uk/forums/to ... djustment/

[Daz1968]

I went with a 4 or 5mm drill bit shaft to check clearance all around can’t remember exactly which one now prior to paint. Was pleased with the results, just took a while to get right. I also altered upper frames a little to get how I wanted it.

9446C939-6E03-4FC1-9D41-433220D81955 by darren carr, on Flickr

[Andrew1967]

If I can achieve gaps like Darren's or Callum's I'll be well pleased.

I am thinking that, for a 'first fit', its not too bad and I have something to work with. Better than no gap at all !!

[Nick W]

the last 3 cars I have done had a narrower gaps under the doors.....one thing to watch for is the MMachine floor pushing it up a little as the floor inevitably has some bend in it I have found.

4mm is a good average gap

[Andrew1967]

The door to sill gap looks similar to that red one Nick.

There's still pretty of time to play around with the gaps.

I wished the shell was as good as that one

[mini_surfari]

Quick thread revival.

Has anyone cut their window frame, right at the bottom of the front edge. I’ve got a good door gap other than here.

Just want to pull it back 3-4mm.

[Daz1968]

I cut my door frame but mine needed extending slightly to get gap even at top,

[mini_surfari]

I cut my door frame but mine needed extending slightly to get gap even at top,

I shall be doing that on the rear also, just to level the gap.

I think on the front I’m going cut it, pull it back, reinforce from the inside. And then finally the dress the skin over further, will hopefully give me 3.5 mm gap.