Tips for installing doors after paint
by brn2rde(forum name)
He asked and did not receive much help so he tackled it himself.
Well, there you go. It actually was not as difficult as it seemed it would be. Lots of go slow and think, and one sloppy hinge that probably should be replaced but I won. Got both doors hung, one all dressed out and glassed. I found a couple things that helped. First, the magic number for distance between hinges is 14 inches. Get that, and align the bottom hinge 5/8 inches from its indent and the rest kind of comes together. Also I used my pneumatic jack and some padding as a door stand. Having something that holds the door steady at the correct level and could adjust minutely was pretty huge. I had to make a shim to get the passenger door high enough to align properly and the drivers side door was spot on. A few hundred slow open and closes later the gaps are pretty dang close!
Hinges have a factory 'bend' that sets how they hang horizontally. Add more bend, or shim behind to raise or lower the door at the latch
Makeshift door jack in operation
All done. Well, you know, mostly done. Lines are pretty even all the way around. Tomorrow just need to dress out the drivers door. After that, the hood....