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 Correcting Poorly Factory-aligned Door Trim - 56 Dodge as ExampleJump to page : 1 Now viewing page 1 [50 messages per page] | View previous thread :: View next thread |
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56D500boy |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 9900     Location: Lower Mainland BC | . I've owned my 56 Dodge now for getting on 6 years (Sept. 2016). For that entire time, the front passenger door trim has bugged my a$$. I knew that fixing the issue would be bit of a new can of worms because properly aligning the trim would result in the need for some repainting on that door. The trim from the factory was a quite a bit too high at the front and a bit low at the back. Dropping the front would expose and area that didn't get new dark blue metallic paint when I painted the door a few years ago. Same at the back which would be raised a bit, requiring a bit of the light blue paint. First step was to remove the inner door handles, arm rest and the door card. This allowed me to push the "H" clips out from behind. That and a little trim prying and the trim was off. Exposing the original paint (besides the new paint - close but not 100% - not that I care). Once that was done, I cleaned up the area and proceeded to sand the ridge where the new paint met the old (and I had only masked off the trim - not removed it - back then). Then I tried brush painting the affected area by spraying the spray paint into a small glass jar that I use to create paint for minor touch-ups. I thought it would work but I was wrong. It did work for the light blue but it was a very poor for the dark blue. So Plan B was to sand the area down (minimizing the area) and spray painting the area with masking below the centerline of the trim holes to protect the light blue and a "rolled-edge" to protect the dark blue. That should have (or could have) worked but my execution/skills failed and it looked like $hit. Not even wet sanding and polishing helped. So Plan C was to remove the door handle and lock and sand down (600 grit) all the previously painted dark blue area. Masked off all the non-dark blue areas (including the fender, rear door, cowl, etc). Paint was only going to be sprayed on the top of the door. I applied several light(ish) coats and managed to not let the new paint crinkle the underlying paint (also the new colour but applied 3 or 4 years ago). That worked. After a day or so of "curing", I wet sanded the area with 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit wet and dry sandpaper. Then I machine polished the area with 3M products (No. 1 and No. 3). Turned out nice. Then it was a matter of putting things back together. First up was the trim piece. It was in fairly good shape but I wet sanded it with the same 1000, 1500 and 2000 grit wet and dry sandpapers followed by polishing with Autosol. Not perfect but good enough for me.  Next was the clips to attach the trim to the car. Based on previous experience with the driver's door, I planned to go with Auveco 10-24 studded spring clips. Five of one of the bigger (but their biggest) size. However, while I tried to make that work, like the driver's side trim, I can not reach into the door far enough to get a 10-24 nut started on the front-most clip stud. So I went with a generic non-studded spring clip, assisted by a small (1" x 1.5" or so) piece of closed-cell foam to help keep the clip in place and keep that end of the trim from rattling. I am not sure if I really needed to but I did file the slot for the front most clip a bit lower so I could make sure that the front of the trim could be lowered enough to match the pot-metal mirror base as it swoops down from the top of the front fender to the side of the fender. I painted the area where I filed the slot with a brush and captured spray paint. I did a couple of trial fits and then used some small(ish) washers and star-type lock washer 3/8" diameter 10-24 nuts on the trim clip studs. A bit of trial and error to make sure both the front and rear of the trim matched the existing fender and rear door trim alignments. Then I tightened the four clips down nice and tight. While the door card was off, I installed also a "new" (to me) door handle that I bought some time ago (because it was less worn) and rehabbed (got rid of the rust, painted the back side, etc). I used the original 3/8" star nuts. I think it all turned out fine. I did waste some time and effort trying to avoid Plan C (which should have been Plan A). Some "short-cuts" just do NOT work. (I was just being lazy). Some photos of the process, starting with the mis-aligned trim and ending with the aligned trim and the painted (and polished door). NOTE: The photos of the clips inside the door are from the driver's door - I had done only a few weeks ago. (I forgot to take the equivalent passenger front door photos before I reinstalled the door card - DUH).  Edited by 56D500boy 2022-07-17 2:54 AM (DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanWithPoorlyAlignedFactoryFrontPassengerDoorTrim.jpg) (DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanWithPoorlyAlignedFactoryFrontPassengerDoorTrim_TrimRemoved.jpg) (DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanWithPoorlyAlignedFactoryFrontPassengerDoorTrim_HClipsRemoved.jpg) (DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanWithPoorlyAlignedFactoryFrontPassengerDoorTrim_TrimTapedInPlace.jpg) (DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanDoorTrimWithAttachmentAlternatives.jpg) (DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanDoorTrimWithAttachmentAlternatives_UpClose.jpg) (DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanDoorTrimWithAttachmentAlternatives_GenericSpringClipWithClosedCellFoam_1.jpg) (DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanDoorTrimWithAttachmentAlternatives_GenericSpringClipWithClosedCellFoam_2.jpg) (DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalDoorTrimShowing1024StudClipsAndGenericSpringClip.jpg) (DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalDoorTrimShowing1024StudClipsWithWashersAndStarTypeNuts.jpg) (DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanWithProperlyAlignedFrontPassengerDoorTrim_1.jpg) (DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanWithProperlyAlignedFrontPassengerDoorTrim_2.jpg) Attachments ----------------  DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanWithPoorlyAlignedFactoryFrontPassengerDoorTrim.jpg (149KB - 75 downloads) DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanWithPoorlyAlignedFactoryFrontPassengerDoorTrim_TrimRemoved.jpg (167KB - 76 downloads) DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanWithPoorlyAlignedFactoryFrontPassengerDoorTrim_HClipsRemoved.jpg (156KB - 71 downloads) DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanWithPoorlyAlignedFactoryFrontPassengerDoorTrim_TrimTapedInPlace.jpg (168KB - 73 downloads) DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanDoorTrimWithAttachmentAlternatives.jpg (170KB - 77 downloads) DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanDoorTrimWithAttachmentAlternatives_UpClose.jpg (85KB - 82 downloads) DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanDoorTrimWithAttachmentAlternatives_GenericSpringClipWithClosedCellFoam_1.jpg (194KB - 75 downloads) DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanDoorTrimWithAttachmentAlternatives_GenericSpringClipWithClosedCellFoam_2.jpg (94KB - 77 downloads) DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalDoorTrimShowing1024StudClipsAndGenericSpringClip.jpg (101KB - 80 downloads) DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalDoorTrimShowing1024StudClipsWithWashersAndStarTypeNuts.jpg (91KB - 77 downloads) DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanWithProperlyAlignedFrontPassengerDoorTrim_1.jpg (107KB - 77 downloads) DaveFs56DodgeCustomRoyalSedanWithProperlyAlignedFrontPassengerDoorTrim_2.jpg (118KB - 78 downloads) | ||
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| CaprockClassics |
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Elite Veteran Posts: 626  Location: Lubbock, TX | Looking really nice! Wish I had time to dedicate to those little details. Too many projects, but glad to see someone fixing that stuff. ~Peter | ||
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| Mope R. Geezer |
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Expert Posts: 2100 Location: Idaho - where men are men and spuds are spuds | Well, 56D500boy, you are the master of all things! And your pics and descriptions are incredible! Thanks. | ||
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| 56D500boy |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 9900 Location: Lower Mainland BC | Mope R. Geezer - 2022-07-21 9:59 AM Well, 56D500boy, you are the master of all things! And your pics and descriptions are incredible! Thanks. I will take the compliment but I know most of my posts are about trivial things. Many may others, including Dels56, Powerflite and wizard, have far more skills than I. | ||
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| wizard |
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Board Moderator & Exner Expert 10K+ Posts: 13045  Location: Southern Sweden - Sturkö island | |||
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| Powerflite |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 9654 Location: So. Cal | I've been needing to do this on my Savoy. The left side is badly mismatched and the right side has a huge gap. Not sure if I can blame this on the factory or not, I'll see when I get around to pulling the trim off the fender. (Savoy At Work Rear.jpg) Attachments ---------------- Savoy At Work Rear.jpg (90KB - 68 downloads) | ||
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| 56D500boy |
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Expert 5K+ Posts: 9900 Location: Lower Mainland BC | Powerflite - 2022-07-26 8:18 AM I've been needing to do this on my Savoy. The left side is badly mismatched and the right side has a huge gap. Not sure if I can blame this on the factory or not, I'll see when I get around to pulling the trim off the fender. I don't know why they let the cars leave the factory with that much mis-alignment. [shakes head]. Using the Auveco 10-24 studded spring clips (and star-washered nuts) gives you lots of up/down, fore/aft latitude to get the alignment right. Good luck. | ||
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