MTFCA Forum

I have a 1909 touring body made by Ray Wells. It has never been on a frame. The rear doors stick. I assume I can place pads under a couple of the body brackets where they connect to the frame brackets and that will widen the door openings. Is that the way this problem is handled?

Shimming under the center body mount will widen the door opening at the top but narrow it at the bottom. Shimming under the rear mount will do the opposite.

Richard, may we assume that the frame of your chassis is dead straight? Is the body painted and upholstered?

Well, if the frame is staight and the body is painted and upholstered, instead of shimming under the body at the center body mounts on the frame and distorting the body to make the doors fit I would first try this.

Remove both hinges from the body and doors. Get a small router with a sharp bit and try cutting the hinge mortise on both the door frame on the car and the door itself a little deeper. With careful measuring beforehand you may only have to do it once. You will also need a sharp wood chisel and of course a hammer to fine tune the mortise after routing it. Don't go crazy with the router and cut too deep. It's better to make shallow cuts. You probably won't need to remove much to change the fit. If you do happen to cut the mortise too deep, your back to shimming things again.

With a good eye and a steady hand you should be able to do this without damage to the paint or upholstery. Just take your time. As a last resort you may have to hit the door frame (not the door if it's upholstered) with a belt sander, but you would surely have to do that if you shimmed the body anyway.

Now, if the body is just bare wood you've got it made, no risk of damaging paint or upholstery and having to touch up paint afterwards. So Richard you now have choices, choose wisely and let us all know the outcome. Good luck!

My 1911 did the same until I tightened the firewall brackets to frame bolts and the rear body mount bolts. Art