Door to rocker fit on a 53 coupe

[petercalaguiro]

I am assembling my 53 coupe and fitting the new rocker panels. The doors do not cover what I am assuming is the groove for the bottom weatherstripping rubber. Both doors seem to be about 3/8" short. The doors have not been repaired and are the doors originally on the car. I can add material to the bottom of the doors to get the proper gap but thought I would ask for another solution first. If anyone can give me some advice on this issue, it would be greatly appreciated.
Thanks,
Peter

02G0200

[KGlowacky]

Did you replace the floors??. Are they the correct rockers?? My 56 have a slot in them to fit up into the opening.

[petercalaguiro]

The floors are original as are the inner rockers. The panels are from Classis Enterprises and they line up correctly with the bottom of the front and rear fenders. These rockers are welded to the face of the inner rockers......I am assuming. That is the way they were installed on the car when I removed the originals. They are supposed to be for my car.
Peter


02G0200

[sweetolbob]

Peter, if you could post a picture or two, it could be most informative.

[studegary]

It sounds like the rocker panels were installed a little too low. There should be some gap to the bottom of the door from the outer face of the rocker panel. Is the door alignment/height adjusted properly? You should not have to add to the bottom of the doors. Either some part is incorrect or something was installed and/or adjusted incorrectly (if I am picturing your description correctly).

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

SDC member since 1968
Studebaker enthusiast much longer

[rockne10]

My '53 Coupe has no inner rocker panels! The floor panels drop at 90 degrees and the weatherstrip channel is spot welded flush with the door sill.

[petercalaguiro]

My floor panel also drops at 90 degrees to the floor and doorsill. I should not have called it an inner rocker panel. The rocker panels that I purchased from Classic Ent. have the weatherstrip channel along the top edge and the rocker panel extends below that and aligns nicely with the front fender and rear fender. The door is positioned reasonably well in the opening and yet most of the weather strip channel is visible below the door itself. In order to contact the inside of the door, the weatherstrip channel would have to be located ABOVE the floorpan/doorsill. Then the bottom of the rocker would not align with the front and rear fenders. I don't know how to post a picture on the forum or I would. I guess this is how these cars are assembled. 50's quality control! I am just going to add to the bottom of the door to make it look right.
Thanks for all the replies.
Peter

02G0200

[N8N]

the top edge of the weatherstrip channel should be flush with the top of the floor. the gap between the bottom of the door and the bottom of the weatherstrip channel shouldn't be significantly larger than the other panel gaps.

nate

--
55 Commander Starlight
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

[petercalaguiro]

Thanks N8N. That is good info, and that is how I have set the rocker panels in place. They are not welded at this time. As you are probably well aware, to line up the door to the front fenders ,fender crease and rear fenders is time consuming. If I drop the door to meet the rocker panel weatherstrip, then I lose the alignment of the fender crease and rear fender curvature. I really think the job would be properly completed by adding material to the bottom of the door......even though this is an awful lot of work.
Thanks for the advice and reply.
Peter

02G0200

[kpcoupe]

was there anything left of the old rocker panel so you can check to make sure the new rocker is of the same size and contour? if all the other gaps in your door are good and the rocker is the same as what came off the only other option i could see would be to bend the outer bend a little more if you can to pull the rocker up but you wouldn't be able to get much out of that. was the body ever removed from the frame? if so you may be able to shim the floor if it has sagged. not a pro but that is my prospective. hope this helps

Kevin Phillips
Jacksonville,AR
57 Silver Hawk

[rockne10]

Once the weatherstrip is glued in place it does curve up to meet the door. Are you sure you're not trying to fix something that is already correct to begin with?

When I reassembled my '53, the passenger door had a large gap at the bottom. I thought I would need to do some port-a-power to get it together. Once the innerds were installed (glass, channels, etc.) I was able to adjust the hinges and everything fits perfectly.

Learning to post a photo is a lot less work than altering the steelwork on your car.

Here's the instructions. If you have a problem, we'll coach you to success.
http://forum.studebakerdriversclub.c...?TOPIC_ID=3219

Brad Johnson
Pine Grove Mills, Pa.
'33 Rockne 10, '51 Commander Starlight, '53 Commander Starlight

[bams50]

To me this is the most maddening part of a restoration- fitting all the panels[xx(] Pro restorers assemble and disassemble bodies several times to be sure all gaps are correct; high end restos spend many, many hours on panel fit. On high-end builds I've even seen cowls altered to make gaps better than factory standards. Sometimes you end up moving every body panel to make everything line up[}]

The key is to not weld anything until you're happy with every gap, and PATIENCE!



Robert (Bob) Andrews Owner- Studebakeracres- on the IoMT (Island of Misfit Toys!)
Parish, central NY 13131

"Some people live for the rules, I live for exceptions"- 311

"With your Lark you're on your own, free as a bird, alive as a Lark. You've suddenly discovered that happiness is a thing called Larking!"

[petercalaguiro]

I have found the source of my problem.... the left door sill has sagged and bent over from use. This repaired, and fudging all the other gaps makes the lower door gap acceptable. The right side is straight but I have to make the other gaps larger and it will be fine also. Thanks to all who offered advice.
Peter

02G0200

[N8N]

sounds like you're on the right track, but I wouldn't worry too much about making the lower gap exactly the same as all the others, unless you have a light colored car. On a dark colored car i'd probably just let it go, assuming that you've got it so the w/strip is in the right position.

The reason I say this is that someone apparently did some gap adjustments on my '55 coupe years ago, and ground all the way through the folded over part of my front doors in front of the rear view mirrors. So at some point I will either have to have that welded and the doors repainted, or else source some rust free early coupe doors and replace them... and I'm not sure how to do either! Every time I've thought of it, I've tried to remove the hinge screws, but even with all the Kroil I've put on them and even trying to use an air impact (using the adapter and bit from a hand impact) I've only been able to remove and reinstall maybe half of the screws. I haven't tried heat yet, but I have no plans to remove the front fenders any time within the next few years...

nate

--
55 Commander Starlight
http://members.cox.net/njnagel

[studegary]

I am glad that you isolated a cause. I just couldn't imagine a need to lengthen the door. Don't worry about getting all of the gaps small and the same, the factory didn't. Bob Bourke and I preferred dark colors on these cars partly because of the poor panel fit.

Gary L.
Wappinger, NY

SDC member since 1968
Studebaker enthusiast much longer