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Thread: Driver's side inner door support

  1. #1
    Junior Member
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    Sep 2011
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    Bolivia, NC
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    Driver's side inner door support

    I have been struggling for a week to try and align the driver's side door. The passenger door went in just fine with just some minor adjustment at the front. However the driver's door has been a beast. The area around the latch now looks like swiss cheese. First, the back of the door aligns top to bottom just fine. The front has been impossible. Tonight after several more hours of frustration I removed the door and examined the sub-frame. When I put a square on the lower tube near the vertical bar at the hinge, the frame tilts to the inside about 1/2 inch. I can see where the bars are poorly aligned in this area. You can also see the down-sloping bar turns to the inside door edge. Because of this rear alignment issue, the front upper corner of the door kicks out and the bottom front corner turns in. I can get it close but not where I want it to be.
    I checked my other door and am off about 1/8" vertical at the hinge bolt area.

    Now for the solutions. I can heat the front vertical plate which the latch plate bolts to and bend it a bit at an opposite angle for more door adjustment. I will install power windows shortly and may find that I still have mounting problems with this first solution. Secondly, I can notch the vertical riser and the angled down-slope bar, apply some heat to the opposite welded side and try to bend the bars closer to perpendicular. I can also separate these bars and re-weld. Or I can call FFR and order a new part or beg for a free one..

    Any suggestions? And can someone check out their inner door support frame angles for plumb to the lower square tube. Thanks in advance.

    Bob G

  2. #2
    Junior Member
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    Here's a photo of the discrepancy. Notice the misalignment gap in the bottom joint.
    IMG_0782[1].JPG

  3. #3
    Member 77233349975's Avatar
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    Aug 2012
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    San Antonio, TX
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    On my build one door was so bad I called FF The thing was welded wrong . FF said this could not be ! The thing was welded in a jig and could not be wrong ! I sent some pictures and they sent a new one . call them Tuesday. don't give up !

  4. #4
    Junior Member
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    Thanks for the feedback. For a while I thought I was the only one with a quality control issue. I modified the door arm by cutting the tubes in two places with 3 sided cuts and using my press at the lower vertical joint to re-align the pieces. After tacking I remounted the door. Easy peasy as they say. Less than 2 hrs work to modify and reinstall vs the 50+ hours trying to make the original piece work. I'm spot on with the door alignment now. Will now be able to head to North Carolina DMV on Tuesday morning for inspection (theft & fraud), titling and registration.
    Very excited so wish me luck.

    After this experience I am ready to start a build thread. Have been reluctant to do one before because as a novice I was unsure of my build skills. But I'm stepping out of my shell and believe I have enough trial by fire experiences that my build thread may benefit some new builders. And I would welcome comments/suggestions on the work that has been done. I've added a picture to preview my build thread.

    Bob GIMG_0799.jpgIMG_0797.jpg

  5. #5
    Member
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    Sep 2014
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    Forsyth, Georgia
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    Glad you solved the problem! You will see all levels of build skills in this forum and this is one of the reasons I was drawn to the 33. It can go from simple to show winner based on those skills. Looking forward to more info from you. Thanks!
    Last edited by Warden; 07-04-2016 at 07:06 AM.

  6. #6
    Junior Member
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    Thank you,

    I spent all day trying to get things to line up. I sent pictures of door inner support to F5. Mine is even worse than yours. As usual Factory5 said it couldn't be their fault. Everything was "welded in a jig". My door itself is also warped. I will spend tomorrow welding the door support like you did and fixing the "swiss cheese" in the fiberglass. Hopefully that will get me closer. Thanks for the pictures.

    My quality control issues have been a disaster and it is rare the Factory 5 owns up to anything. It seems I have to modify or replace nearly every part on the car.

  7. #7
    Ol Skool
    Join Date
    Oct 2013
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    upstate NY
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    They absolutely do know that the drivers door has issues. Jigs do not account for heat draw and stress upon cooling. The molds are not consistent either. FFR is in a transition from low build rate customs to significant production levels and must acknowledge what they intend to do going forward. Look at the 818 forum. I really thought the 818 would be better and the 33 was just a red headed step child , but the molds are not consistent when they are hand built. It is extremely difficult to establish a baseline or centerline you can trust and build from. Nothing is straight, parallel or plumb from the frame up. From the other comments on this site I've come to the conclusion my frame is twisted opposite to most, my roof is definitely tweaked, but, I haven't had the door issues you have had. That's the issue with low production rates and low cost. Not a Ferrari. People will not be happy if the steel body is not significantly better...

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