Doors

[jmorton]

Is there any difference in size between earlier doors and later doors? I'm finishing up my wife's 69 and the gap in the front is larger than I've seen on other Ghia's. So much larger that I'm not sure if the front of the door is going to seal. I only found 4 holes for anti-rattle buttons and I know the 69 should have 7 so I'm thinking I have the earlier doors. Any ideas?

[Loren]

as far as I know the door size never changed, though the very earliest KG doors are specific for each car since the body number was stamped on them to keep them with the right car, so there might have been some slight differnces, though I have never heard of door swaping issues (correct year for year with an undamaged KG) as far as fit. It is always hard to find the correct door for your car because many of the changes were subtle and finding out what you need when you are not familiar with Ghia doors can be a daunting task. It sounds like you might have the wrong door though I doubt that is your problem. You might want to look in the Big Blue Bently as it gives tips on adjusting the body and hinges to change this gap. There could be shims behind the hinges or it could have been in a fender bender and widened the gap or previous body work was not properly done creating a wider gap. You could also have a door with a vertial crease (caused when the door flew open and the check strap didn't work or was broken) that was filled in with bondo, this crease would widen the gap. Assuming you have a damage free door (I would go over the door with a fine tooth comb and look for damage to be sure) I would look into body issues. You might have a slightly tweaked door jam where the hinges attach to the body or the fender might have been messed with.