1969 Camaro SS

This transmission jack is the best for installing doors available at Harbor Freight for about $80 I bought mine over 15 years ago for use on the race car than found out how well it worked for installing doors.

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BK, set those hinges up so you can pull the pins-saves a lot of grief! I put those doors on myself without the aid of a lift all the time. Set the car at the right height and balance if off your knee. Once you get used to doing it without help you actually prefer no help. I did some pins and bushings on an 05 Silverado recently, no help, no jack, now those loaded doors are heavy!
 
Bob Hollinshead;2507 said:
BK, set those hinges up so you can pull the pins-saves a lot of grief! I put those doors on myself without the aid of a lift all the time. Set the car at the right height and balance if off your knee. Once you get used to doing it without help you actually prefer no help. I did some pins and bushings on an 05 Silverado recently, no help, no jack, now those loaded doors are heavy!
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I might be to clumsy for this, i see a accident waiting to happen, but then again sometimes extra hands are the accident.
 
Bob Hollinshead;2507 said:
BK, set those hinges up so you can pull the pins-saves a lot of grief! I put those doors on myself without the aid of a lift all the time. Set the car at the right height and balance if off your knee. Once you get used to doing it without help you actually prefer no help. I did some pins and bushings on an 05 Silverado recently, no help, no jack, now those loaded doors are heavy!
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Thanks Bob, I thought I was the only one balancing doors on my knee while installing.:)
 
Ok I set the hinges up as you had suggested Bob, however the dang things set so close to the body I could not get my hands and pins in there.. Trust me I tried.. and then on the bottom hinge, the arm that is there for the assist spring was totally in the way with that contraption..

I have the thing all pulled down AGAIN.. Blasting tomorrow if the sun stays up long enough and then its all going into epoxy.. After that, Im hanging the doors once and for all.. Adjusting them to the quarters and I will paint them on the car fella's.. I aint doing it no if ans or buts about it.. It may be hackery to some of you, but I have had my fill of these stupid doors and crappy hinges..

I say once again, on a mustang its sooooo much easier just installing the damn hinge.. I mean for crying out loud im a big man, with big hands, and they dont fit in little tiny places..

While I appreciate all the advice from you Bob, and I hope you continue to give it to me, this is one time I am going to deter from your advice and do it my way brother..

Owner came by today and said he wanted the window channels blasted as well as the dash, epoxied and filled.. It will not have any warranty for those area's but he understood
 
The spring needs to be out of the lower hinge for the pin to clear, I put the springs in when during the final install. To remove the pins a tap on the end of the pin sith a small hammer then grab it with small needlenose visegrips under the head and wiggle it out. I spend less than two minutes to R&I the door once it's aligned. If the hinges are cocked you might find the pins are binding and making removal difficult, the pins in the upper hinge and lower hinge should be very close to being in alignment with each other. Another thing to consider is all of the bolts need to be snugged up before you crank any of them tight or you might get the hinges out of alignment with each other or bent causing some bind on the pins. These cars are definately a PITA to find tune, the A pillar where the hinges bolt to is angled so if you slide the hinge forward it also requires that you move the door outward and vise-versa. Get the door fitting good without the strikers in place then dial in the strikers and shim them as necessary for proper contact with the latch. Door bumpers also need to be in place, original bumpers are best-some of the aftermarket bumpers have hollow stems that don't retain very well. One thing good about these 1st gen doors is they are fairly stout and you don't see much difference in alignment between a loaded door and a bare shell, I used to add 35lbs of sand bags inside the bare shells to simulate fully assembled weight but I found it's a waste of time.
 
Update

Transmission jack I am liking Rusty.. Looks like I will be getting one of those

Here are a few pics to keep this thing alive..

Threads like these without pics suck!!!! :cool: So without further adieu

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More Pics

The epoxy is not black or grey either one.. I mixed what white and black together I had and came up with this color.. lol :p Im going to order a black gallon kit tomorrow ;)


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Confused!!!

Okay, I have not been working on the camero.. Someone rear ended me and totaled out my truck, and caused me some major back and neck issue's.. Yeah I know sounds cliche but it is what it is..

Finally today I was able to do some work and now I have hit a road block that Im unsure of what the fix is..

The passengers quarter set up perfect... as did the wheel tub.. everything lines up as it should, body lines, striker square hole to the inner structure etc...

Go to the drivers side and nothing fits.. The striker square hole on the new quarter will only fit, if I fit the front of the quarter first.. If I fit the back I cant get it to line up without the force of a mack truck and a extra set of hands which I dont have..
If I fit the front first then the back doesnt want to line up..

Not to mention, no matter which end I fit first the mother scratching body lines on the taillight panel wont fit up to the quater panel..

So I think maybe its the wheel tub.. So I remove it.. Nope the wheel tub is not restricting the quater..

Also if I fit the front first, the filler panel between the glass and trunk doesnt fit up as it should..

Worth metioning.. I have cut off every section of metal that was not allowing the things to fit up flush.. I dont remember it being off when I did the trial fit, but I also probably didnt pay a ton of attention to it either..

the customer has owned the car for 25 years and was second owner.. Im wondering if its been hit or something has been tweaked over the yrs.. He says its never been wrecked as far as he knows.. I dont see where anything has been pulled etc..


The first pic is of the drivers funky quater where the body lines will not match up.. The other is the passengers where it was not a problem
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So what the hell?? Does anyone have any insight?? :mad:
 
Looks like you had it close here.


Have you checked the measurements from the floor up to the rocker panels and tail panel just to see if everything is still sitting straight? Just a thought but it looks like something moved.
 
The only thing different is in the above picture the entire car was off the ground and supported by jack stands, now I have it setting on all 4 wheels resting on the suspension.. I do this for final fit to make sure nothing shifts when you put the car down... Hmmmmm..............
 
I was able to get a better fit for the rear body lines.., however the striker area is still jacked at the moment.. Think I will be able to resolve this when I have time to work on it again..

I called my ole buddies this morning and ask for some tips.. ( Barry and Aaron ), they got me lined out.. thank you both:cool:

Check out the decklid.. It is bowed up.. I know they all have a crown to them, but this one seems bowed up pretty bad. It does not fit up with the quarters at all.
I may have to stand on it to flatten it out..reminds me of Chad standing on a hood I think it was ;)

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Now that looks like a good alignment! It is a Chevy, so you can't expect but so much. LOL

Aaron
 
I will usually try to bend the aftermarket stuff to match the original stuff, but it's hard to tell by the pictures. I know by my experience with aftermarket sheet metal, I would HATE to have to build a whole car out of that junk, like you are doing.

I feel for you, bro.
 
Hell Crash.... That stuff is easy for BK. He does it all in an attached garage and never gets dirty. He never even gets dirt into the house while he is working. LOL

Aaron
 
jcclark;2777 said:
That's because he's not allowed in the house anymore, there's 5 girls living there.
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JC.... Why do you think he works in the garage like that? Sanity is valuable. LOL

Aaron
 
Bondoking;2771 said:
I was able to get a better fit for the rear body lines.., however the striker area is still jacked at the moment.. Think I will be able to resolve this when I have time to work on it again..

I called my ole buddies this morning and ask for some tips.. ( Barry and Aaron ), they got me lined out.. thank you both:cool:

Check out the decklid.. It is bowed up.. I know they all have a crown to them, but this one seems bowed up pretty bad. It does not fit up with the quarters at all.
I may have to stand on it to flatten it out..reminds me of Chad standing on a hood I think it was ;)

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gotta do what you gotta do.
Gotta put the pizza and cheeseburgers to work somehow.
 
I hear ya Chad.. Im back out in the garage today.. been a rough week, Turkey day was bad.. sick running a fever, body aches all over... Not to mention my recent back and neck issues, so today I feel somewhat normal again ( whatever that means ;) ) so back to the grind lol..

Question: Is that bowed up decklid normal for those camero's?? Anyone, anyone?? I dunno.. Id hate to tell him to buy a new one and it be the freakin same.. I dont know what will happen to the inner structure that is exposed on the underside if I stand on it to try and lessen that massive bow it has in it..

Any suggestions besides what Im planning??
 
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