Door adjustment?

I'm kind of surprised, because my doors fit pretty well before paint, but as I'm putting the rubber back on I see that I have a problem with the side doors. (I don't think the shop did anything. We left the doors on for paint, because I didn't want to have to adjust them after it was done.) The front side door has a bigger gap at the top than the bottom, and when I go to close them the two doors are rubbing (and the gap needs to be uniform top to bottom anyway).

I did a thread search but came up empty. I've played around with the hinges a little, and I could get them to go up and down, but the door doesn't seem to adjust sideways (need to close the gap of the upper part of the door).

I know there has to be a way to adjust this, but with new paint I'm being extremely careful. Any suggestions?

when I put my 69 back together it took days to get the doors right. If things aren't going right walk away for a while (it helps)

"If things aren't going right walk away for a while (it helps)"

I did just that tonight!

Doni,
The left door is perfect! Both doors are fine with the top to bottom height, but the one on the right is slightly leaning to the left - so the top gap on the right (towards the front of the van) is wider than at the bottom. Conversely the door's center seam (to my left looking at it) is narrower at the to the top (actually it's just hitting the left door when almost closed) than at the bottom. Can you picture it?

I didn't notice your numbers initially, so let me try it again!

The left door is perfect! Both doors are fine with the top to bottom height, but the one on the right is slightly leaning to the left - so the top gap on the right (4) (towards the front of the van) is wider than at the bottom (5). Conversely the door's center seam (to my left looking at it) is narrower at the to the top (2) (actually it's just hitting the left door when almost closed) than at the bottom (1).

im having fun trying to line my 67 up to

If the front side door is leaning to the left, the top front gap should be smaller not bigger. The top rear gap shoud be bigger since thats the end sagging. What you've said so far contradicts that. A shim between the upper hinge and body should bring it back in line. Also check to be sure your hinge pins arent worn out.

"BUT a painter leaning on an open door surely could cause the #2 gap to get closer and the #4 gap to be wider than the #5 gap. So is that what you got, the Right Door leaning onto the Left Door? And how about the hinges,,,,are they sloppy?"

Doni, you've read it right. Could be the guy did just as you suggest. The hinges are not sloppy at all (but maybe the top one got bent ever so slightly).

"If the front side door is leaning to the left, the top front gap should be smaller not bigger. The top rear gap shoud be bigger since thats the end sagging. What you've said so far contradicts that. A shim between the upper hinge and body should bring it back in line. Also check to be sure your hinge pins arent worn out."

Tim, I must not have described it very well, because the gap is larger on the top right of the door and smaller on the top left. And just the opposite for each side on the bottom. The top hinge looks like it's tight against the body (towards the front). I would think it will need to move towards the front of the van to take up that slack, but there's no room to move. I guess the alternative is messing with the left door, and moving those hinges towards the rear.

ARGHHHHH!!!! I would have done all of this before paint if I knew it was going to be a problem!

I haven't messed with Es, so I may be way off base here.
What you want is the top of the front side door to move forward, right?
There are 2 ways to try this. Since this is fresh paint, you want to go slow and easy, working up to more pressure. It's a good idea to duct tape rags on the tools too.
First is to grab a 2X4 and with the door open a few inches, use the 2X4 as a lever to pry up on the bottom of the door at the furthest point from the hinges. This will force the top gap tighter. It may also force the bottom back, so EASY DOES IT!!! You can try using a padded 2X4 and a floor jack to lift that corner too, but the hand method has a better feel.
Another way is to find a big C clamp or another way to reach inside the door and around the hinge pillar and apply pressure to the outside of the top hinge inside the door and pillar. Put on a good pressure to it, then bang the area with a rubber mallet so it will take a set. Metal tends to spring back, so the blows will make it 'adjust' more than simply applying the pressure.
Good Luck!

"So how much difference is there between sides,,,,,,like a normal gap would be 1/8" all around. " I haven't measured it, and I'm not home right now.

"What you want is the top of the front side door to move forward, right?"
Rod, you are correct. Your method with the padded 2X4 sounds like something worth trying. A 1/8" change is probably all I need.

Thanks to all who have responded!

Funny story that comes to mind. When I got my '66 A100 35 years ago the front side door had been clipped a little by something. The door itself wasn't damaged too bad but the top hinge was badly bent back towards the rear and as such the door wouldn't open more than a couple of inches. I was working consruction at the time and my buddy and I took a bucket loader and positioned the front corner edge of the bucket against the hinge, and then slowly accelerated the loader. It pushed my van kind of sideways about 50 feet across the shop yard, but when we were done the hinge was straight and the door worked fine. Of course one slip of that bucket and it could have meant disaster, but it all worked out. I didn't even need to adjust the hinge at all when we were done! Redneck ingenuity at it's finest.

Have to say it's lot easier having someone help also

Dodge hinges are riveted to the door, bolted to the body.
Are Gs and Es different?

same Rod for E's.

I noticed the Shambulance door pillars are distorted, and need a little pulling back into line to close gaps. I am interested in the use of shims though... I don't know how a person woud get a shim in there... I'm ready to saw my pillars open and repair / align them.

If you aren't working with fresh paint, you can use all sorts of things.
To move strong stuff around (door pillars), you can use a solid point and a come-along to pull. To push, they have port-a-powers. Block up against the opposite side the full length (spread the load), then push against a small section of what you need to move. A 2X4 and a 2 pound sledge can also move things around, just try not to make it worse!
I doubt a shim will work well for these vans. They would have to be the same footprint as the hinge and serrated to prevent movement.

For a look at how it used to be done, read through this
http://www.imperialclub.com/Repair/Lit/Master/025/cover.htm

It covers an older model with more adjustments, but will give you an idea of how to fit things.

Are the Front doors adjustable on the E100? Mine are sagging quite a bit so that the latch hits low.

I can get a half inch of play. Which woud be enough to get clean engagment. Looks to come from the attatch point of the hinge to the body and from hinge to door. Very little if any at the pin. Hinge to body has bolts but is also welded. Hinge to door looks to be rivets.

Front doors were shimmed from the factory so yes. As far as the side door dillema,you may try a shim on the opposite hinge,opposite side of course,to get the desired result. A tack weld will also hold the shim in place.

I tried the 2X4 last night, but couldn't get anything to budge. I'll admit I was a bit gentle, at least for now. I decided to glue the door rubbers back on and see if that makes any difference. Probably not, but worth a try. If not I'll get a little more aggressive with the 2X4.