Did the body flex when I cut the frame rails out of my TA?

[Schroeder]

Hey guys, I have a question on body flex on my 77 firebird TA. I recently cut out the frame rails on my 77 TA and replaced them wit home made tubular ones. I cut out the inner wheel tubs too because I am mini tubing the car. The tubs and rails were not out at the same time. I had bracing inside the car made out of tubing. the tubes go from a to b pillar and were connected width-wise across the car too. The DS door has been open for months because I had the door panel on and the window crank. Just so happened the window crank came in right on the tubing braces inside so it has been unable to close.


I took the crank off today and the door will not close. prior to this project the door did close. Now it's not even close. The door tries going down. I was pushing on it the door skin popped in for a second, and the door still would not close! Striker looks to be 3/8" - 1/2" lower than the door latch. The car was supported on the front subframe, rear rocker panels because the frame rails were cut out, and on the trunk pan supports at times. The rear window and windshield are in. Car has hurst t-tops. T-tops are in. I find it hard to believe the car flexed so much. The striker does appear to be moved downward, but that could be from the last time the doors were aligned. The striker is tight, but maybe I did bump it hard in the last months and force it to slide down.


Does anyone have a good way to check and double check to make sure everything is still square? I need to redo the quarters, trunk, and do a roof swap. With all that work coming up I need to make sure I'm currently sitting in a good spot. Thanks.

[pro67coupe]

Is it sagging from the front hinge from being open so long?

[raustinss]

I'd say it certainly did from what youre describing

[Schroeder]

Is it sagging from the front hinge from being open so long?

No, the problem is it seemed the body was sagging or that the door had gone up! The door wanted to close but the striker was too far down as if the body had fallen. I took measurements from a forward point on the upper a pillars to a rearward point on the lower quarter/ rocker on both sides of the car. I also did this with a high point on the b pilot to the front point of the rocker and door jamb. On both sides of the car these crossed measurements were within 1/8".

The striker would not move by hand or even when tapped with a hammer but when I put a wrench on the nut it moved effortlessly so I'm thinking I may have bumped it with a tool over the past several month climbing in and out of the car! Oops!

However this discussion brought up N important topic on another forum: how should I be fitting body panels? Do I need to leave the doors on to do the quarters? I see pics on Detroit speeds website and on other places that show the car as a shell without doors being fitted for quarters. Do I need the doors on to get the body lines right or will they line up for the most part by dropping right in place onto the rockers and other structural metal?

[csouth]

May sound like a stupid question, but is this a T-Top car?

[BMR Sales]

I want to see how you replaced the Frame Rails with Tubular Steel

[dhutton]

I want to see how you replaced the Frame Rails with Tubular Steel

X2. Those frame rails were an integral part of the unibody. What did you do with the torque boxes? Second gen doors are incredibly heavy, they put a lot of force on the A pillar. Are your door hinges and bushings in good shape?

Don