The Triumph Dolomite Club - Discussion Forum

I've been looking at the alignment of my doors and sills, and they are not right.

All the shut lines are acceptable, and the front and rear doors meet OK in the middle, and form a gentle curve from front to back.

The front of the front door and the rear of the rear door meet the sill OK. However, in the center of the sills, the doors are a little way out from the sills, similar each side.

The sills are replacements I think, and are straight, which I know is not as it should be.

Can anyone please help me with a single measurement please? With the driver's door open, what is the distance from the bottom of the 'B' post to the front corner of the rear door on your car? Perhaps a confirmation from the passenger side would be helpful.

This measurement will let me know where my problem lies.

Thanks in advance,
Peter.

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1978 Dolomite Sprint - Inca

you have two issues, firstly BL were not know for their quality control when it came to door gaps and also the fact you have replacement sills fitted, you'll be very lucky to get a perfect gap without lots of fettling and work.

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Some people are like Slinky's, they serve no real purpose in life but bring a smile to your face when you push them down the stairs.

As TrustNo1 says the shutlines on a Dolly can be atrocious. The side I repaired lines up better than the side BL built.

A radical and risky solution is to do what BL did on the production line, bend the door bottom and hit it with a hammer till it lines up. I had to do this with my drivers door because the bottom of door shell had rotted away and I had to weld a replacement on. When I test fitted it didn't quite line up and took some manipulation to get it right.

Personally I would live with it, too easy to f**k things up when you start bashing metal.

Thanks guys for your replies.
I know that the original build quality left a bit to be desired. I have already aligned all the doors along their length, including with a leather hammer through a couple of carpet tiles.

The profile of all four of my doors is now pretty constant throughout their length, but still the error stays.

The gap is several mm at the centre of the sill. I have looked at the photographs of James467’s replacement of sills, and I have scaled the photograph so the sill profiles are correct in mm.
I estimate the lower step on the sill to be somewhere between 24-28 mm at best guess.
My lower steps are around 20mm.

In addition, the edge of my sills where they turn down has a much larger radius than necessary, which makes the gap look worse.

I am now confident that my doors are OK, and the sills need a lot of work. - Still, I don’t think I will be going anywhere soon!

Peter

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1978 Dolomite Sprint - Inca

I am still weighing up my options with my sills, and I am quite prepared to be aggressive with the metalwork.

However, I still need one crucial dimension.

I need the width of the outer step of the sill, immediately below the door edges. The dimension needs to be at the sill centre, at the rear of the front door. Somewhere between 20-30mm I guess.

This dimension is not available in the manuals, nor by googling. It needs to be taken off a real dolomite with good door alignment.

If one or more of you could measure this step on your own dolomites, I would be very grateful. This is exactly the sort of thing a member’s forum is good for.

Thanks, Peter.

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1978 Dolomite Sprint - Inca

Im in the workshop tommorow morning, so can check. My car has its original sills.

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1970 Triumph 2000 Estate w/ RV8
1980 Triumph Dolomite Sprint
2003 Holden Ss Ute
1969 Dodge Charger
1973 Triumph Stag
1961 Standard Atlas

If you want a second measurement, I can check tomorrow too. My car still has its original sills and the door alignment is pretty good.

Roger440 and GlenM,

Yes, thanks to you both for your kind offer.

The measurement will tell me for sure where the discrepancy lies with my car.

Look forward to hearing from you both.

Peter.

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1978 Dolomite Sprint - Inca

Mine is 21/22mm viewed directly from above. This is just forward of where the B post attaches to the sill. I checked the same point in the back door area, ie just past the B pillar section and its 20/21mm.

All original sills, pillars etc.

Hope that helps

As an aside, the chap accross the road from me has a one owner low miles never welded spring. On the right hand side the door, sill and front wing alignment are appaling.

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1970 Triumph 2000 Estate w/ RV8
1980 Triumph Dolomite Sprint
2003 Holden Ss Ute
1969 Dodge Charger
1973 Triumph Stag
1961 Standard Atlas

Thanks for that information, extremely useful. I can now reassess my sill/door alignment.

Peter

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1978 Dolomite Sprint - Inca