tah

I'm doing bodywork to my 72 240 and have a question. One of the PO's had a paint job which included a patch panel into the passenger quarter panel, meets the door opening - rear edge. After taking out the Bondo I discovered the reason for about 3/8" being filled. the body shop (I'm using this term very loosely) fit the patch poorly. The back edge was brazed into the existing metal about 1/4" higher then the existing metal. Then the front edge (which was low) was filled in to meet the door skin, also LOTS of filler.

The question I have is getting the door aligned. The height is fine as it meets the body perfectly down to the waistline where the patch starts. Then the door begins to be higher than the body down to the rocker where the height difference is substantial (ok height at rocker but way high just before). I measured both sides of the car inside the door openings and found no discrepancies to account for this height difference. Thought for sure they had mounted the patch piece too shallow, but the measurements don't support that thought.

I'm thinking that if I adjust the door to "make up" the height difference at the bottom, the alignment at the top 1/3 which is now fine will be thrown off. Anyone have input/experience with this issue? Could the door be "sprung"?

theramz

It could be that the rocker panel was bent down or the quarter panel was pushed up in the crash. I would get the car on a real flat surface and take stratigic height measurements around the car and compare each side to see what is off.