AD door fit (or not fit)

[Russell Ashley]

I've been meaning to tell this story but I didn't want to hook on to someone else's thread. When I saw another post today where someone said the gap around an AD door should be 1/8th I decided this would be a good time. This is a true story. My uncle was a farmer down in south Georgia and back in the forties and fifties he always had a black AD. He traded every two or three years and they were always black with no extras. He traded his early fifties AD for a 54 or 551st. I just remember that it had that style grill. I was visiting my Grand parents one summer and my uncle and aunt came over in the new truck. My grand dad mentioned the new truck and my aunt said " I don't like this new truck, I wish we had the old one back. I get wet in this one when it rains and I can look up and see light between the cab and door when the door is closed".
This is a true story. I think about this when I read about the problems of getting door gaps set in an AD or when someone says that after market parts don't fit well.

[Advanced Design]

Cool story! Apparently they weren't very good new.

We have a 49 that Grandpa bought new. Farm planting truck that my uncle has always been very picky about. Doors gap and close decent on it probably in part from my Uncles "How to close a door" lessons. If you ever slammed that door too hard, you got a hands on lesson. Looking back it is funny. And to this day, it really bugs me when someone slams a door too hard on one of my vehicles.

[MARTINSR]

When you talk about fit and finish on cars just a few years ago, they were atrocious compared to even the cheapest piece of crap of today. I work with late model cars every day and the fit on these panels is amazing, let alone the fact that they often have no adjustment! There is a 6mm bolt going through a 6mm hole on the hinge, that is it baby!

I took these photos of a virgin 66 Pontiac and the next batch from my buddies virgin '69 Camaro to show how these cars were built. This is all original stuff boys, the way it came right off the line at the plant just a few miles from my home for the Pontiac.

But check out this stuff!

[MARTINSR]

Yes they painted over the latches.

[Russell Ashley]

Funny how we didn't notice bad gaps back then. They all looked beautiful to me when they were new. We also accepted that they would rust out, something that we would not accept now.
It's a coincidence that you showed an orange 69 Camaro, my son is finishing up an orange 69 Camaro for his wife now. The plan is to have it done for a show on the 11th of this month.

And by the way, in my original post about the AD door fit, I don't know if it just needed adjustment or really didn't fit well. I just think of the story when I read about poor fitting parts.

[mr48chev]

AD cabs tweak easy if you get in the least little fender bender from my own experience.

I went out and looked at my 51 1-1/2 ton a minute ago thinking that the doors fit pretty good, NOT.