RedBolide

Hello everyone! First time poster here. I've been pouring hours into my 1990 Jeep trying to get it looking and running right. One thing that bothers me is the panel gap on the drivers side. The old door was bent downward, so I replaced it with a door from a '93 (which I was told would bolt right up). Sure enough, everything mounted easily, the old door panel fit right on, and the door opens/closes with ease. However, the top front side does not seem to line up properly. The sides and bottom seal perfectly, so I'm a bit surprised that there's so much gap on that one corner. Does anyone have any recommendations on how I can get that gap to seal? Was I wrong to assume a '93 door would fit on a '90. Any help is greatly appreciated!

RedBolide

I am adding some pictures as well to show the gap. Basically, the top rear, bottom rear, and bottom front corners align perfectly, but the top front hangs out a good inch.

jordan96xj

First check to ensure that the side of the upper door hinge that is welded to the body is in good shape. Check to make sure that it's welds are not failing and pulling away from the body.

If the welds are intact, and there is no indication that the body side of the upper hinge is failing. Then it is likely that your upper door hinge, on the door side needs to be adjusted. It is currently too close to the body when closed. You would need to loosen the 3 mounting bolts and move it away from the body (when closed) so that the upper portion of the door sits closer to the body when closed. Those bolts can sometimes be very difficult to get started, because they are rarely touched after being set in position from the factory. Heat can help. Having a few spare torx bits can help. Also, to avoid stripping them it can be helpful to dip the torx bit in valve lapping compound (available from permatex at any auto parts store, it is like liquid sand paper). It helps to keep the bit from slipping/stripping the existing hole.

Ideally, I think the hinges are designed to be adjusted and tightened with a long extension through the fender well when the door is closed. This is why the hinge has holes in it that line up with the bolts when the hinge is in the closed position. But when I adjusted/shimmed mine I was able to get it done without going through the rear of the fender (requiring the fender liner to be removed, etc.