hanging a new door- advice

[Jared]

I finally painted my spare door to replace a dented one I had. I am going to let the paint set a little longer (did with spray cans from paintscratch.com, with some wet sanding and polishing it looks real good).

Is there any advice on switching the doors out and adjusting? Any tips would be greatly appreciated.

My old door had been hit, so it wasn't fitting exactly right. I am hoping the new one bolts on and fits right, but just in case....

Thanks

Jared

[esty]

find a friend that can hold the end and raise and lower it as you tighten the 13mm bolts at the front..

or set the rear of the door on something the right height and go from there

[jerry]

i use a floorjack to raise and lower it to the appropriate spot. where i place the door on the jack determines the pivot-point, so to speak, which allows another degree of adjustment relative to the two hinges.

i'm able to do this without assistance using this method. use a cusion to rest it upon.

once you have the door centered appropriately within the opening you can loosen your door-latch mechanism and play with the alignment of the latch and catch.

[uxoman]

This looks like it would make it pretty easy.

http://www.harborfreight.com/cpi/ctaf/displayitem.taf?Itemnumber=40386

[Otis]

I agree with Phil. Uncle Rick broke down and bought the Harbor Freight unit, for his 71 Chevy C30 project, and I went "halve-sies" when I saw that it's worth its weight in gold.

[Pinepig]

I made a sling out of 1 inch webbing from my rock climbing stash. If you just make one big loop and "figure 8" it around the door with it hung around the lower outside corners it'll stay put. Hook it to your cherry picker or make a quick pulley system off the rafters if you lack the engine puller. Works fantastic, you can move the door around almost without effort and it stays where you put it.

[levik]

Not sure if you really need this tool, it's nice to have but...

I do body work for a living and in my 10 or so years in the business never really had a need for a door jig. We usually swuat down and rest the door on our thighs just above the knee. On a door as small & light as a 2002 you might not even need a helper. Do make sure to keep all the extra shims if you have any. Different doors almost never "just fit"

Good luck.

[Otis]

Not sure if you really need this tool, it's nice to have but....

Yeah, I should have clarified -- we were hanging doors on a 71 Chevy C30 and a 78 F-350 -- no small task. The sling idea above sounds interesting -- combined with the engine lift, one rig thereby does the work of two.