rear door has fallen

Today I have swopped my solid series 3 sides for sides with windows , when I re fitted the rear door it has fallen by about half an inch and won't shut or lock , any ideas ? Will new hinges fix the problem , the hinges went back into predrilled holes so I'm not sure what happened .

Did you remember to fit the spherical bushes that fit between the upper and lower hinge sections?

I didn't separate the hinges at all I left the lower one in place and supported it whilst someone else unbolted top bolt from side panel , we then put the new panel in and rebolted on in prefixed holes , we never actually separated the hinges

Fitting parts from different landys can be a bit hit and miss, you may have to "bodge it"[ment in the kindest way] Elongate holes for hinge or perhaps a washer between tub and side panel near door gap would tilt panel would tilt enough to get a fit[loosen roof] good luck.

I had similar issues a few years ago when doing the same. It took a day of playing around, packing and moving things around with subtle "Bodges". Its a Land Rover !

Ive bought some new hinges as I can see that the top and bottom part of hinges are touching each other and im assuming that the ball between the 2 parts should be visible , I think that may lift the door about 1/3 of an inch which it needs to clear the frame

New door pins and balls allways help.

Have you fitted the third hinge in the centre ?

If the bottom hinge hasn't been moved and the latch still works your door to tub alignment is OK - could just be the hard top is different. You haven't accidentally left both rubber seals in have you?

There isn't a third hinge , the door has fallen because the lock no longer lines up and bottom of door drags on tub , hopefully hinges will arrive today and I'll update

Not a solution to your problem but a bodgevwhenbthe hinges wear is to cut the ball in half and put a couple of washers between the 2 halves. I have had to do this on one of the front door hinges on my series 2. It makes all the difference.

Peter

Replacement hinge bolts didn't turn up today possibly tomorrow , just a picture to show you how out of line door is , its locked on the seal , it won't even make it to the latch !!

If the door shut before, and the bottom hinge has not been disturbed then I would unbolt the top hinge from the "new" side and with an assistant lift the door into the correct closed position and then push the topnhonge against the sdevto check that the mounting holes line up. (If the door fitted before and you have not disturbed the bottom hinge it has to be the position of the top hinge that is the problem. Until this is sorted a new pin and ball will not help.). When everything is sorted I would fit the third hinge, they are not too expensive and will help to keep the door in line.

Peter

Hinges have arrived , I was wondering whether the weight of the whole door on the bottom hinge has broken the spring , from looking at the new pins and springs it looks as if the springs take the weight of the door and lift it slightly , the door literally needs to lift 2mm to clear the frame , I'll try hinges first and then adjust

OK , so as suggested new hinge pins apart from looking great haven't made any difference , (apologies for doubting experience ) when the door is put position the hinge is about 5 mm out of line with hinge holes , the problem I have is this , if I now drill new holes which terrifies me they will actually make a no. 8 shaped hole and surely this won't hold bolt . Recently spending all my savings on a series seems like a bad idea

Can you not slacken off the hard top and shove it 5mm over to the right. When I put my hard top back on I tightened it down too much creating a similar hinge position issue on that top hinge. How about slacken everything off the hard top so it will move, bolt on door and close, then look to position the hard top and tighten. 5mm is not too much to lose between the various fixings etc.

If the above doesn't work I suppose you could put a small aluminium plate on the inside of the tub covering those holes and fill flat with chemical metal, then re drill when set.

Don't get too down beat - there is always a solution to be found

I think it a height problem rather than a left or right adjustment . I may try and slightly bend the top bracket upwards so that it lifts the door a few mm higher. Thanks for the advice , i would have thought that the problem with moving the hard top to the left or right is that the bolts that then attach the top of rear panels to the bottom of the roof won't line up

neilcmusic said:

I think it a height problem rather than a left or right adjustment . I may try and slightly bend the top bracket upwards so that it lifts the door a few mm higher. Thanks for the advice , i would have thought that the problem with moving the hard top to the left or right is that the bolts that then attach the top of rear panels to the bottom of the roof won't line up

Click to expand...

There is normally quite a bit of give and take there at the waste line fixings but difficult to tell with your situation without more photos.
I fitted a new hard top to tub seals on mine which meant I needed to compress them a fair bit when tightening down so that the hinges fitted, then needed to slacken off one side a bit... And so on. I assume you still have a seal fitted between the hard top and the cappings. This can account for a about a cm too.
I suppose your hard top may have got a bit mis-shaped. They're a bit rickety like old weak garden sheds when not fitted and might have got sprained at some point affecting things marginally.

I've sort of solved the problem , realised that top and bottom rubber seals have perished so have probably lost about 7mm in height ? I will re seal with sealant , I have now removed the door seal that screws to back of floor and that 2 mm allows me to close the door , however it still misses the latch so I am going to drill a slight oval out of door latch and lower it slightly , I will then somehow reattach the door seal so its face hits door but doesn't have metal lip that stops door closing , not perfect but it works for me and as I'm discovering there is no right or wrong answer to series maintenance , as long as its safe and legal.

Good stuff. I don't think the proper seals were expensive, you may find sealant just squashed out and doesn't give you the clearance you need.