Pilot side door not closing all the way
Moderators: GAHorn, Karl Towle, Bruce Fenstermacher
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tailpilot
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2004 4:14 am
Pilot side door not closing all the way
when I close the pax door it sits flush with the fus. but the pilot door does not.....is there a way to fix this? I moved the door stirker all the way in. I can push the door in farther but when I let go it just pops back out. The door stays shut just fine but it just doesnt look right.
Sean
N1745D 1951 170A
N1745D 1951 170A
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Bruce Fenstermacher
- Posts: 10418
- Joined: Tue Apr 23, 2002 11:24 am
Welcome to the wonderful world of the 170. 
When I started with my door you could stick your pinky finger through the gap at the bottom rear of the door yet it opened and closed fine.
There is very little adjustment that can be done. You might be able to slightly shim the hinges away from the fuselage and depending on how tight the hinge screw holes are you can move the door up and down a little.
What I think happens over the years the door gets sprung from the wind catching it and bending it around the door stop or wing strut.
After much study and trial I removed my door and rigged it to a big steal frame. I was then able to use hydraulic jacks to very carefully tweak the door and the hinges. It doesn't take much.
My door now sits about a 1/4 proud at the center leading edge but the rear lower corner is now tucked in much more than it was. As bet I can tell I can now seal the door all the way around which I was not able to do before.
If your door is working well and it doesn't leak I wouldn't fuss with it unless your going to paint the plane which then would be the time to adjust these things.
When I started with my door you could stick your pinky finger through the gap at the bottom rear of the door yet it opened and closed fine.
There is very little adjustment that can be done. You might be able to slightly shim the hinges away from the fuselage and depending on how tight the hinge screw holes are you can move the door up and down a little.
What I think happens over the years the door gets sprung from the wind catching it and bending it around the door stop or wing strut.
After much study and trial I removed my door and rigged it to a big steal frame. I was then able to use hydraulic jacks to very carefully tweak the door and the hinges. It doesn't take much.
My door now sits about a 1/4 proud at the center leading edge but the rear lower corner is now tucked in much more than it was. As bet I can tell I can now seal the door all the way around which I was not able to do before.
If your door is working well and it doesn't leak I wouldn't fuss with it unless your going to paint the plane which then would be the time to adjust these things.
CAUTION - My forum posts may be worth what you paid for them!
Bruce Fenstermacher, Past President, TIC170A
Email: brucefenster at gmail.com
Bruce Fenstermacher, Past President, TIC170A
Email: brucefenster at gmail.com
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GAHorn
- Posts: 21290
- Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2002 8:45 pm
Bruce is correct in that the doors are not made of cast-iron and may warp. Another cause of doors that do not close flush is weatherstrip/doorseals that are too thick.
If you can find a good body-man (from a body shop) he'll probably see the problem. Some newspaper rolled up and strategically placed between the door and the frame, and the door then closed and pressed all-around so as to re-form the door, can assist in re-forming the door to the fuselage. But this is not a procedure to be attempted by the inexperienced or you can quickly make it worse.
One of the real dangers of using that method is that you can overstress the door hinges. They are fragile, and getting hard to find, and expensive when they are found.
The best method is to remove the door and take it to the workbench for adjustment, but that is a tedious, time-consuming process, and you still must be very careful not to force the doorhinges to accept unnecessary stress from an out-of-shape door.
If your good-condition doorseals don't leak....be happy with a door less-than-a-perfect-fit. IMHO.
If you can find a good body-man (from a body shop) he'll probably see the problem. Some newspaper rolled up and strategically placed between the door and the frame, and the door then closed and pressed all-around so as to re-form the door, can assist in re-forming the door to the fuselage. But this is not a procedure to be attempted by the inexperienced or you can quickly make it worse.
One of the real dangers of using that method is that you can overstress the door hinges. They are fragile, and getting hard to find, and expensive when they are found.
The best method is to remove the door and take it to the workbench for adjustment, but that is a tedious, time-consuming process, and you still must be very careful not to force the doorhinges to accept unnecessary stress from an out-of-shape door.
If your good-condition doorseals don't leak....be happy with a door less-than-a-perfect-fit. IMHO.
'53 B-model N146YS SN:25713
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons.
50th Anniversary of Flight Model. Winner-Best Original 170B, 100th Anniversary of Flight Convention.
An originality nut (mostly) for the right reasons.
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tailpilot
- Posts: 82
- Joined: Sat Aug 28, 2004 4:14 am
I think new batteries in my noise cancel headset will fix the door...I am not worried about much air leaking and heck when I am sitting in the plane I cant even tell if the door looks perfect or not.......and if someone notices it while im flying......im either flying too LOW or they just about hit me 
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