Improving the Fit of the Door.

I spent part of today wiping the grime off of 9800B's belly and gear.
Once I got up to speed, I started looking at the door again.
I think this door has suffered nearly every indignity. Perhaps the wind caught it and slammed it open against the stops too many times, bending the hinge arm. It appears to be repaired.
Then also the inflatable door seal may have forced the door out so many times it is sprung, or maybe it was added to improve the door seal after the wind damage.
Peter also thought the door was pulled shut without releasing the prop rod. bending the hinge in an other direction.
Maybe all the above and more.
The hinges are attached to the fuselage thru what appears to be a wood frame that lays along the steel tube? It's behind some nice interior treatment I'm reluctant to tear out until I have no other options.
The 14-19-3A and Vikings have a simpler and stronger hinge, just like any Piper Cherokee. :roll: Oh well, I got what I got, so I got to live with it.
 
I looked at a 14-19-3 door that I salvaged from a wreck, and it didnt have a rod on the front. I did notice that it has flush hinges, and an early Viking door that I have has the external hinges like the Cruisair and early Cruismasters. I wonder why they went backwards in the design?. The -3 door closed like a bank vault , real tight. I wish my Cruisair door was half as snug.____Grant.
 
The continuing saga..
Although Columbia is only a week away, I removed the door from 9800B today. :?
With the help of my wife Marilyn, I took off the door, pulled off some weatherstripping, re-installed the door, removed it again, pulled back the interior fabric from the bottom front corner, and removed some more weatherstripping and removed a lot of clear sealant that held the door away at the corners and the bottom, re-installed the door, removed the door, removed the lower hinge from the door, made a shim to hold the hinge 'bullet' away from the door (hold the door in closer to the fuselage)
Then re-installed the door and fit a couple of nested angles of aluminum to the lower front corner of the door, that slips around the steel door frame tube as the door is closed, to hold the door in tight to the fuse at the lower corner. The lower front corner gets pulled away from the fuselage @ about 120 MPH, so this should hold it in.
Removed the door again to fabricate and install this part. (It fits well!)
Now the door fits a lot better, but not perfect. It's still low and loose at the back. With the inflatable seal removed you can look out thru the gaps. :shock:
I would like to re-position the main and lower door latch plates, but I need to start putting it back together and verify that it works good before next Friday. :!:
 
More door fitting:
Today we fit the weather stripping after glueing the interior fabric back to the door.
Test flight results were very satisfying, the door stayed in place, and the plane actually flew faster!
Maybe 5 MPH?
Something else; I had noticed the right flap has additional shims added to the 'up stops', so the right flap trailing edge is about 1/2" low.
Now the plane constantly tries to fly right wing high. It's especially noticeable when flying faster, like 170MPH.
I think the flap had been trimmed due to the effects of the door problems?
I still have room for improvement at the back and bottom of the door, but now it's actually pretty good.
 
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