Aug 8

The Art of the Door Turnbuckle

Both doors on my Stearns kicked out on the bottom corners significantly. I had to find a before picture because like a dope I didn't take one. This is the 4th car I've owned that we have had to add turnbuckles to. This one was a little trickier because of the window mechanism. Many times you can go corner to corner. It still has to be recessed so the door panel can go back on.

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Aug 8, 2026

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Replies (10)

· Aug 8

While the door panels are off the upholster will use an extraction tool to clean them. I'll do a before and after. We will do the entire interior.

· Aug 8

Where do you source the turnbuckles?

· Aug 8

I've used hardware store turn buckles made for screen doors. Often adding to the length of the rods or shortening and flattening the ends and drilling new holes. It's a very effective fix.

· Aug 8

Peter nailed it. This turnbuckle came from Ace Hardware. Sometimes you need to modify them. Shorten or lenghtn.

· Aug 8

When tightening the turnbuckle does it pull the door in instantly or do you slowly move the metal over days?

· Aug 8

You need to go a little bit at a time. Maybe over the course of 24 hours. Also depends how far you need to go.

· Aug 8

It’s so humid out there now that you could probably steam the doors into a pretzel shape if you wanted.

· Aug 8

It wouldn't hurt to steam them a bit when you are turning the buckle.  I've never seen an issue with doing it gradually and have seen it done a bunch of times.   Two things I can't stand:

1.  Door that don't fit.
2.  Door handle that droop.

· Aug 8

Once you see it. You can't unsee it. My dad pointed this out to me when I was ten. The door handle tells you a lot about the quality of the restoration.

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