Pontiac Firebird 1967-2002 - door rubs fender

when i open my drivers door it rubs the fender a bit it squeekes and has rubbed off the paint about 1/3 rd of the way down the edge of the door panel....the door panel is kinda loose right now i have double sided tape, this only works for a few days....on days when its warm out it gets really bad i need to reach my arm outside and hold the door panel while i open it...its dark right now so i cant take pics but i'll try to take some so you can see what im talking about....so anywho who do i fix this and what do i do about the area where the paint is scratched off

hmmmmm, this usually happens when the car is in an accident and the front bumper/fender gets pushed back some. Depending on how much more gap you need one quick fix is to loosen the bolts on the top of the fender and pull the fender toward the front of the car (putting your hand on the back of the fender with the door open and pull) Then while your pulling tighten the bolts up real tight with a ratchet. If you only need a little room so your door will open without touching the fender then that should work for you. If you need much more room then that then you got some body work to do.

i dunno its weird....like the door panel is loose , like it should be tighter against the door frame....hence me wedging some double sided tape inside of it

I think id have to see it. Too hard to tell over email.

I have the same problem on my car. I just loosened the bolt and pulled the fender out some to widen the gap. Still missing some paint though.

ok well i froze my ass off out side with a flaslight and cell phone to take pics except when i try to upload them here i get a error message saying its to big or something...wtf it is a little cell phone pic?
i'll try the loosening fender bolt deal when we get a break in the weather

and should i even try to mess with touch up paint?

and should i even try to mess with touch up paint?

I would probably touch it up if it was mine. It depends how bad the paint is now. If its really chipping off it may have to be repainted. I would at least touch it up BUT dont do it till you fix the problem!

I had the same issue. I think it expands and contracts when really hot or really cold out.

so you ever do anything to try and fix it.....you gotta see mine in person to understand i guess...i lightly press on the outside panel , the front side toward front fender, and it woobles back and forth

Take your car to the dealer ( I work at one ). I spoke with the rep he made a call to another one. This is something that they will fix. The skin is separating from the door. They can fix it.

i did, but they said thats something for their body shop, and at this time the body shop is closed indefinatly because nobody works in it / everybody quit...

ok i know this thread is getting old now, but i was just at the dealership where i got my car cause they need to fix my driverside power window...low and behold they have a formula in the show room, silver, ram air, convertable ( makes me wish i had waited on my purchase) i give it the typical "god damn it i could kick myself for not waiting" routine as i walk around it. i get to the driver side and the door panel rubs the fender, has the same scar as mine, exactly the same WTF !! the saleman said i should check and see if there was a recall or anything for this. anybody know anything about this?
...i made an appointment to have it checked out' hopefully fixed

I'm telling you just dont even mess with it and just pull your fender out some and forget all about the door panel. My passenger door on my 99 WS6 was rubbing also and i just did that and problem solved. I'm not around my car and i wont be for quite some time otherwise i would take a look at mine to try to help you out more but if you just need a little room just move the fender and problem solved. Good luck hope you get it taken care of.

wow, thats retarded, my drivers side door does the same thing and makes a squeak when i open the door... i always thought that my previous owner just got into a tiny fender bender and never told me but maybe its just common for birds... idk?

I guess this thred is "reassuring" my ta is doing the same thing all of a sudden on the ps door. I have to push in on the door a little to keep it from binding against the fender. Soon as I get home I'll see about moving the fender forward.

loosen nthe bolts pull it out...open and close ur door for clearance.... when u tighten it down... if clearance becomes an issue again... add a washer or something

i had to do it to the bottum bolt on my 89.... added two washers... then the fender fit 100% perfect and the door shut fine

the fender doesnt need adjusting, the outside door panel is loose. maybe one of the other folks with the same problem cam explain it better then me
when i have my window down i cant even open my door cause of the way the window flexes the door
if the dealer doesnt fix this and either put on a new panal or do one hell of a job repainting i dont know what im gonna do :(

I mentioned in an earlier reply they know about this and they will fix it. My rep told me to take it to a body shop and have it fixed. If your dealer does not have a body shop they can sublet the work out to a local body shop. Do not just adjust the fender, the panel helps the window seal at the top by pushing in on the glass. You do not have to replace the panel. There is a bonding agent called SMC that is used to bond body panels that will fix it. They say to remove the door to do the repair but it is easier to remove the fender. Pull the panel out slightly, apply the SMC ( it comes in a 2 part caulk tube ) into the gap. Use some clamps, the wood working type. Put some soft towels or cloth in the jaws and clamp the panel to the door. Let it sit over night. Use some touch-up paint on the area, which will not be seen unless the door is open. The next day reassemble the car and you are done.

i made an apointment to have it checked out/ fixed so hopefully that will be that
there was never a recall on it?

I was told it's not a recall. Because they can't tell which cars it will happen to ( build dates, batch #, VIN #, etc). But they know it is happening and will take care of it.

Sorry to revive an old thread but my car just started doing this and it is taking paint off pretty bad. Where are the bolts at to adjust the fender?

You sure that you haven't pulled any "Dukes of Hazard" stunts lately?

Where are the fender screws at? How do you adjust them again?

my car does the same thing, but mine is from running off the road.and its worse in hot weather. us damn women drivers. im going to try what ya'll said

My car does it too now, but i'm sure its related to the bent license plate and the cracked front bumper i now have. It seems that someone ran in to the front of my car and decided to just leave. :mad: Some people can be so nice. Theres nothing like causing $500 in damage and then leaving :eyes:

Just an update I had my "skin" glued back on for $50 at a body shop around the corner, guy is friends with my father in law, so I'm guessing he cut me a deal. He got it to clamp up without taking the fender or door off. Touched it up with paint and it is good as new

Just an update I had my "skin" glued back on for $50 at a body shop around the corner, guy is friends with my father in law, so I'm guessing he cut me a deal. He got it to clamp up without taking the fender or door off. Touched it up with paint and it is good as new

That's good to hear. I'm glad it worked out for you.

ok well i froze my ass off out side with a flaslight and cell phone to take pics except when i try to upload them here i get a error message saying its to big or something...wtf it is a little cell phone pic?
i'll try the loosening fender bolt deal when we get a break in the weather

LOL! :jest: "....froze my ass off outside with a flashlight...." wish we had that climate here. I'm running the freaking A/C right now! (Houston)

[QUOTE=anotherreject04]when i open my drivers door it rubs the fender a bit it squeekes and has rubbed off the paint about 1/3 rd of the way down the edge of the door panel....the door panel is kinda loose right now i have ......Snip>>

I have the same problem but I know what did it. I took off kind of slowly but after realizing either my wife or kid left the door ajar. I figured I was going slow enough to where I could break gently and it would just open a little more but noooooooooo! >insert noise here< donk! kapank!!! :bang: It sure opened up alright....full force! It opened so hard :cry: that it came back and slammed shut! At the same time I was just waiting for the window to either shatter or break in half. Upon inspection by opening the door I hear this "creeeeeK" meaning it rubbed against :( the fender chipping about a quarter sized piece of paint. :emb:

thats wierd my door does that too, but only when its really hot and its been out in the sun all day

Just an update I had my "skin" glued back on for $50 at a body shop around the corner, guy is friends with my father in law, so I'm guessing he cut me a deal. He got it to clamp up without taking the fender or door off. Touched it up with paint and it is good as new


DAMMIT...it came off again. WTF?? Guy said he prol has to take the door off to get enough glue in there, also sai dti might be a hinge problem if the door is sagging. Taking it back Sat for another look-see

Just to update, my skin was peeling off because the bolt holding on the fender right under the windshield on the front actually was stripped and came loose. This caused my front fender to sag INTO the door and thus they made contact and ripped the skin off the door. So all along it was a stripped bolt in the front fender causing my headaches. New bolt and the fender pulled out and all is better.,