door latching adjustment

[pistonbroke]

Putting the doors back together last night, window motor works fine, finally sussed out how the door handle / lock should go, but when shutting the door it did not go in far enough, the door still needs to go another 6mm. It latched and unlatch fine, I could push into the correct position [ in line with the body work ].
I tried to adjust the striking plate on the b-post and the latch on the door, but the door is still sticking out. The gaps around the door are good, the swage line is good, the door is not sagging, all hinge bolts are tight. Am I missing something? without the striking plate on I can hold the door in place, it would make driving a bit difficult though! Got the MOT pre-booked for end of May.
Any suggestions please.

[Duncan Skye]

Hi.

What you're facing may depend on what work was done to the car - was anything done in the 'B' post area that might affect the positioning of the striking plate? Otherwise there's two possibilities that I can think of:

1. The 'B' post latch isn't moving in far enough. Reason could be some dirt or corrosion debris are preventing the threaded swage plate (held captive inside the 'B' post) from moving through its full range. How about some judicious tapping with a hammer to see if it'll move inward?

2. The striking plate may already be too far in and the door lock is only latching on the first 'notch', leaving it loose. To find out if this is the case, try moving the striking plate out and close the door slowly and deliberately until you hear two clicks as the lock latches then fully secures itself to the striker plate. Once you get two clicks, you can go for a finer adjustment around that datum to get the fit you want.

Let's hope either of those works.

With best wishes,
Duncan, Skye.

[pistonbroke]

Hi.

What you're facing may depend on what work was done to the car - was anything done in the 'B' post area that might affect the positioning of the striking plate? Otherwise there's two possibilities that I can think of:

1. The 'B' post latch isn't moving in far enough. Reason could be some dirt or corrosion debris are preventing the threaded swage plate (held captive inside the 'B' post) from moving through its full range. How about some judicious tapping with a hammer to see if it'll move inward?

2. The striking plate may already be too far in and the door lock is only latching on the first 'notch', leaving it loose. To find out if this is the case, try moving the striking plate out and close the door slowly and deliberately until you hear two clicks as the lock latches then fully secures itself to the striker plate. Once you get two clicks, you can go for a finer adjustment around that datum to get the fit you want.

Let's hope either of those works.

With best wishes,
Duncan, Skye.

Hi Duncan
Your second suggestion was correct, I was so sure that the striking plate had to go futher in that I did not even consider moving it out. Door shuts perfect now. Only have to removed a sheared off bolt holding the chrome window frame into the door "jamb" , then completed.
Cheers
Andy

Hi Duncan

[Duncan Skye]

Hi Andy,

Excellent! That's one job out of the way then. Good luck with the sheared stud - It shouldn't be too difficult to get it out if it sheared as a result of over-tightening, but could present a more interesting challenge if it sheared whilst trying to loosen it. Drop me a note if you're running out of solutions.

With best wishes,
Duncan

[73stagman]

I've just done the passenger side door on my car too! Great job out of the way. Managed to get all the latching working straight away but couldnt get th elock to work inside the car. Now thats fixed just by taking it all apart again cleaning it even more than before followed by a wd40 soaking! Also had to "fix" the door latching arms. The drivers door had a broken spring at the end but I had two for the passenger side both with good springs... twenty minutes later and some careful drilling followed by the purloining of a small nyloc nut and bolt from work and the drivers door can now be re assembled too!

[pistonbroke]

Hi Andy,

Excellent! That's one job out of the way then. Good luck with the sheared stud - It shouldn't be too difficult to get it out if it sheared as a result of over-tightening, but could present a more interesting challenge if it sheared whilst trying to loosen it. Drop me a note if you're running out of solutions.

With best wishes,
Duncan

Hi Duncan
Tried to drill out the remaining stud, it was already sheared off when I got the stag years ago, I just closed the door carefully, but need to sort it now.
Have to get some coated tipped bits and try again this weekend. The trimmer has also finished my seats, picking them up early Sat morning, could do with more time but work gets in the way.
Andy