Doors won't stay open [1959 100-6]

[PHulst]

I assumed it was a quirk of the cars that the doors weren't designed to stay open but rather always fall closed. It's a major PITA when working on them, and the previous owner states it was never any different for him.
This weekend I was reading the Anderson/Moment book and found out that they are designed to stay open at 45 degrees!

The Piggott book has a great photo of what the prop (?) assembly is supposed to look like, and as far as I know mine appears the same. Photo is below, passenger's side is shown.
PLEASE ignore the cat hair. As the previous owner let the car sit his cats used it as their bed, and cleaning up cat hair is on continual "to do" list. I'm just happy he had blankets on the seats and carpet...

So, if anyone has suggestions on how to keep the door open I'd like to know.

Patrick

 

[Brinkerhoff]

There is a friction disc ( that I don't see ) look at the Moss Motors catalog. As the door opens the nut tightens down on the friction disc (under the funny washer) and holds the door open. Do not lube.

 

[vette]

Patrick, The clasp (spanner in Moss cataloge) that is bolted down with the smaller cap bolt and has its 'ears' around the larger nut is designed to tighten the larger nut as the door is swung open. It is a rather ingenius design and works quite well when adjusted properly. But a Very significant feature is that on the passengers side, the stud that the larger nut is fastened to is a LEFT HAND THREAD. Knowing that, if you observe the action as the door swings open, you will see that the nut is tightened. Again this is a Left Hand Threaded stud. Secret to making the door stay in position at about 45* is in tightening the nut to just the right turns in that the set up it loose with the door closed but tight at about 45*. To readjust the nut, you take off the smaller cap bolt and clasp, give the larger nut the appropriate amount of turns so that it will be fairly snug when the door is opened. Then reinstall the clasp.
The unfortunate thing that happens is that there is a friction disc that wears out below the odd shaped washer. But that can be bought from the usual suppliers. The MORE unfortunate thing is that the stud that the large nut is threaded on will sometimes strip its threads. From over zealous adjustments. If the stud has stripped threads, you must remember that the passenger's side mechanism is Left Hand Threads and the new stud will have to be ordered from a hardware supply house such as FASTENALL and then welded to the bracket bottom plate. They are not available from the Healey sources. The driver's side uses a standard right hand thread stud which can be bought from any local hardware. But it still needs to be welded in place. Inspect the operation of each door and you will see how they work and why the passenger side has opposite threads. Good Luck.

 

[steveg]

In my case, the left-hand threaded nut on the passenger side stripped and all I had to do was get a new left-hand nut. Also replaced the friction discs.

Both doors stay open quite well.

 

[Rob Glasgow]

I think the "door stops" on the big Healey are one of the most marvelous engineering feats I seen on an automobile. Simple and elegant. We all know Gerry Coker as the designer of the Healey, but unfortunately have no idea who came up with the door stops. That engineer deserves some recognition for these marvelous little devices.

 

[oxford]

Hi Patrick
I rebuilt mine using some bakelite. There is some stuff in one of my videos:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=X7nvgxPRtK4
and
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GcQsaCIRIic
Cheers
Matthew

 

[PHulst]

Ah, the friction disc. Thanks as well for the explanations as to how it works. I believe you are correct that the disc is missing - and it's the only part that Moss still sells. I will have to order these, install them and adjust. Thanks for all of the tips!

 

[steveg]

Ah, the friction disc. Thanks as well for the explanations as to how it works. I believe you are correct that the disc is missing - and it's the only part that Moss still sells. I will have to order these, install them and adjust. Thanks for all of the tips!

Moss does still sell the whole right or left assemblies. $75. each

 

[Bob_Spidell]

I think the "door stops" on the big Healey are one of the most marvelous engineering feats I seen on an automobile. Simple and elegant. We all know Gerry Coker as the designer of the Healey, but unfortunately have no idea who came up with the door stops. That engineer deserves some recognition for these marvelous little devices.

Agree, but the stops on the 4-cyl cars are simple but not particularly elegant. They are just a flat, curved arm with a detent of sorts that slides through a couple of spring-loaded 'pinchers' in the open pillar that 'grab' the detent to hold the door open. When opening and closing the doors, they make a popping noise that is a bit unnerving. Note they are critical on the 4-cyl cars as, if they are not installed correctly, the outer front edge of the door panel will put a nice chip in your paint and possibly dent the front wing, and you have to pretty much remove the wing to get to the backside of them. The hinges are, well, simple hinges--like on any old door--not the 'articulating' type found on the later cars with the friction disk. Apparently Healey or Austin recognized the problem and a good engineer improved them significantly on the 6-cyl cars (most likely a 'parts bin solution,' though). The hinges on a 100(-4) have to be installed 'just so' so that the front edge of the door panels clear the rear edge of the front wings on opening and closing (and just barely).

My favorite engineering feat on a Healey is the Laycock de Normanville overdrive (not an Austin or Healey design, of course). Planetary gears had been used before, I believe, but the electro/hydraulic actuating system is remarkable and robust. My BJ8's O/D has nearly 200K miles on it and has been flawless except for a switch which gave up the ghost and a relay which went intermittent on me and I fixed in a motel room in Canada.

 

[John Turney]

If after all that, the door still won't stay open while working on the car, a piece of 2x4 between the door and hinge face will work.

BTW, when these assemblies are working properly, they work better than what's on my wife's 2009 Acura!

 

[gonzo]

Disassembled mine today and found no friction material. Are there any alternatives to what Moss sells? For example something from a hardware store like hard plastic washer(s) or those brass bearings (washers) of similar size / dimensions?

Also looking to replace the shouldered screw that attaches the assembly arm to inner door. The one installed now is all threaded with no shoulder. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks and Happy New Year to all! GONZO

 

[CLEAH]

If after all that, the door still won't stay open while working on the car, a piece of 2x4 between the door and hinge face will work.

We always used a length of clothesline. On one end was a loop that we hooked over an ear of the front knockoff, and the other end we knotted on the door handle. Worked great!

 

[steveg]

Disassembled mine today and found no friction material. Are there any alternatives to what Moss sells? For example something from a hardware store like hard plastic washer(s) or those brass bearings (washers) of similar size / dimensions?

Also looking to replace the shouldered screw that attaches the assembly arm to inner door. The one installed now is all threaded with no shoulder. Any suggestions would be appreciated. Thanks and Happy New Year to all! GONZO

At the auto parts store, they sell various gasket materials, such as heavy paper and cork. Those would probably work. The Moss replacements look like micarta.

 

[Randy Forbes]

On this MKIII, when my work turned into its interior, the first course of action was to get the door-stops to function correctly; I didn't want to rely on a block of wood__actually, I typically use old soup cans, as I'll already be putting screws, assorted hardware, etc. into one and it's readily to hand (and they'll collapse somewhat if you suffer a lapse in judgement and try to close the door, whereas the wood will not). The portion of that garage where the lift was is pretty narrow, so to move from the interior to the front of the car constantly involves swinging the door open or closed.

One (1) of the nuts on this car was stripped too, and I'm thinking it was the driver's side (standard RH thread) because I don't recall having to source a LH threaded nut. I took one of the tallest nuts I could find and chucked it up in a lathe to reproduce the shoulder; it doesn't take much, perhaps a 1/16" to 3/32" to ride inside the spring-plate. Without a lathe, I expect you could accomplish the same feat with a drill press and a file...

No friction disc in this assembly (or the passenger's side) whatsoever!

For their cost (current retail @ $3.49 ea) I had kept a couple on hand, for just such an instance as this!

Fight the urge to apply any lubricant to the surfaces, and clean to remove any residual grease/grime found.

 

[steveg]

The stock shouldered nuts seem to strip easily. I bushed the spring washer and used a lockwasher to keep the friction disc centered. Not sure why the friction disc has such a large hole.

 

[PHulst]

Thanks for the tips gentlemen! I have friction discs on order from Moss with all my other parts. I can't wait to stop having the doors smack me in the back!

 

[gonzo]

Used saddle leather cut to size as friction material and adjusted. Door-stay mechanism now works as designed! Please note that a wavy spring washer fits into the large opening of the friction disk and takes up some of the slack. The days of hopping out of the car before the door slams shut is ended albeit less dramatic. GONZO