Door latches

[57_BN4]

I need some help with the alignment of the door latches as mine don't seem to have enough adjustment to get them to close flush. Either I need to slot the holes in the body and move the striker outward or I need to cut-n-shut the bracket that holds the latch in the door to move it closer to the inner side.


Note the approx half inch gap between the latch mechanism and the inner door frame. Is this normal?

The gap is caused by the length of the bracket legs which I could cut and weld to bring the latch closer to the (table in this pic).

Thoughts please?

Andy.

 

[British_Recovery]

You could add some washers as shims between the bracket and the latch - use longer screws and open up the slot as needed. Bob

 

[Keith_M]

Andy,
I had a similar problem until I realized that when fully shut the latching mechanism is supposed to go into the round hole on the striker piece. The little ledge is just a secondary safety catch.

Once I realized this, I had plenty of room to adjust the striker plate to get the door flush. Is that possibly your problem?

Keith

 

[57_BN4]

The problem I'm having is that my striker on the shut pillar is adjusted outward as far as it will go but the 'shut' position is with the door too far inward. I can't move it out by moving the striker as would be the normal way because there is no more adjustment left.

The curious thing is that it has been like this for the last 50 odd years...

I'd appreciate if somebody could post up a pic of their door latch showing the gap or lack thereof so I can hopefully understand what is not normal on my setup.

Andy.

 

[John Turney]

Here's mine:

 

[healeyblue]

Like John mine also have that gap. My doors were able to adjust and the doors are original and needed no rust repair and the shut pillars are also original. I did need to enlarge the holes in the shut face aluminum panels to allow enough adjustment. I also made the mistake of not realizing in which notch the door needed to fully close into. After I figured out the pin wasn't going all the way into the hole the adjustment went fairly easy.

Jim

 

[healeyblue]

Here is the striker side so you can compare how mine are adjusted in relation to the door seal edge, and how you have yours adjusted.

JIM

 

[57_BN4]

Thanks guys for the pics.

Lord knows how they assembled these cars so quickly. I spent nearly a day faffing about with the door latches and finally got the RH one to shut nicely after I slotted the holes holding the latch bracket onto the door. The issue wasn't so much that the latch was too far in but that the dovetail shape of the striker wasn't able to engage properly because the latch it was about 1/8" too far forward in the door. The dovetail is much tighter on the replacement latches than the original ones which explains why it suddenly didn't close properly.

Jim- how are your weather strip seals mating up to the door? Mine are only vaguely interested in the door, it seems the shape of the door frame is quite different to the seal track orientations. The shut pillar seal touches the door ok at the top and is about 1/2" clear of it at the bottom. The lower seal I can't fit because then the door won't shut as it is too thick at the front. The hinge pillar seal gently nudges the door frame but not really enough to provide a seal. The shut pillar seal also tries to hook in behind the door trim panel as the door opens because the trim is very slightly bigger than the door frame. Were they really this crappy when new...?

Andy.

 

[healeyblue]

Andy
I assume you have the outer door panel on correct. The seals seal against the door panel so without them they may not touch the door. When I was fitting my seals I had the seals in backward (the open end facing away from the door opening). This made it almost impossible to close the door. I had to swap seals left to right (with the open end of the seal facing the interior of the car) and then the doors shut nicely. It seems like the seals are touching the door panels all the way around. The shut panel verticle seal is probably the loosest. Another problem I had with the seals not fitting well (and contributed to the very tight clearance to the doors) was the reproduction shut face aluminum panels that fit along the rockers. They were not sitting completely flush with the surface of the inner rocker by about a 1/4 an inch. I had to remove one screw at a time and use a block of wood and pound the back side of the aluminum panel flush with the inner rocker, then put each screw back in to hold the panel flush.

While I don't know if the cars were this crappy when they were new, I can tell you the build quality is definitely not up to Porsche standards (I have restored quite a few Porsches). But I suppose you had to cut some corners back in the day if you were to mass produce cars. The american cars from this time frame were equally crappy in build quaility, they just were not trying to work in such a small package, our cars were big fat cruisers.
Jim

 

[57_BN4]

Hi Jim,

They do fit slightly better with the trim panel on but not by much. I have the 'hook' towards the middle of the door and the shut pillar seal hooks in behind the trim panel as the door shuts. I tried the lower seal without the aluminum trim plate installed and it is only marginally better- still kicks the front of the door out at the bottom. There is no evidence of door seals since at least the mid 1070s because the lower trim plates were remade in stainless steel with no holes in them. Must be time to start interviewing things with the knockoff hammer. Andy.