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TR2/3/3A TR3A Door latch alignment

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tmc

tmc

Senior Member
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I'm working on installing the door latches/hardware. When I position the striker plate in the holes/"nut plates" provided, my door sticks out more than a 1/4 inch at the back edge when latched. Without the striker plate in there, the doors fit very well, the hinges are right and tight and the door latch assembly can't be "adjusted". The holes in the door jamb/post give some "wriggle" room but nowhere near enough. I got the striker plates from Moss. I can't find the old ones in my parts heap, so can't tell if the new ones are wrong. I'm stumped. Jim Beam and I are going to think about it on the porch for awhile.

Suggestions?
 
I think I may have had the same concern that you have. I later found out that the when the door is closed all the way the catch should be on the back side of the plate. I was thinking it should have been in the hole in the striker plate.
 
I was trying to think of a way to describe this as well as I know that to me it looked like mine wasn't going to close properly either. I think that there was a discussion on here a few months ago about the same thing....I tried to find the thread in a search but couldn't come up with it.

Cheers,
M. Pied Lourd
 
I had that problem on one of my doors. I wound up opening the holes on the b-post for the nuts a little with a die grinder. That only got me so far, since the nuts are still captured from the back side. I then had to grind about 1/16" off the back of the latch plate The latch is chromed brass...so it is at the chrome shop right now getting re-chromed.

I wish i could say it was easier, but it took quite a while to get the perfect fit.

Oh, there is one easy thing that may get yours aligned. The guides on the top and bottom of the latch are meant to be bent around the striker plate to securely position the door when it is closed. Check to make sure these are not binding on the new striker plate...as they may be preventing the full closure of the door. If they move the plate up or down slightly, it may move the plate to a position not allowing full in-out adjustment...because the plate mounting holes are round. Not likely, but possible.

My other door fit fine without any massaging.

John
 
Hi John my driver door does not close right either and if I am understanding your post correctly you made the hole larger in the center of the striker plate so the moving plunger piece of the door mechanism can fall into the latch plate easier? In addition, you exposed some of the inner metal bolt cage by removing a small amount of the actual body tub around the latch holes on the B post to gain more adjustment.
Steve
 
mallard said:
I think I may have had the same concern that you have. I later found out that the when the door is closed all the way the catch should be on the back side of the plate. I was thinking it should have been in the hole in the striker plate.
Click to expand...

So..........what's the rectangular hole in the middle of the striker plate there for? It fits the latch bolt so nicely!
 
CJD said:
I had that problem on one of my doors. I wound up opening the holes on the b-post for the nuts a little with a die grinder. That only got me so far, since the nuts are still captured from the back side. I then had to grind about 1/16" off the back of the latch plate The latch is chromed brass...so it is at the chrome shop right now getting re-chromed.

I wish i could say it was easier, but it took quite a while to get the perfect fit.

Oh, there is one easy thing that may get yours aligned. The guides on the top and bottom of the latch are meant to be bent around the striker plate to securely position the door when it is closed. Check to make sure these are not binding on the new striker plate...as they may be preventing the full closure of the door. If they move the plate up or down slightly, it may move the plate to a position not allowing full in-out adjustment...because the plate mounting holes are round. Not likely, but possible.

My other door fit fine without any massaging.

John
Click to expand...

I'm just glad to see that I'm not the only one that had to "massage" the d*mn thing! Jim Beam and I decided to cool it for a few days on the TR3 project and go fishing instead.
 
I don't know why they don't use the hole for the catch. It would make a lot of sense, as it does fit very nice. The door should have a double click when you shut it all the way. The door latch has the two folded over tabs to keep the door in alignment when driving. Does your door fit when you have the latch pin behind the striker plate?
 
mallard said:
I don't know why they don't use the hole for the catch. It would make a lot of sense, as it does fit very nice. The door should have a double click when you shut it all the way. The door latch has the two folded over tabs to keep the door in alignment when driving. Does your door fit when you have the latch pin behind the striker plate?
Click to expand...

I don't know.....never even crossed my mind to try that! I've sworn off working on the TR for awhile, but I'll check that out when I get back at it.
 
sp53 said:
Hi John my driver door does not close right either and if I am understanding your post correctly you made the hole larger in the center of the striker plate so the moving plunger piece of the door mechanism can fall into the latch plate easier? In addition, you exposed some of the inner metal bolt cage by removing a small amount of the actual body tub around the latch holes on the B post to gain more adjustment.
Steve
Click to expand...

To elaborate, I took the material off the very back of the plate, not the middle hole. When I was finished, the only way you could tell it was different from original would be to hold two strikers right next to each other...and the fact the brass was exposed. If you do this, you'll have to re-chrome to get the silver back.

My door was so far off when I started that I even tried making it fit using the center hole. It was almost exactly off by half the distance between the hole and the inside (or back) face of the striker. I only figured out the door should have a "double click" by getting frustrated and moving to the other door, which fit VERY easily...thank goodness. The oddest thing is that the easy door was the one I had replaced the sill and quarter panel. The hard door had the original sill and quarter. Go figure!?!

Every time I work on the TR I picture some old war vet standing there 50 years ago, smoking his pipe and taking all day to fit a single door...but not really caring in the least that it does. A different day and age!

John
 
Got the latches back from the chrome shop. Here are some pics

cd323f65.jpg


4f98e21d.jpg


cc91fa75.jpg
 
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