Door fitting help.

Post Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:53 pm

Ever since I got my car back from painting, the doors haven't closed as nicely as they used to. When I have the doors fit nice and flush with the body it takes one hell of a slam to get them to latch properly. I've had passengers ty to close their door 4 or 5 times before it finally catches. I've adjusted the strikers a dozen times, but with unsatisfactory results.

Is there some other adjustment I'm missing, or did my body guy forget some crucial bits when re-hanging the doors?

Any thoughts appreciated.

Post Mon Jan 02, 2006 10:58 pm

where the two latches bolt to the door (two 13mm nuts on each latch) there should be two thin steel packers behind them to pack the door out a little. as you close the door look how the lock is lining up with the pin if its low or high loosen the nuts where the packers are and lift or drop the door to suit. this is how you adjust the gaps around the door too.5 min job!

Post Mon Jan 02, 2006 11:29 pm

telski789 wrote:where the two latches bolt to the door (two 13mm nuts on each latch) there should be two thin steel packers behind them to pack the door out a little.

Telski, thanks for the quick reply! I'm not quite picturing your description, though.

Is a packer a wafer thin 1" x 1.5" rectangle with a couple of holes in it? I think I might have a couple of those in my "don't know what it's for" pile.

To clarify, do they mount behind the wedge-shaped striker (on the door frame) or behind the pivoting latch (on the door itself)? Or are you talking about the door hinges? I think those are the only 13mm nuts I've got...

Sorry for being so thick!

Post Mon Jan 02, 2006 11:35 pm

no your right,i meant hinges!! yeah,inbetween the hinges and the doors should be 2 packers,normally gold,one should have two holes and the other is slotted,and yes its these 13mm nuts that you loosen (once the packers are back in) and move the door around then tighten and keep doing so until the lock lines up with the pin and the door closes nicely and the gaps round the door are nice,if the packers are not in then when the door is closed the door wont,or shouldnt be flush with the wing,if it is flush however then you dont need the packers,although ive never known one to be flush without them!! hope that helps!!

Tel

Post Mon Jan 02, 2006 11:49 pm

Cheers, thanks very much for the help. Even though I'm just loosening the nuts, it sounds like it should probably be a two man job. Don't want to have any door-dropping disasters!

Post Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:09 am

I've had the door off my Touring before, I used a trolley jack with a bit of protection on the door to hold it's weight while I loosened the nuts and adjusted the position until the door closed properly.

Having someone to give you a hand is probably easier though.

Telski - I wish I could have done it in 5 minutes!! Practice makes perfect and all that.

Hope you have success KDS - good skiing in Canada where you are?

Post Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:16 am

do it bit by bit, took me about 10mins with dads help to do mine.

Post Tue Jan 03, 2006 12:35 am

dannosail wrote:good skiing in Canada where you are?

Yeah, I'm on the west coast, close to Whistler ski resort. The season started out strong, but weeks of warm weather and relentless rain have killed all our precious snow!!

Post Tue Jan 03, 2006 11:06 am

Oh well - we've been having "blizzards" here, well English blizzards!

Probably peanuts compared to snowfall in Vancouver!

Post Tue Jan 03, 2006 6:39 pm

Okay, so with the info I picked up from you guys I had a look at my doors last night. It turns out that the problem isn't with the front doors, but with the rears. Because the shims are missing from the rear doors, it makes the trailing edge of the front doors look like they're sticking out. I'm kinda glad that the issue is with the smaller, lighter rear doors--less heavy lifting!

Thanks all for your help.