C-2 Door adjustment

[Bob R.]

I am in the process of replating the vent frames and replacing the rubber seals around the windows. I have the inside of the doors taken apart. I thought this would be a good time to make adjustments on the doors. The passenger door closes perfectly. The drivers door has always closed very hard. After carefull inspection of the drivers door it appears that the door strike hits the latch too high. The strike is the frame part the latch is the door part. The fix would seem to be to raise the strike or lower the latch. The strike is as high as the factory holes will adjust to. The latch does not appear to be adjustable. What am I missing? Do I have to adjust the entire door? When the door is closed the lines look good.
If I have to adjust the entire door what is the proper proceedure. I don't want to make this problem worse.
As always thanks in advance for the help.

[Mike M.]

Re: C-2 Door adjustment

Open problem door all the way then lift up on door and observe hinges. the hinge pins and their bronze bushings wear out. if there is play in the hinge, remove door from hinge, then remove hinge from body pillar, then go to any GM dealer and request pins and bushings( even local Pontiac deal;er stocks them here in the boondocks). drive old pins out and save to compare to replacement pins as the later are usually longer than original and can be shortened. then drive out oud bronze bushings, press in new ones, then re-asemble the hinges, re-install higes and hang doors. good luck, mike

[Bob R.]

Re: C-2 Door adjustment

Mike thanks for writting back. The door doesn't seem to have any noticable play in it. In fact the latch on the door is hitting too high on the frame not too low. I doubt the problem is a bad hinge.

[Mike M.]

Re: C-2 Door adjustment

Bob: no adjustment possible at the latch. only adjustment(without raising door and you state the door seams lineup well) is the striker.Look the striker over--where are the two pieces of metal making initial contact? sometimes there are shims inserted between the body and the striker and the contact is on the foreward face of the striker and the cure is shim removal. Open door then clkose SLOWLY watching how top of door and rear quarter panel interact at intial latch-striker contact and then at fully latched position.If door latch enters striker"high" then door settles lower when fully latched, you need to loosen door to hinge fasteners and adjust the door down a tad. again, good luck.mike

[Joe R.]

Re: C-2 Door adjustment

The door adjustment is easier than you think. The plate on the door post is adjustable. There are three large philips screws holding the plate to the door post. The plate is held by a nut plate on the inside of the door post with large holes in the fiberglass for adjustment. Do not remove the screws from the plate but just loosen them enough to move the plate up a little or better yet just tilt the top of the plate toward the centerline of the car. This usually works. Just about 1/16" at a time. Tighten the philips screws before trying the door each time and be patient with the small adjustments until the door sounds like a Fisher Body should. This will not effect how the door fits the opening and your lines should remain the same. If this is totally confusing let me know and I'll try to explain again.

Regards,

JR

[Dave B.]

Re: C-2 Door adjustment

JR...What if the door latches OK, but the vertical rear edge of the door bulges out slightly so that there is not a clean fit? The drivers door on my 1966 does that.
Dave

[Joe R.]

Re: C-2 Door adjustment

Dave,

If the line is even from top to bottom, I would suggest that the door just needs to be pulled in a little. Use the same procedure that I outlined before but just adjust the latch plate on the door post toward the centerline of the car. If you door shuts OK just adjust it evenly by loosening the three philips screws and pushing it back slightly. Make sure the latch plate is tightened properly as it does take some abuse when closing the door.

Another thing to think about is the door weatherstrip. If the weatherstrip is new it will give over the next 12 months and let the door ease into the opening. To aid this along, I use silicone spray. I wet the new weatherstrips well, close the door and don't open for a week or so.

Hope this helps.

JR

[Dave B.]

Thanks JR...

it helps a lot. Have worked on the striker with the three Phillips screws already. However there is fairly new weatherstrip on the doors, and I will try your silicon trick.
Thanks for all your help, including the mirror. Really appreciated!!
Dave