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I have been working with my passenger side door (1965 Coupe) to fit and adjust gaps prior to painting. A little background, I have replaced all of the door rivets using flat head weld studs as described in other posts and replaced the hinge pins. Without the striker installed the gaps and alignment with the top and fenders is getting to be pretty good. Not perfect but much better than it was before I started. So here's the problem - I can't get the door striker mounted high enough to properly engage the door latching mechanism. When mounted to engage the door latch the striker pulls the door down when latched and my door is then too low at the roof, belt line, and the top of the fender. When the door is adjusted for a good fit in the opening the door latch just bangs against the striker and will not engage the latch. I have elongated the holes at the striker mounting plate so that all available movement in the captive backing plate can be used. Still not quite enough.
Has anyone run into this before and can provide some advice? Any way to modify the striker? Any other ideas?
I don't know if I can help but post a picture if you can. How does the style line look when the striker is pulling the door down. Whatever you do don't put any paint on the car until all the mock up fits nice. When these cars were built the doors were installed and adjusted and the striker installed and covered before any paint.
Thank you for the reply. I went ahead and re-adjusted the door (lower in the rear) to meet the striker. I was able to move the top edge (at the roof line) out a bit which effectively raised that part of the door to better match the roof. Only issue now is the top of the fender meeting the door above the latch.
Thank you for the reply. I went ahead and re-adjusted the door (lower in the rear) to meet the striker. I was able to move the top edge (at the roof line) out a bit which effectively raised that part of the door to better match the roof. Only issue now is the top of the fender meeting the door above the latch.
The middle of door character line looks very slightly low next to the rear fender but I think some careful board sanding of surfaces and the character line across the door could even those up. And a skimming of filler should even up the fender peak lines across the fenders and doors. Do you by chance have the old weather stripping left? There's a good chance the door weather stripping will slightly push out and raise the upper door edge where it meets the roof. If you still have it you might think about installing the piece temporarily around the door window frame. If the door top still looks like it may be just a bit low but everything is working out at the bottom and fender top areas and door gaps, I would skim the door top with filler and block it level with the roof.
I agree with Dan 100%, you should be able to finesse the style line to look straight.
I take it the door opens and closes now without interference from the striker, correct?
Can you tell me if the body has been off the frame and shim count possibly changed. The reason I mention that is because in my experience you can remove two shims from the body mount just forward of the rear tire and that will get you some joy by allowing the rear body to sit just a bit lower in that area. The rear most mount behind the rear tire will probably need one or two shims removed also if you try this.
If the body shims have never been disturbed, has that rear fender been changed.
Thank you both for your comments. Body shims have not been replaced. I agree, I believe the belt line can be made to line up with board sanding and have started to do that today after posting this picture.
But this really brings up a question that has been bugging me regarding the weatherstrip. Right now there is no weatherstrip on the door. And I have good gaps at the roof line and the elevation of the top of the door is close to the roof, close enough that a thin skim coat of filler will even it out well. But what bothers me is the fact that I can push or pull the the top of the door in or out a little bit by hand which alters the gap and / or the elevation of the top to the roof.
So how do you finally set the door? I'm afraid that unless I do what you suggested I will have paint on the car, put new weatherstrip on, and find I have a real mess on my hands. What I was considering was I would prime the door edges and then install new weatherstrip. That would give me one last chance to adjust the top gap or elevation if necessary. I know it would be pushed out more than normal because it's new but I would have to take this into consideration. And then I would just have to mask the weatherstrip off when it came time to finish priming and painting. Maybe a little extra work but at least then I would know what I'm getting.
What do you guys think?
Last edited by milano maroon; 07-20-2018 at 12:59 AM.
Welcome to the uncertain world of Corvette coupe doors. You are pretty much on target - the door fit will probably be worse immediately after installing the weather stripping, before it gets better. As you probably know the main weather stripping is fairly dense/stiff compared to other and newer cars. But it does over time compress and take a set which improves things. And if my car is typical at all, one door may be worse or better than the other door. If all else fails you can use a suggestion from MikeM and open the door windows, pad and tape the fresh paint, and run a cargo strap over the top and through the windows and across and pull the door tops tight to the roof structure and let it sit for a month or so to accelerate the process.
You also may encounter another problem in that the lower part of the door will not want to close at the striker without a hard slamming - which is definitely not recommended with new paint. I took the long route approach in adjusting my doors to where they would shut with reasonable and safe effort, which required moving the striker out and having a door misfit for awhile. Every couple of months I would re-adjust the striker to move them in a little more as the weather stripping compressed. It probably took most of a year for my driver side to fall in line and adjust to where it looked right.
But I don't really know of an alternative to this - IMO it's not practical to install new weather stripping before primer/paint as you suggested and if you tried to finish the body with brand new weather stripping, after it compressed for a few months your lines would still be off a little. You would almost have to let it sit in primer for a year to let the weather stripping find it's compressed set and then do one last blocking around the doors. And trying to put finish paint on around the installed weather stripping would probably be disappointing. That's why I suggested temporary installation of a length of the old stuff if you still have it.
I agree with Dan 100%, you should be able to finesse the style line to look straight.
Can you tell me if the body has been off the frame and shim count possibly changed. The reason I mention that is because in my experience you can remove two shims from the body mount just forward of the rear tire and that will get you some joy by allowing the rear body to sit just a bit lower in that area. The rear most mount behind the rear tire will probably need one or two shims removed also if you try this.
That will take me some time to get to those but I will start to study up on that.
Do you know how far I can raise the body off of the frame without doing a lot of disconnect? If I am going to do that then I would like to replace the body mounts and the brake line which runs from front to rear. I was planning on doing that at some point, maybe now is the right time.
I assume you have the bumpers off already - that's a good portion of the work. Pull the steering coupler, remove brake lines to master cylinder or pull master cylinder and support it, might be a few other minor things. Look for any wiring that doesn't have enough slack to take the movement. I think some people raise one side at a time rather than the whole body at once. You should be able to replace the mounts and shims raising it a couple of inches - the #3 mount behind the doors is the hardest one to access. Biggest pain is getting the body bolts out unless your car has spent it's life in a dry climate. If new mounts are on your list to do sometime then it would be a good idea to do it now. The coupe body is pretty stiff in the rear, shimming won't influence body fit nearly as much as with the convertible, but some have reported that shims can affect the door fit. Can't say I noticed it that much but maybe I just didn't experiment enough with it. The front end is pretty flexible and shimming at the radiator support can definitely change things around up front.
The coupe body is pretty stiff in the rear, shimming won't influence body fit nearly as much as with the convertible, but some have reported that shims can affect the door fit. Can't say I noticed it that much but maybe I just didn't experiment enough with it. The front end is pretty flexible and shimming at the radiator support can definitely change things around up front.
Instead of removing shims behind the door to drop the fender, OP might try adding a shim under the front hinge pillar to raise the door?
Don't know. I've messed with many doors, never a midyear but the methods would seem to be the same as long as it's body/frame construction...
I'm not quite ready to start that phase but should probably start soaking the bolts in penetrating oil.
If the bolts are rusted you may be opening Pandora's box. On my 63 coupe I experimented doing this and it will allow the body to drop just a little bit but the coupe body is very stiff, much different than the convertible. It's hard to guess what will work best without trying the shims but if you are not ready for extra work be careful.
If the bolts are rusted you may be opening Pandora's box. On my 63 coupe I experimented doing this and it will allow the body to drop just a little bit but the coupe body is very stiff, much different than the convertible. It's hard to guess what will work best without trying the shims but if you are not ready for extra work be careful.
True. This is why I suggested loosening the bolt at the A pillar instead of the B pillar. I understand the B pillar bolt always wants to fight you but you might also get more body movement out of the front bolt?.
I dont want to hijack the thread, but the discussion about the weatherstripping that goes across the door opening on the body at the top, what exactly is its function? There is a door seal that goes all around the door already. Does anyone know what the top one is there for? Anyone left it out and water tested their car to see? Seems like it is a PIA for everyone trying to get their fits right. I get that if you want a correct car you need to have it, but if you are building a restomod does it really need to be there?
I ASSUME it is to prevent water spillover from the drip rail. Others, may have other ideas. But, I don't see how this strip of rubber affects the door fit?
I ASSUME it is to prevent water spillover from the drip rail. Others, may have other ideas. But, I don't see how this strip of rubber affects the door fit?
Yeah, my comments about fitting an old piece of the door weather stripping was in reference to the main door weather stripping. I suspect that auxiliary piece at the top of the door was just to minimize water flowing off the roof into the gutter system but something else could have been behind it.
True. This is why I suggested loosening the bolt at the A pillar instead of the B pillar. I understand the B pillar bolt always wants to fight you but you might also get more body movement out of the front bolt?.
You may be right trying the front mount to see if it helps, I remember doing this on my coupe and it does change things. It's something for the O/P to keep in mind if he gets really fussy.
IMO, in a perfect world the top weatherstrip that's screwed into the coupe roof keeps water from running down directly into the drip rail plus cushions the door from slamming and seals against wind noise.
Proceeding with body mount replacement, please wish me luck. After soaking with lubricant I believe I have all 8 mount bolts loosened, haven't removed them yet. As expected #4 cages didn't hold up. So I drafted my daughter to help, and after trying to hold the square nut inside with a crescent (hard to keep it on the nut) we found that a 30mm 12 point socket fits the square nut. Then the #4's came loose.
So any recommendations on suppliers for the mount kit? Probably all made by the same people anyway? Only difference I think I saw - you could pay more and get bolts with proper headmarks, which isn't important to me.
Other question - do I use the new shims and just put the same number at each location as what is there now?
07-17-2018, 07:39 PM
Door Striker Adjustment
