G'day,
Yesterday, Roy and I addressed the gaps again. We found that the door had dropped, adding to the gap problem. I had replaced a driver's door upper hinge bushing and when I re-tightened the bolts, had allowed the door to drop.

We loosened the bolts and lifted the door until the beltlines matched and re-tightened the bolts. The gap was good at the back of the door, and at the front of it, good at the bottom but too big at the top. I will have to add glass to the rear of the fender to make the gap look right. No problem, as I plan to repaint it sometime.

The passenger door had also dropped, so we raised that one. The only problem is that it sits a millimetre or two "too far in" and I need to move the striker bolt out so the door will be flush with the rear fender.

Unfortunately, the bolt cannot be moved. An Allen key loosened the left door striker, but cannot budge the right one. Looks like I need a Torx tool. Anyone know what size???

Overall the car looks better, and the driver's door closes with only a gentle push, just like it should, and the pass. door will do the same once I adjust the striker bolt.

Thanks for all the helpful advice, I have taken heed of some of it, and will do so in future when I "lengthen" the front fenders.

Regards from Down Under

aussiejophn
7 months to go

 

Hi aussiejohn,
Just my 2 BUBBA cents, I ended up using a set of vice grips on my passenger door striker.I couldn't get it
loose even using a torx head. Once it was off I just buffed the whole thing & anti siezed it=good as new for 35 y/o.
I'm even looking at HT Hk /Torana Holden chrome strikers as replacements (they look the same I'll just need to get some measurements).
Just bought a body mount kit,
so at some stage soon I'll be tackling that,
(probably in Feb,taking 2 weeks leave)
hopefully that may help the gaps also,
For now I'm waiting on my new dizzy to arrive
so I can start other projects.
I'll take heaps of pics as I go.
I want to clearly document my triumphs & mistakes

Gav.

 

I don't know if 74 will be the same as 80-82, but I was able to close the gap at the top of my door by loosening the bolts at the radiator support and frame front section. You can lift the front cap at the radiator support and pick up some more at the front frame extension that supports the nose.

To do the radiator support area, you loosen the bottom bolts and place a floor jack under the core support, try to get as centered as possible so both sides will come up evenly. If not you will have to do one side of the support at a time.

After did the support, I loosened the frame extension, I placed a floor jack under the nose area at the front of the frame extension. Once I was able to lift the nose, I tightened the bolts

Here are some pics, again yours may be different.

Side view of radiator support bolts



Exploded view of the radiator supports (bolts to loosen in red)



Actual picture of the bolts in my frame extension area, I loosened these as well.



I also replaced the rubber bushing that hold the nose off the frame extension (bumper cover removed in picture)



Disclaimer, be careful as these clips are glued in place as noted by another members post, too much can cause cracking, so go slow.

I hope this helps

 

i also tried to fix my pas. door gap yesterday. like manual says i took off right lower dash and kick panel. saw i did have room for adjustment so i loosened hinges and picked door up to where it should be. when trying to close door the top back of door above door handle was too high and would hit bottom lip of where roof meets door. i knew it was too good to be true to have such an easy fix. bottom line is only way to fix mine is add glass to fender or door which i will check on in spring but problem is is it was just painted 3 years ago. wish PO had it done then. good news was my body mount behind kick panel was in near perfect shape.

 

Hi nutsy,
Yep, been there done that WAY too many times.
Don't forget you have some forward/back
adjustment in the door where the hinges bolt in the doors.
You have to remove the hinge covers to access these bolts and you might have enough movement to get some clearance (or as I did) loosen bolts *BE REAL CAREFUL and support the door* push bottom of door forward & pull top back, this lowered the rear
of the door enough to clear the pillar,
(a bit of a hassle with Lambo doors).
Hope this helps

Gav