Adjusting door latch?
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 4,290
Likes: 6
From: St Marys GA
Adjusting door latch?
I finally got fed up with my sagging driver door and decided to adjust the hinges. So I adjust them to get the belt molding to line up perfectly! But...now the door barely closes, and the latch pulls the door down to its old "sagging" position. I tried loosening the bolts on the latch assembly in the door, but there doesn't seem to be any adjustment. Any ideas? I either need to make the latch assembly in the door move down, or the post it attaches to to move up. There's a hex-head-looking hole on the end of the post, but I couldn't get it to move with moderate force. I didn't want to force things, in case it wasn't actually designed to move.
Thanks!
Thanks!
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 4,290
Likes: 6
From: St Marys GA
Put some more oomph into the post, and got it loose. However, there's no adjustment. Single hole in the fiberglass and a little metal piece behind that it screws into. I suppose I could remove it, oblong the hole in the upwards direction, then reinstall higher than before. But there should be some built-in adjustment, right?
Does anyone have a 96 FSM they could look this up in? Mine is in a box somewhere in a storage unit; I'm between apartments right now, but have a ton of free time, so I'm trying to get some stuff done.
Does anyone have a 96 FSM they could look this up in? Mine is in a box somewhere in a storage unit; I'm between apartments right now, but have a ton of free time, so I'm trying to get some stuff done.
Last edited by StealthLT4; Feb 11, 2011 at 01:43 PM.
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2007
Posts: 1,846
Likes: 129
From: Orlando Florida
I was looking at mine last night too and was surprised when I loosened the door post and found no adjustment. So I figured it was in the latch only to find out that didnt adjust either and my door looks like it needs to shut a hair more.
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,313
Likes: 5
From: Middle Tennessee
I would visit a body shop before I started cutting on things. A decent body shop would probably adjust the door for you without "taking you to the cleaners". Obviously, something in the door has worn to the point where the door doesn't line up properly and you may need to replace a part such as the hinges or something.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 4,290
Likes: 6
From: St Marys GA
I would visit a body shop before I started cutting on things. A decent body shop would probably adjust the door for you without "taking you to the cleaners". Obviously, something in the door has worn to the point where the door doesn't line up properly and you may need to replace a part such as the hinges or something.
The only thing I can imagine is that something got knocked out of whack when I hit a tire wall at CMP last December (2009), since I hit the driver quarter panel (behind the wheel). Still, I can't see how this would be affected, at least not this much!
Drifting
Joined: Dec 2004
Posts: 1,313
Likes: 5
From: Middle Tennessee
If there is a possibility of something being knocked out of alignment when hitting a tire wall, I would definitely get input from a body shop before I started cutting on fiberglass. Just MHO for what it's worth. I wouldn't dream of cutting the fiberglass on my Vette to make things line up.
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Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 1999
Posts: 3,261
Likes: 9
From: sonoma ca
My 95 FSM states that the "Door Striker" is adjustable, up or down. The bolt is threaded into a tapped floating cage in the "B" pillar.
Loosen the bolt & make the necessary adjustment. I know it worked on my 95 Camaro.
Maake sure you scribe the location of the striker before you move it too much!
Loosen the bolt & make the necessary adjustment. I know it worked on my 95 Camaro.
Maake sure you scribe the location of the striker before you move it too much!
Last edited by Red Dwarf; Feb 11, 2011 at 04:00 PM. Reason: more info
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 4,290
Likes: 6
From: St Marys GA
I'm assuming that "door striker" is the shaft on the B-pillar? I removed it, and no adjustment. Like you said, it threads into a movable cage on the backside of the fiberglass, but the hole is no larger than the bolt. I'll sleep on it, but sounds like maybe it's a replacement quarter panel without the oblong hole, or something like that?
383vett, the striker itself is the bolt, just threads into a metal threaded cage. No assembly, just a hole in the doorjamb for the striker and cage on either side.
383vett, the striker itself is the bolt, just threads into a metal threaded cage. No assembly, just a hole in the doorjamb for the striker and cage on either side.
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2003
Posts: 17,700
Likes: 1,667
From: moraga ca
I'm assuming that "door striker" is the shaft on the B-pillar? I removed it, and no adjustment. Like you said, it threads into a movable cage on the backside of the fiberglass, but the hole is no larger than the bolt. I'll sleep on it, but sounds like maybe it's a replacement quarter panel without the oblong hole, or something like that?
383vett, the striker itself is the bolt, just threads into a metal threaded cage. No assembly, just a hole in the doorjamb for the striker and cage on either side.
383vett, the striker itself is the bolt, just threads into a metal threaded cage. No assembly, just a hole in the doorjamb for the striker and cage on either side.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Nov 2008
Posts: 2,765
Likes: 5
When You open the door on your Vette wide open,
Grasping the bottom of the door with one hand and your other hand at the top,
Can You move the door up and down any ?
Any noticeable movement or play in the door hinge(s) bushings and pins?
Our C4's have pretty lightweight doors being made out smc fiberglass.
But the hinges and bushings still can wear out.
Grinding on the B pillar may be necessary, but scares me too.
Do You have a buddie that is a body man and is very familiar with with Vettes- C4's ?
Might do good to let him check things out himself before you start modifying or grinding away.
Grasping the bottom of the door with one hand and your other hand at the top,
Can You move the door up and down any ?
Any noticeable movement or play in the door hinge(s) bushings and pins?
Our C4's have pretty lightweight doors being made out smc fiberglass.
But the hinges and bushings still can wear out.
Grinding on the B pillar may be necessary, but scares me too.
Do You have a buddie that is a body man and is very familiar with with Vettes- C4's ?
Might do good to let him check things out himself before you start modifying or grinding away.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 4,290
Likes: 6
From: St Marys GA
When You open the door on your Vette wide open,
Grasping the bottom of the door with one hand and your other hand at the top,
Can You move the door up and down any ?
Any noticeable movement or play in the door hinge(s) bushings and pins?
Our C4's have pretty lightweight doors being made out smc fiberglass.
But the hinges and bushings still can wear out.
Grinding on the B pillar may be necessary, but scares me too.
Do You have a buddie that is a body man and is very familiar with with Vettes- C4's ?
Might do good to let him check things out himself before you start modifying or grinding away.
Grasping the bottom of the door with one hand and your other hand at the top,
Can You move the door up and down any ?
Any noticeable movement or play in the door hinge(s) bushings and pins?
Our C4's have pretty lightweight doors being made out smc fiberglass.
But the hinges and bushings still can wear out.
Grinding on the B pillar may be necessary, but scares me too.
Do You have a buddie that is a body man and is very familiar with with Vettes- C4's ?
Might do good to let him check things out himself before you start modifying or grinding away.
Thread Starter
Safety Car
Joined: Dec 2006
Posts: 4,290
Likes: 6
From: St Marys GA
Never mind! I'm a moron. I was going to adjust the window glass after getting the door where I wanted it, but the glass was the problem! I didn't think it would push the entire door down, but when I rolled the window down and closed the door, it didn't push down any more.
Instructor
Joined: Apr 2017
Posts: 137
Likes: 0
This is kind of an old thread, but I'm looking at an 84 that has both doors sagging about an 1/8". I didn't look to see if they came back up with windows down, but the glass can exert that much force to push the doors down?
Race Director
Joined: Apr 2002
Posts: 10,036
Likes: 346
From: Anaheim CA
My driver's door has always been hard to close and takes a good slam to get it to close and latch. The dealer couldn't fix it when I took it in under warranty.
I took a long look at it and couldn't find any way to adjust the latch. The only way I can get it to close without a major slam is to put the window down about 1".
I took a long look at it and couldn't find any way to adjust the latch. The only way I can get it to close without a major slam is to put the window down about 1".
Last edited by Cliff Harris; May 20, 2017 at 03:35 AM.
