Door alignment and striker questions

[Spittybug]

I have been searching a few threads on this but want some confirmations.... can I unscrew the door striker pins without the backside nut falling down into the body? The reason I ask is that I'm having a hell of a time with my driver door. I've tried moving the rear striker into various positions and it seems like I can't get the door to come down quite far enough....the front latches and looks aligned while the rear, even latched, looks to be marginally too 'high'. Yes, I have the fender loosened and am trying to mate the fender to the door, but it's not quite right. It feels like the door needs to close 1/4" or so more to be right. Although I did just replace the inner door seal and the lift piston, these don't seem to be rubbing or otherwise preventing the closure. I want to remove the striker pins and see if I can push the door closed any further. I DON'T want to lose any backer nut or bracket. I can't find really good pictures of how it all works. When I got my car (12 years ago now, wow) it had a scrape/dent on the underside of the driver door kind of like you might see if you drove the driver side front up onto a curb and the car door bottomed out on the edge of the curb. I don't know if that's what happened since it predates me, but it's that style of dent. I wonder if it might have changed some geometry at the hinges....The fender and pins could have been adjusted to an older, more worn out inner seal and I just didn't know until I put a nice new one on.

Anyone have any experience like this?
Thanks.

[DMC-81]

Hi Owen. No, the nut won’t fall behind where it is accessible (at least as far as I could tell). It is captured in a box in the metal latch frame that allows the otherwise free moving nut to be tightened and therefore it also restricts it’s range of movement. I had to remove a pin to add a washer so I was able to see how it worked and verify that it didn’t fall in the door frame.

[Jonathan]

Agreed on the nut not being able to fall out anywhere.

I did find a couple pictures that try to show what it looks like behind there. Basically imagine a nut with squares sides that slots into a space slightly bigger than the nut itself. That is what allows you to tighten the striker pin without needing to get a wrench on the nut to hold it and it is also what keeps it from falling off and disappearing down in some recess in the body.

On Houston's store pages for those brackets, they actually have photos showing the brackets that would make a pair, one set for each door. And fortunately, you can see the striker pin side on one bracket and the backside showing the nut on the other.

They are here: http://store.delorean.com/p-9490-str...rkt-rh-rr.aspx

And here: http://store.delorean.com/p-9491-str...rkt-lh-rr.aspx

Oddly enough, the other two brackets both show the outside view too, so just that first image lets you peek behind to see what you were wondering about.

http://store.delorean.com/p-9510-stk...kt-frt-rh.aspx

http://store.delorean.com/p-9509-stk...kt-frt-lh.aspx

Here's the important picture saved also in case the links change at some point:

105568.jpg

[Gregadeth]

Relatively speaking, a 1/4" gap actually doesn't sound too bad, considering this is a DeLorean. Do you have pics? From what you say it sounds like the door is getting properly latched, just not lining up with the fender. If that's the case I'd focus on adjusting the fender instead.

[David T]

The nut is supposed to be captive in a bracket so you can remove the striker pin. There are 2 reasons to remove a striker pin. To add or remove washers and on early cars you sometimes need to grind the fiberglass so you can get just a bit more adjustment out of the pin. Make sure the head of the striker pin is not hitting the door. You will see scratches on the metal of the door where it hits if it is hitting. You will also feel the door bump and move slightly forward or back (depends on which pin is hitting). Remove washers till the head of the pin is not hitting anymore. The latch locks around the shank of the pin and that is the only thing the latch should touch. Make sure the pin slides right up the middle of the latch without hitting the guide or the sides of the latch. Remember it moves in an arc so make your adjustments accordingly. You may find it easier to do one pin at a time so remove the forward pin and do the rear pin till it is perfect. Once you have it right then do the front pin. Do this on a flat, level spot with good or new door seals. On some cars you need just a little more adjustment than you can get removing ALL of the washers so you may have to grind the head of the striker pin to prevent it from hitting the door. After adjusting the pin make sure the lights still go off after adjusting. Might have to put a piece of rubber tubing on the switch plunger to get it to work. Be sure you get both pins to hit 1st and 2nd locking position as close together as you can. Might have to remove, clean, and lubricate the latches to get them both to work smoothly after doing all of the interior door adjustments as per the procedure. Be patient, this can take a while, especially the first time you do it. I have seen this job get done quickly and I have seen where, after considerable time, it still isn't good. Especially if the door got tweaked and is now flexible.

[WHO1DMC]

My interior lights would flicker with every bump so I took the rubber tip off the plunger put some tissue paper in it put back on problem solved.


Dave B

[mark w]

DMCMW makes and sells an Adjustable length striker pin.

[Roberto]

There's a handy tip in getting the door to position the pins.
Screw in the striker pin but don't tighten it too much, just enough so that it can move when pressure applied.
Then hold the exterior door handle up to open the latch and keeping the handle up gently close the door on the striker pin.
The pressure from the back of the latch should force the pin to its proper position. But don't let the door handle down. Lift the door up and then tighten striker pin. Try door by normal use.
If not satisfied then loosen striker pin slightly and repeat process. Do one pin at a time. Hope this helps.

Robert
vin 3915

[Spittybug]

Thanks everyone, I will be trying your suggestions today and we'll see how it goes.

[Spittybug]

Well, I'm not so sure it's a door thing anymore. Look at the pics. My driver side rear fender was replaced by DMCH about 10 years ago because someone backed into the side of my car. Only the fender was damaged, not the door. That repair was during the famous "Rick era" of the DMCH service department. I ended up with a replacement rear fascia on the car too because when the tech (not Bill) couldn't get things to line up right he drilled holes in the underside of my fascia to screw it to a bracket!! I believe he was fired shortly thereafter. But that said, I think the whole issue may be associated with a poorly fitted fender and a rocker panel that is hanging too low.

In these pictures the rear striker is remove from the driver door but there is very little downward play if I push on it. Looking at the rubber weatherstripping on the underside of both doors and where it meets the door thresholds, they are both pretty much the same, fueling my belief that it is fender/rocker, not door.

I just tried getting one of the many screws on the underside of the rocker out.... pretty severely rusted. I fear they will be a bear. If I understand correctly, I have to remove those bottom screws and bend it back to get to the rocker support which is the piece that must be connected to the fender properly. You can't really see from the pictures but the gap between the driver side rocker and fender has very visible screws/pins/whatever between them and the gap closes up if I push up on the rocker.

Any hints?

Driver alignment.jpgDriver fender gap.jpgDriver fender gap2.jpgPassenger alignment.jpgPassenger fender gap.jpg