Passenger side door jammed

[PeterBiggerstaff]

Hi All,

Sorry for the lengthy post, I just want to cover everything I've tried so far.

The restoration of VIN# 10985 has hit a snag... The passenger side door won't open. the door closed fine on Saturday night, then when I went to open the door after taking a wheel off on Tuesday night, the door just won't budge.

At first I thought it was because the body was slighty twisted from being on blocks, but the wheel is back on now, and the door is still stuck fast.

The tops of the door trims are out, so I can see the door control rods and the S shaped bracket they lock into. Pulling the door handle pulls the rods inwards, so that seems to be working, it just feels like the latches aren't letting go. The exterior handle is snapped and missing, so I can't try from outside.

If I pull the interior handle harder, or use vice grips, the rods just bend, so I don't believe its not traveling far enough.

I have tried jacking the car up at all 4 corners individually in case it is just warped slightly, I have also rolled the car back and forth but still no luck.

It seems the rear side of the door isn't flush with the rear panel or rocker panel, whereas the front matches perfectly, so I wonder if some of the carpet has got jammed and is putting stress on the latch? I've tried putting all my wight on the rear of the door from the outside to line the gaps back up, then pulling the handle, but there is no movement at all.

Any ideas?

308503085130852

[Josh]

Im thinking one of the latches is in the locked position. Its hard to explain over the internet but each latch has a rod for opening and locking. Remove the rods and work the latch back and fourth. It should snap back and fourth when locking and unlocking. if it feel spongy unlocking, try unlockign and locking while opening the latch. This has worked for me in the past. When you do get the door open connect the linkage back and make sure it is not rubbing anywhere. Also lubricate the latches.

Also, very unlikey, but the torsion bar could have snapped. Making the door seem like it is stuck shut but it is actually just very heavy.

[DMCMW Dave]

Roll the window down so you can reach everything. Make sure the door is closed all the way, lean on it once. Then press the lock rocker toward the back (lock) and then front (unlock) and hold it down in unlock as hard as you can. AT THE SAME TIME attempt to open the door from the inside using the latch. If this doesn't work try again using the key from the outside and the outside handle.

[Josh]

^ listen to dave!

[PeterBiggerstaff]

Thanks guys, Will try these suggestions out tonight after work.

[PeterBiggerstaff]

Unfortunately those suggestions didn't work, the door is still well and truly stuck..

I'm thinking the bottom door trim is going to have to come off, but with the door closed this isn't going to be easy. Is the only way to get the bottom trim off with the door closed is going to be to cut/break the trim where it folds around the front to meet the dash?

I've managed to pop most of the plastic 'fir trees' out, so I think its just holding on the front now.

[PeterBiggerstaff]

I finally got it open!!

After a lot of playing around with the door lock, I noticed it was starting to "pop" forwards and backwards rather then just mushily move.. so I kept rocking the door lock back and forth while trying the latch in-between... it finally popped open. Thanks for the suggestions!

This weekend I'm going to pull the door trims, pull all the leavers and rods out of the door and start again from scratch.

[DMCMW Dave]

There is a service bulletin that details the exact procedure for the lock and latch adjustment. ST10-10/81

[OverlandMan]

Now that you got it open, you'll probably be afraid to shut it again. I would.

[DMCMW Dave]

Now that you got it open, you'll probably be afraid to shut it again. I would.

Leave the door panels off until you are 100% sure it works. Then you can always climb across and release it manually.