Door adjust surgery

[Helirich]

So my pax door didn't line up good at the rear and rattled a bit. I read that the striker pins fix 90 percent of door problems. I adjusted the rear striker and indeed, it got better. But it didn't seem like I could get as much adjustment as I wanted. There are two washers under the striker pin. The outer washer contacts the trim and only allows so much adjustment. I replaced that washer with a smaller OD washer and was able to get some more adjustment. Now the door doesn't rattle at all and it lines up much better. The door also closes much nicer for some reason. (You don't have to slam it)

I would like to move the striker even more down and to the inside, but the striker bolt are hitting the edge of the guide. I was thinking of dremeling it a bit to get some travel. Has anyone done this? Am I missing something else here? Is it possible to move the whole base somehow? I should be happy right now, but the driver's door is perfect. It would be nice if the pax door was.

[Helirich]

So I got impatient and hit it with a dremel. I was able to move the striker another 1/8" down/in. Closed the door and what a change. The door closed super smooth and when shut both the side and the body crease lined up!

My elation quickly faded when I couldn't open the door from the outside latch. (It opened fine from the inside) I guess the outside door handle doesn't move the control rod as far as the inside. Anyways, I moved the striker back a hair and all works good now. The door still lines up excellent. On a short ride, I could tell the rattle was gone.

I had to put custom washers on the striker and move the trim ring off center a bit. I sprayed some flat black and it's not noticeable. If I take it apart again, I'll put pics in the "how to" section. It really made a differnce.

[David T]

What you did is what has to be done to some cars, make a bit more room in the fiberglass to move the anchor pin. There are rubber covers that are supposed to be on the anchor pins to cover up the washers. The head of the anchor pin is not supposed to touch the door. The latch is only supposed to grab the shank of the anchor pin. If the head of the anchor pin hits the door it moves it away from the jamb and messes up the alignment as in your case. If you want it really right you should remove the latches and clean and grease them up with fresh grease and then perform all of the door adjustments. Both doors. Lubricate the hinges too and silicone the door seals.

[Helirich]

What you did is what has to be done to some cars, make a bit more room in the fiberglass to move the anchor pin. There are rubber covers that are supposed to be on the anchor pins to cover up the washers. The head of the anchor pin is not supposed to touch the door. The latch is only supposed to grab the shank of the anchor pin. If the head of the anchor pin hits the door it moves it away from the jamb and messes up the alignment as in your case. If you want it really right you should remove the latches and clean and grease them up with fresh grease and then perform all of the door adjustments. Both doors. Lubricate the hinges too and silicone the door seals.

I did not make more room in the fiberglass. I made more room in the steel. The nut is captured (but floating) by a steel cover with a square hole in it. The nut has more room to move that the hole allows. I used a die grinder to cut the hole bigger. It's kind of tricky because you don't want to mess up the threads. I used a hanger to hold the nut back while I ran the die grinder.

The point you made about the head is valad. I put a dab of grease on the head and closed the door. I found all the grease on the latch, so the head was rubbing/scraping the latch. Since I had to install smaller OD washers, I went to slightly thinner washers also. The total height differnce was only about 40 thou. I do think it's the reason the door shuts smoothly now.

I plan to take some pics of this trick, but it's not hardly worth a "how to" thread. It would be nice to add to a "how to adjust the doors" thread. But I didn't see one in our list. Seems like someone with experince should do that.

[Ron]

Good job!
I've seen two that needed grinding. Used a drum shaped die grinder. The door on one was off ~3/8"! It was a low VIN with the metal guides, which made it sound like Hades, but fit nicely (everywhere) with the strikers removed. I had to take some off of the fiberglass to get it right.
To hide the work, I use a different striker with a shorter neck, but longer threads, and a very thin washer (painted Krylon Fusion satin black).

I always use the grease trick to set the strikers too. I do the front-back first. But for in-out, I put the (red) grease on the latch's 2 thin contact areas instead. Then slowly shut the door until contact is made to see which hits first. It can take a few tries to get them to hit at the same time. The hard part is not going too far, forcing it hit both. But doing this (and making sure that both latches release at the same time, by doing the lock-latch procedures) will make the owner smile something like this:

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