Door adjustment

[QuadcityDMC]

I was looking at an old photo of my car and as you can see the passanger side door is off a bit. I had adjusted the the rear panel to help with looks, it closes fine, but do you think i could add a shim to the front door hing to bring the door up for better alignment.

here is the photo.

http://a2.sphotos.ak.fbcdn.net/hphotos-ak-snc6/230358_221356317890893_100000495801550_934970_2129 221_n.jpg

[Rich]

Pretty risky idea. Not sure about getting into the hinges. Many posts recommend against it.

Hard to tell how well your door lines up with the windshield A-pillar. If you shim up the front hinge then the front half of the door goes up. The lower part of the door also will move forward, as will the rest of the door.

Also, shimming the hinge suggests loosening the door bolts so much that you'll risk losing the left-right registration the hinge mount.

Ideally you'll find a solution that causes no new door problems.

[DMC3165]

9 out of 10 times most alignment issues can be addresed with the striker pins. But this can be a royal pain in the Ass and very time consuming. But if your feeling adventurous, try it. I adjusted both my doors and am very happy with the results.

[David T]

Check the gap along the bottom edge of the door to the sill. It should be even. Messing with the hinges is not recommended. The doors are adjusted to the under-body and the panels are then adjusted to the doors. If you do decide to try shimming the hinges you must release the tension on the torsion bar first.
David Teitelbaum

[dtjk592]

I have been having the damnedest time adjusting my passenger door. My drivers door closes perfectly after adjusting the strikers but on the passenger side the front of the door closes nice and flush and the back of the door is out about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch getting progressively worse as you move from the middle of the door. Any ideas?

[Farrar]

I have been having the damnedest time adjusting my passenger door. My drivers door closes perfectly after adjusting the strikers but on the passenger side the front of the door closes nice and flush and the back of the door is out about 1/4 to 1/2 an inch getting progressively worse as you move from the middle of the door. Any ideas?

If you close the door slowly using your hand pressing behind the lock cylinder, can you hear one striker pin/latch catching before the other?

Farrar

[dtjk592]

It sounds as if the rear maybe striking slightly before the front. Or at least the head of the bolt contacts the door slightly first, but they seem to latch simultaneously.

[Farrar]

It sounds as if the rear maybe striking slightly before the front. Or at least the head of the bolt contacts the door slightly first, but they seem to latch simultaneously.

Hm, mine does this as well but doesn't seem to be out of alignment. Sorry I can't help. :(

Farrar

[dn010]

Try adjusting the strikers then the fender panels. For me, unfortunately, I actually did need to adjust the door via the hinges. Either way, it takes a lot of patience and hundreds of times opening/closing the door... Good luck.

[dtjk592]

My question is at what point does it become a quarter panel adjustment issue and not the door itself. Right now the door closes evenly and smoothly but there still is a gap between the rear quarter panel and the door at the bottom fit is good at the top of the door and the door is aligned perfectly with the front quarter.

[mluder]

I'll do ya one better... My door is bowed. If I adjust the strikers so it closes evenly along the top the bootom edge overcloses at the rocker panel. If I adjust the bottom edge correct, the top stands proud of the roof panel.

Argh! I see a new door in my future $$$$$!!!!

Steven

[dn010]

My question is at what point does it become a quarter panel adjustment issue and not the door itself. Right now the door closes evenly and smoothly but there still is a gap between the rear quarter panel and the door at the bottom fit is good at the top of the door and the door is aligned perfectly with the front quarter.

If the doors close smoothly then I'd start with trying to adjust the fenders. On mine - first off all my panels seemed to be out of adjustment. The screws that hold them in place were either rattled loose or just gone. Some of them don't even hold -even while they are tight...some don't want to tighten but rather just spin; it's a cluster.... If adjusting panels doesn't work - move down the list to of things to try ending with door hinge adjustment being the last thing....

Obviously, there are more catastrophic things that can happen where no matter what adjustment, nothing will work [See Steve's post above].

[Jeff K]

I was looking at an old photo of my car and as you can see the passanger side door is off a bit. I had adjusted the the rear panel to help with looks, it closes fine, but do you think i could add a shim to the front door hing to bring the door up for better alignment.



I have the exact same issue on my 83. Man it bugs me! Did you find a solution? DeLorean makes a factory hinge shim.
http://store.delorean.com/p-9468-shimplate-dr-hinge.aspx

I was told the front roof needs to be raised and re-glued. It has sagged down about 1/2 inch over time. This is a big job, remove doors, windshield, top panel, headliner. Uugghh!

Maybe one of the gurus can give some advice?

[David T]

Only under certain circumstances do you want to attempt to mess with the door hinges or shims. If the doors and hinges were never disturbed since the car was built and the door is not damaged you DO NOT mess with the hinges. There are so many angles that have to line up just so, if you try to adjust the hinges you will make things worse, not better. You adjust everything else around the doors to fit to the doors, not the other way around. Besides, it is a big job and if you never did it before you will probably wind up making things worse, not better. For starters you have to remove the torsion bar.
As for the Tee panel, that's minor. A few screws and it comes off. You replace the foam block in front to hold the front edge up so the doors don't rub. When you reattach it you make sure it is centered and the gaps at the tops of the doors are equal. You probably also should replace the outer seals if they are shot.
David Teitelbaum

[Brisfx]

I am having opening issues. My drivers door was working perfectly then all of a sudden it sticks when opening. I jiggle it pretty hard and then it opens. If i open and close it a few times it seems fine. Then if left for a period of time it sticks again. Any suggestions

[jawn101]

I am having opening issues. My drivers door was working perfectly then all of a sudden it sticks when opening. I jiggle it pretty hard and then it opens. If i open and close it a few times it seems fine. Then if left for a period of time it sticks again. Any suggestions

Lube the striker mechanisms and try the lock and latch setting procedure?

[dtjk592]

Is there anyone around the long island area with experience adjusting the strikers I am at my wits end with this probably opened and closed the door 1,000 times and still have a 3/4 inch gap in the front so far that the interior lights don't even turn off.

[tyb323]

Check out rob at pj Grady's, he did door work on mine, came out much nicer than when it went in (I'm a dummy who drove into his garage with the door open, do not recommend doing that now...)

[DMC3165]

Rob is definitely the best at adjusting the doors. If he's not available I could try to give you a hand one day. I've adjusted mine a few times just so they would close a little better. But if its a serious alignment issue where the door would have to be removed, then Rob's your guy. What part of the island are you from?

[dtjk592]

I'm in Huntington, I don't think its too seriously the doors were aligned pretty well before but it took a good deal of force to get the door to close.

[DMC3165]

I'm in Huntington, I don't think its too seriously the doors were aligned pretty well before but it took a good deal of force to get the door to close.

Tom Neiland from the LINY-DMC also lives in Huntington. They used to hold tech sessions on Saturdays but I'm not sure if they're still doing that or not. Both him and Dave Delman are very good with DeLoreans.

I could give you a hand one day if you need it. Don't expect miracles, I did pretty well with my doors but it was only after Marc Levy and Rob Grady messed with them a little first. My car was in a bad accident many years ago so I don't think they'll ever be perfect again.

PM me when you think you'll have some free time and we'll see if we can meet up.

[sdg3205]

My drivers door has no issues on opening and closing.

The passenger door hits the rear striker pin hard and doesn't want to close.

This seems like a situation where the striker pins are not at fault, nor would an adjustment of them, fix the door alignment.

If the room had sagged, would I not see an issue with the driver door?

[Jonathan]

Hey Dave,

If we are on the same page here, I didn't look too closely at the door closing when I did get near the car.

From what you described though, it may be somewhat similar to my car back in Ontario a few years ago. I don't know what led to this condition, but I found the solution was to take a washer or two out of the problem striker pin and see how that works. In fact, as a possible test, remove both striker pins completely, and see how well the door closes without them in there at all. Same can be said about the weather striping, but it can be harder to put back on successfully after you take it off.

I would try to take the striker pins out and perhaps lube up the door seal real nice so at least any interference there is minimized.

[sdg3205]

Hey Dave,

If we are on the same page here, I didn't look too closely at the door closing when I did get near the car.

From what you described though, it may be somewhat similar to my car back in Ontario a few years ago. I don't know what led to this condition, but I found the solution was to take a washer or two out of the problem striker pin and see how that works. In fact, as a possible test, remove both striker pins completely, and see how well the door closes without them in there at all. Same can be said about the weather striping, but it can be harder to put back on successfully after you take it off.

I would try to take the striker pins out and perhaps lube up the door seal real nice so at least any interference there is minimized.

Thanks Jonathan.

They just screw out?

I'm already having way too much fun with 2510. Both you and David have been great about sharing information.

[Jonathan]

Yep. It is threaded and threads into a nut on the inside of the body. The nut has four sides (square) which allows it to be locked in where it is. It can move around in there because the outer square edges are a bigger size than the outer edges of the nut, but the theory is that you can't knock the nut off when you take off the striker pins and lose it down inside the body. That being said, do it semi-slowly and cautiously and you'll get a feel for what I mean.

EDIT: And all you really need is a deep socket 17 mm to go over the striker pin to the base of it and your socket wrench.

[mluder]

My drivers door has no issues on opening and closing.

The passenger door hits the rear striker pin hard and doesn't want to close.

This seems like a situation where the striker pins are not at fault, nor would an adjustment of them, fix the door alignment.

If the room had sagged, would I not see an issue with the driver door?

Hey, Steve.

Thought about it some more after our Facebook conversation... Take a look at the lower door strut retainer. Part number 3 here http://store.delorean.com/c-308-8-4-0-doorsstrutsseals.aspx
These are know to bend from stress. If they aren't straight they completely throw of the geometry of the door as it closes through an arc.

Just another possible cause to investigate.

Cheers.
Steve