Door torsion bar stuck in retention plate

[Carbuilder]

I need to adjust the torsion bar on the passenger side door. It is opening a little too quickly and bouncing a bit at the top.

I've read a lot of posts on what is involved. I propped the door open, took the louvered cover off, put some foam over the glass. I loosened the bolts a few turns and am trying to get the plate to move rearwards but it won't move.

I've managed to tap a couple screw drivers under it, but that doesn't seem to help.

Screenshot 2025-04-28 at 7.40.26 PM.jpg

I've sprayed some rust blaster stuff on the interface of the torsion bar and the plate; from the rear too since I have a gap now to do that. The screwdrivers have made a gap of about 1/8", but I don't see the front of the bar pulling out of the mount; maybe I have to look at it more closely. Or maybe I've bent the plate a little.

With the door propped open, how much torsion is left in the bar? I can't open it any more or it hits the T-panel. If I remove the T-panel can I open the doors enough to release all torsion? Then I suppose I can remove the plate with the torsion bar if they want to come out together. Or at least with no torsion on the system I can remove the bolts fully and pry under the plate a little better.

Suggestions?

Thank you,

Rick

[JohnnyK]

If you're not removing the torque being applied to the splines, then obviously they aren't going to slide rearward very easily. Unless I am missing something and you do have a bar on the torsion bar to turn it.

I'm not quite sure what your plan is right now.. Try to pry the plate off the back with tension still on the splines, without having a breaker bar on there??

(short story long: you (with someone else) need to be applying torsion to the bar to get the pressure of the splines.)

[82DMC12]

Well you're about 2 minutes from smashing your rear window and denting the T-panel, and possibly injuring yourself. That foam won't do shit.

Your problem is you have not relieved the tension on the torsion bar, this is a two person job unless you're expert-level. The torsion bar still has at least 30 degrees of twist in it right now. You have to have one person apply slight opposite pressure to the torsion bar using a 3/8" allen socket into a long extension and a long breaker bar, perhaps with a pipe on it, braced with a wooden brace that goes across the engine cover, this is outlined in an early DeLorean World article and includes plans for building the jig.

While one person is slightly tightening the bar, to increase tension and opposed the untwist tendency of the bar, the other person has to remove the M8 screws. You have to hold the spline plate straight so that the screws don't take the threads out with them, which is what's happening right now. Once the screws are out the plate can be backed off the bar, and then the other person can slowly unwind the bar until it's neutral.

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[poidog]

[David T]

Even with the utmost care, on some cars the splines are messed up and you have to wiggle and force that retaining plate off VERY carefully after relieving all of the torsion forces. If you see the torsion bar moving out of the hinge you must stop. Get a pencil and mark the position on the torsion bar and retention plate so you can tell you are putting it back 1 spline less. Once you twist the torsion bar enough you will feel the bolts are loose and you should be able to remove them with your fingers. Be very cautious, on some cars I have seen the bolts all messed up and cross-threaded so be prepared to VERY SLOWLY relieve ALL of the torsion on the torsion bar so you can re-tap the threads. Have everything you can think of nearby and close at hand while doing this. There is a LOT of power in that torsion bar even with the door open so take every precaution you can. Make sure the Allen socket is ALL THE WAY in the torsion bar and you do not see any cracks. If the torsion bar is cracked you will not get the retention plate off because you are just expanding the splines. If you encounter any of these rare problems you must stop and get someone who has the skills to continue. Sometimes you can adjust what I call a 1/2 spline by just locking the retention plate turned a little tighter or a little looser but you probably do need to go looser by probably 1 spline.

[Carbuilder]

I was considering making one of those wooden fixtures. I?ll do that. I was asking how much torsion is left in the bar when the door is open to have an idea of how much force to put on the lever bar. Sounds like a fair bit of force is needed.

I appreciate the help I?ll adjust my method of going about this.

[Dickey]

If you remove the t-panel and gas strut you can open the door far enough to nearly remove all the tension on the torsion rod:





To an extent that literally this is all you need and there is no concern with busting glass or wrecking stainless:











Retention plate reference with door fully opened:

[Bitsyncmaster]

With the T panel removed and the door vertical, you can slowly release the tension and the bracket will stop rotating just short off the rear glass. Then the bracket will just slide off easy.

[Carbuilder]

If you remove the t-panel and gas strut you can open the door far enough to nearly remove all the tension on the torsion rod:

To an extent that literally this is all you need and there is no concern with busting glass or wrecking stainless:

With the T panel removed and the door vertical, you can slowly release the tension and the bracket will stop rotating just short off the rear glass. Then the bracket will just slide off easy.

Thought I read that somewhere; now I know I did. Thank you.

My T-panel has some dents in it (actually more "out" than "in") that I wanted to get removed at some point. Makes sense now to remove it to get the torsion bar issue sorted out and get the T-panel fixed. The previous owner replaced the driver side torsion bar and the damage is above the retaining plate, so now I know how it got there.

Rick

[Dickey]

Thought I read that somewhere; now I know I did. Thank you.

My T-panel has some dents in it (actually more "out" than "in") that I wanted to get removed at some point. Makes sense now to remove it to get the torsion bar issue sorted out and get the T-panel fixed. The previous owner replaced the driver side torsion bar and the damage is above the retaining plate, so now I know how it got there.

Rick

Yeah, it is a simple one man job unless you aim to have someone take pictures/video while you're doing it. All in from the jump you're looking at 10 minutes on the upper end. Bear in mind, I do not run louvres because of the neighbors we had growing up so if those are in place it would be a bit longer.