door latch adjustment problem.

[PJ Grady Inc.]

Be it here or anywhere in the states when servicing the doors we now fully remove all four latches from the car and soak in Chem dip. Available at Walmart for 22.00 normally. NOTE: this is the consumer grade and not as lethal as the full on professional blend. Some of you may have seen or heard the carnage involved with using this chemical recently. It is so dangerous that it managed to eat through my safety gear and burn me extensively. User caution advised on both types of the dip.

If you are going the brake clean route as it is spray form you will need one can per latch. Prep work is everything and steps must be taken to protect the windscreen, interior and quarter panel glass. Door lights should be removed and all contaminates cleaned from the base of the door along with sill seals taken off. This will provide drainage for the cleaner. NOTE: you will destroy laminated glass, black abs/sem trim black surfaces and interior components with the contact of any of the above cleaners to these surfaces.

Personally I think one can per latch is total overkill Josh. When we're servicing latchs for the first time a two or three second shot of spray is followed by a quick shot of compressed air and then a second application and blow-dry if deemed neccessary. Follow this up with a short spray of WD40 and you're usually good to go IMHO.
Rob

[PJ Grady Inc.]

The more I watched things move, the more I was convinced the issue was the amount of travel in the external handle. So I removed the external handle and found..

Attachment 37486

I don't know how it got that way, but the bend in the cable mount reduced the travel enough that it was impossible to get things adjusted properly. I bent it back straight and now it's working.

I have the answer to the mystery here. Long before the DMCH reproduction door handles were made available a gentleman in a land far far away (California) named Bill Lai sandcasted his own replacement handles and sold them to DMC owners as early as 1984 IIRC. In the first kits he advised drilling and tapping the original handle pivots to a 4-40 thread which worked fine for anyone with the finesse neccessary to work with such small drilling and taping procedures. When many people failed to get the job done correctly he improvised a cottered clevis pin with a metal sleeve which made assembly easier but introduced some slop into the system which is at least one of the issues with your door at this point.
To correct this you need to either replace the handle or find some correctly modified original handle pivots if you can. If asked nicely I could be persuaded to undertake this laborious mission Jim should you decide to assign it to me. You don't mind if I call you "Jim" do you? I've got that whole "Mission Impossible" thing going on in my head right now !

[Delorean Industries]

I love drowning the grease and contaminates out of the latches. I normally hold a shop vac up to pull in the spray etc to minimize the mess. With that said I know they warn you about doing such a thing with a shop vac.

[David T]

I love drowning the grease and contaminates out of the latches. I normally hold a shop vac up to pull in the spray etc to minimize the mess. With that said I know they warn you about doing such a thing with a shop vac.

After all of the warnings you mentioned it sounds like it is easier and safer to just take the latches out and clean them. Once every 30 years whether they need it or not!

[PJ Grady Inc.]

After all of the warnings you mentioned it sounds like it is easier and safer to just take the latches out and clean them. Once every 30 years whether they need it or not!

That's an unneccessary hassle if someone hasn't smothered them in grease. We just do the routine in my previous post every oil change and things stay rosy that way. If you're not familiar with the door's inner workings R&Ring latches is a bit risky and a potentially bloody endeavour! I'm not referring to you of course Dave as a tenured member of the community. It's all the other guys who stand to lose fingers or a pound or two of flesh!
Rob

[DMCVegas]

That's an unneccessary hassle if someone hasn't smothered them in grease. We just do the routine in my previous post every oil change and things stay rosy that way. If you're not familiar with the door's inner workings R&Ring latches is a bit risky and a potentially bloody endeavour! I'm not referring to you of course Dave as a tenured member of the community. It's all the other guys who stand to lose fingers or a pound or two of flesh!
Rob

Yeah, I'll second that. Working inside the doors of a DeLorean is like trying to give a stray cat a belly rub.



If you've never done it before, and don't know what you're getting into, you're gonna get hurt. The edges of that stainless are sharp and can still nick and slice your hands, wrists, and forearms.

[David T]

I have been initiated too. The sharp edges are so sharp you don't know you're cut up till you see the red dye all over the place! I agree it takes a lot more time to R & R the latches but IMHO it is the only way to get them clean and relubricated. As for the adjustments, if you are having trouble with the doors you have to do them anyway. I can understand how a vendor will want to find ways to save the customer money but my time is cheap when I am working on my hobby! As for the sharp edges, put some duct tape over them before going in. There is always a lot of work inside those doors to get things right. Burnt solenoids, adjusting the linkage, fixing the window motors, etc. One way to make the job more comfortable is that neat little cable you use to hold the door closed while you sit on the sill.

[Jason]

I have the answer to the mystery here. Long before the DMCH reproduction door handles were made available a gentleman in a land far far away (California) named Bill Lai sandcasted his own replacement handles and sold them to DMC owners as early as 1984 IIRC. In the first kits he advised drilling and tapping the original handle pivots to a 4-40 thread which worked fine for anyone with the finesse neccessary to work with such small drilling and taping procedures. When many people failed to get the job done correctly he improvised a cottered clevis pin with a metal sleeve which made assembly easier but introduced some slop into the system which is at least one of the issues with your door at this point.

If my memory is correct I purchased that handle from you something like 10 years ago. I installed it when purchased, and its only in the last year or so that I've started having trouble with the door latches.

With the cable mount bent back to the correct position things seem to be working reliably now. Every once in a while I accidentally close the door on the seat belt (the seat belt return spring is kind of weak. I guess I should clean or replace it). Maybe one of those times things jammed up enough that when I pulled on the external handle I bent the cable mount.

[PJ Grady Inc.]

If my memory is correct I purchased that handle from you something like 10 years ago. I installed it when purchased, and its only in the last year or so that I've started having trouble with the door latches.

With the cable mount bent back to the correct position things seem to be working reliably now. Every once in a while I accidentally close the door on the seat belt (the seat belt return spring is kind of weak. I guess I should clean or replace it). Maybe one of those times things jammed up enough that when I pulled on the external handle I bent the cable mount.

I haven't sold those handles in at least 25 years (Since Bill passed away circa 1990) so I think your chronology may be off a bit. Seat belts can't be serviced so your only option would be to replace.
Rob