Door Drop

[Keith66]

Hi All

 

Mid restoration on my 1972 Pi.

 

Not surprisingly on a 45 year old car i have a bit of drivers side door drop or so it would seem.

 

Didn't really notice before the repaint as its been in bits (many many bits) for a while (many many years).

 

But having put the door back together, windows locks etc and striker plate its evident as i have to slightly lift the door to get it to latch. it is not evident on the pass door which shuts fine but thats as to be expected due to much less use over the years, probably.

 

So i made the assumption thatr the hinges were worn and got some new ones and painted them so they are all nice and shiny.

 

Took the door off and removed the old hinges and whilst there was a little play it was nowhere near as much as expected give the door lift required to get it to latch.

 

Obviously the new ones had zero play and so i popped them on anyway as it was in bits.

 

But to my consternation i still have to lift the door to get it to latch properly.

 

So is it a matter of correct door alignment or is the door flexing (or something else) and what can i do to improve things?

 

The door alignement I've tried is abit hit and miss so if there is a correct methodology to follow please please tell me.

 

Cheers

 

Keith

 

 

 

[boxofbits]

Hi Keith

 

I'd suggest first of all removing the striker plate on the B post completely then holding the door shut. The swage lines between door and rear wing/ front wing should align within a millimetre or so. Also is the vertical gap between rear wing and door about parallel and not too wide? If it's out if parallel more than 1/8" to 3/16" max then you'd need to correct this.

 

If all is well then refit the striker plate, carefully close door to roughly position striker plate, then adjust up/down or in/out until door shuts smoothly.

 

Kevin

[bob-menhennett]

Keith

Just adding info to Kevin's post. One to keep up your sleeve , if the basic adjustments don't get you close.

If you run out of adjustment on the bolt positions, you can obtain Shims / packing pieces for the hinges Part 610042 ( same part no but why a description of "packing " for TR4/4A and a "shim" for TR5/6 ?? Discuss sometime .)

 

Providing it doesn't put your gaps out , shimming the lower hinge may just "lift " the door sufficiently.

Bob

[stuart]

The holes in the "A" post for the hinges are pretty large and will give you quite a range of adjustment, just slacken the bolts through the "A" post slightly then shut the door and make sure the swage lines line up and the gap is correct then tighten the bolts again. You may need to adjust the striker plate too to get it right but I havent had to actually shim any doors for 4/5/6`s for years as there is normally enough movement in the holes.There is also the ultimate "Slight" adjustment of opening the door a small amount and then jack it up!

Stuart.

[Pete Holmes]

My doors both kick out slightly at the bottom, at the rear 'B' post end, this seems quite a common problem on TR4/5/6s. Any advice on getting over this as spoils my restoration ?

Also, I have furflex door seals from Moss in black, ate there better ones available that are possibly not so wide so doors shut easier but still seal ?

Thanks

[stuart]

To get the rear bottom corner of the door back into line remove the door card and fit a piece of wood about 3"X2" at the top of the door by the swage line between it and the "B" post front edge that just shows in front of the rear wing edge so the door is part held open and then using a large "G" clamp hooked into the bottom corner of the door frame and over a bit of wood across behind the lower bottom re-enforcing triangle. Then wind the clamp in, you will need to go past where you need to be as it will tend to spring back so it may take a few goes before you get it correct.

Do be aware though if you have any sign of cracking at the top of the door at each end of the window slot then doing this may exacerbate that problem. This method is best applied whilst the shell is in build.

The door seals I use these which are similar to the original TR6 ones but unfortunately only available in plain rubber.http://www.woolies-trim.co.uk/p-1285-door-seal.aspx

When building the car its always best to check the gap between the lip where the door seal sits and the door frame as with a judicious bit of bending you can improve the fit of the door with the seals fitted no end. More difficult to achieve on a built car unfortunately

Stuart.