Door striker adjustment question.

[TommyT]

Okay here goes. I have a 93' Roadster with 36,000 miles and absolutely no evidence of collision damage whatsoever. Since buying the car I've noticed that, while traveling over moderate road imperfections or pulling out of my driveway, the interior lights come on. Upon doing the usual troubleshooting, I've noticed that the passenger side door doesn't close completely. It stays about 1/8" out from where the quarter panel is. It would stand to reason that since the car is a roadster, that there would be a significant amount of flex in the body which would cause the pin switch to loose contact with the door jamb under the right conditions if the door wasn't adjusted properly. This has been confirmed and is definitely the cause for the lights coming on.

Now to the question at hand. I have the factory shop manual and it states that the door striker can be adjusted by loosening the bolt and moving it in the direction needed for proper adjustment. The problem is that the hole in the body that the bolt goes through is the same size as the bolt, and doesn't allow any movement in order to adjust the striker. It's the same on the drivers side as well. Is this normal??? Is there another way to get the door to close more??? I looked at the latch inside the door and it doesn't look like it can be adjusted either. The only thing that makes sense to me is to open the hole in the body in order to get the striker bolt to move closer to the interior of the car, hence lining the door up properly. As you can imagine, I'm not too keen on the idea of taking a drill to the body of my car.


Any suggestions or insight???

All responses appreciated.

Tommy

 

[6speeder]

Door adjustment

Welcome to the club, Tommy. Determined to fix a minor door flex in my '93 vert, I, also, read the GM manual about repositioning the striker. Observing the same scenario you mention, the striker is not adjustable, I contacted Gordon Killebrew for his recommendation. His 'fix' was to bend the striker, using a hammer, with the striker installed in the door pillar. I would guess that was the Corvette line method for adjustment when he was part of the trouble-shooting team. I was not about to hammer on a 1/2" dia. bolt intalled in the door pillar, so I just accept the minor door rattle when crossing uneven terrain. I investigated the possibility of adjusting the door hinges, but there again, no adjustment was possible. You might have a body shop expert offer a solution. A do-it-yourself solution would be to mark the striker, in the installed position, to indicate the position you would need to bend the striker after you have removed it from the pillar. You, obviously, want to protect the striker threads. I am guessing that a 1/8" - 3/16" inboard bend would be sufficient. You might take the striker to a shop so it can be bent using a press, rather than you using a hammer and a vise. Determining the amount of the bend prior to removal will aid in having the striker bent only once. Good luck! don

 

[SoLow]

Door adjustment...Lock Pin

I contacted Gordon Killebrew for his recommendation. His 'fix' was to bend the striker, using a hammer, with the striker installed in the door pillar. I would guess that was the Corvette line method for adjustment when he was part of the trouble-shooting team.

Upon looking in my C-4 body repair guide....The way to adjust the lock pin is to tap the pin with a hammer and check the alignment often. To move the door in...tap it in....door out...tap it out . "TAP" being the key word ! I would also check and see if there's not a lot of wear on you latch and also check the condition of the weather stripping as that will also effect alignment.

 

[6speeder]

SoLow, is the "lock pin" the same item as the "striker bolt"? don

 

[JonM]

I would also check for wear at the hindges...that could also put the door out of whack.

 

[SoLow]

SoLow, is the "lock pin" the same item as the "striker bolt"? don

Yes it is

 

[6speeder]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 6speeder
SoLow, is the "lock pin" the same item as the "striker bolt"? don

Yes it is

This coincides with the response provided by Killebrew, but I just don't think that "tapping" on a 7/16" dia. bolt about 3" in length will cause the bolt to bend. I was concerned not only about damaging the pillar, but about causing the surrounding paint to fracture from the vibration. I would much prefer to try and reform the bolt out of the vette. (Just my $.02 worth of advice.)

 

[SoLow]

Quote:
Originally Posted by 6speeder
SoLow, is the "lock pin" the same item as the "striker bolt"? don

Yes it is

This coincides with the response provided by Killebrew, but I just don't think that "tapping" on a 7/16" dia. bolt about 3" in length will cause the bolt to bend. I was concerned not only about damaging the pillar, but about causing the surrounding paint to fracture from the vibration. I would much prefer to try and reform the bolt out of the vette. (Just my $.02 worth of advice.)

It is designed to withstand a 90lb. door to slam against it not only once but possably a million times so I don't think that hitting it with a hammer is going to do too much damage to it. If you take it to a body shop and let them adjust your door ...they will hit it with a hammer. Thats the way it was designed to be adjusted. Also ...If Mr. Killebrew stated thats the way to do it.....that's the way to do it in my book as he should know....Just my .02

 

[TommyT]

Forgive me for the newbie question but... Who is Gordon Killebrew????

 

[SoLow]

Gordon Killebrew

Check this out

http://www.gordonkillebrew.com/