About 8 years ago I restored my 914 (1974 1.8). When I did the bodywork I check the longitunals and everything was fine. No rust. The doors shut fine at the time. Well a few weeks ago I was opening the passenger door and noticed that it was “tight”. It was like it was sticking. I can lift up on the door slightly and it will close fine. Question. Is it the longs or the door? It is just the right door. And it isn’t bad. Most people wouldn’t even notice. The driver’s door opens fine. I am going to look around on it this weekend and wanted a good starting point. I have the last week off of this year and the first week of ’05 and plan on doing the inner long reinforcement kit from 9R if that is the problem. Do the ones for the outer longs work? I have read that some think they do and some think they don’t.

Thoughts?

Is it worse with the top off? Have you tried the big butt test? Those will tell you if it's the longs.

big butt test?


it is with the top off. i will put the top on and see if it is diffrent.

the big but test is ,, you open and close the door from the outside and it closes fine,, then you remove the roof and find a buddy , preferably the large size ones and you ask him to sit as back as he can or even stand up on the seat and try your door again if the are stiff , it just failed the big butt test and you long are dead,,,, i hope for you it is not that!! good luck

So if the longs are dead do i replace the inner long reinforcement or the outer or both?

if it fail the test, remove your rocker panel and poke around with a good ole big screw driver , may be it is only your inner rocker that is in need of attention, a rusty rocker can increase flex dramatically, you can replace them separatly depending on which one needs attention , only the screw driver will tell

Ok I still haven’t pulled the rockers but just to give an update. I did the “butt test” and it changed nothing. I put the top on and it made no difference. I did it with the top off… the same. I hope to pull the rockers this weekend to see if it is the longs. I pulled up the carpet to look at the inside longs (and poked around with a screwdriver) and they were fine. Why oh why is the right door not closing correctly. I don’t like to lift up on the door to close it.

This may seem overly obvious but check your hinges and the bolts, and where the hinges mount, if you haven't done that already.

Ian Stott
Moncton
Canada

thats the first thing i did. all the bolts were fine. i'm scared it is the longs.

One other thing you could check is the door latch mechanism in the door. I had the same symptoms on mine, so I ended up taking out the mechanism out of the door. I found the latch was gunked up with lube and dirt. I blasted it with a can of brake cleaner and it loosened up the latch. The doors now pop open when the door latch is activated.

Seem to me that if the longs were folding up on you, the door would jam at the top and "lifting it up" would make it worse. If lifting up helps close it, either the door is sagging... hinges... or latch is off... both things already mentioned.

You can shim the hinge mount.

If you want to see a bad fitting door check out this photo... Purple marker line is where the fender ended before I added metal to bring it in closer to the profile of the door. Previously replaced fender on this car + general fitment differences in 914 parts can create some big gaps!... nearly 10mm of gap in some places before cosmetic surgery.

- Dave

Thanks. Didn't think about the hinges. I will check it out this weekend. I hope that that is what it is....


Also just to let you guys know, when the door is shut it lines up with the body panels.

Well I just want to thank everyone for helping and reminding me to check everything before I go and do the hard stuff first. I pulled the door panel and removed the door latch. Sure enough it was gunked up. I sprayed it with degreaser and cleaned it. Sprayed white lithium on it and it work great. Reinstalled it all and the door now works better than my new cars!!