The right side door on my /6 doesn't close well (doesn't close completely, tends to open at inopportune left-hand moments). There's no sag that I can see. (The car passes the 200lb butt test.) If I understand correctly the trick is to loosen the striker plate screws and adjust it by trial-and-error. Trouble is, if I loosen the screws the plate behind the door jamb that they screw into seems fixed in place. Is that supposed to move? How much persuasion can I apply without damaging something?

Thx,

Skip

That plate is most likely stuck in place from 30 year old undercoating/seam sealing/goopitinthecrevice stuff. You can try knocking the plate around with a deadblow, or loosen and adjust the latch in the door as much as it will. Propane torch will also loosen the goop up but MAY bubble your paint so be careful with that idea

There's a captive plate in there that can slide around a little. It's probably just stuck to the panel. Loosen the screws a little and then lightly tap the heads of the screws in. That should force the plate away from the panel it's stuck to, allowing it to slide around freely.

w/ bondo.

Okay, I'm dredging up an old thread again. I loosened the plate by "tapping" on the screws, then tried adjusting things. Moved the plate to the four corners (up and all the way out, down and all the way in, etc). Nothing helped. Grumbled and left it alone for a week or three.

This afternoon I decided to take a peek inside the door to see if I could see anything obviously wrong with the lock mechanism itself. Hey, it was easy! So what if it shouldn't have any effect??? At any rate, at one point with the panel off I closed the door. Worked like a charm! Open it. Close it. Open it. Close it.

So it appears that the door panel is interfering with the door seals (they seem pretty new). Now I'm scratching my head about how to have my cake (door that closes) and eat it too (upholstered door). Any ideas?

Thx,

Skip

Problem solved! Went back out after dinner this evening. Hung the panel just by the three clips. Door closed fine. I then pushed in the little plastic clips while the door was closed. Still fine. Then I attached the grab handle loosely. Still good. Snug things up. Closes like a champ. Finally, I reinstalled the little chrome trim thingie around the handle. We're good to go!!!

Skip

Skip, congratulations on getting your door to close correctly.

I too tried to get my driver's door to close completely. I have the door panels off for paint prep and decided to get all of the panels aligned before the final color. Anyway, I adjusted the stricker plate as far inward as possible, but the door still stood out a 1/4". I got out my dremel and elongated the holes, inward, adjusted the striker, closed the door, but still out by 1/8". It appears that I can't adjust the stricker plate any closer as it's hitting the inside plate. I can push on the door from the outside and get it to align with the rear fender, but it won't stay, any recommendations?

-- Rob

Is it possible that the latch mechanism is worn so much that the slop in it keeps the
door from snugging up to the body properly?

Skip

Hi Skip.

I read that you may need to install a shim under the rubber wedge "latch" to compensate for some wear. Haynes p202