The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop How to adjust door closure

I finally got tranny straight and test drove today. Now I’m moving on to the next task of installing door weatherstripping, window felt and door glass. But the doors don’t close all the way. How do you adjust it. Or should I wait to get everything fixed on the door first

Thanks for any advice.
Doug

The door should have two clicks looking at your picture it looks like the latch is only on its first click of the mechanism you can open the door and exercise the mechanism and lube it to see if it works proper if it does then the striker plate may need to be moved forward .

Hi Doug,
I'd get the doors adjusted first and then remove the doors and install the weatherstrip. Weatherstrip of 7/16" to 1/2" thick will make the doors work a lot better. Good luck!

If your door is only catching on the safety catch, you will need to move the striker toward the outside of the truck so that the primary catch will engage the striker.

Before you start adjusting things, open the door and swing it out. Grip the door firmly to do an up and down movement. You are looking for free movement that can indicate worn hinge pins. If the hinges/pins are worn, you may not get all you want in the adjustments. It's my 2 cents from watching a body shop man repair a door, more than 50 years ago, back when these trucks were daily drivers.

Bouymaker offers sage advice on assessing the condition of the hinge pins before moving forward with latch issues.
I will add that some worn out hinges can also be very rusty. This rust will sometimes make the hinges seem tight and just fine when they are not. If the hinge pin is heavily worn and the holes are wallered out, but backfilled with corrosion, everything will be out of position and the door won't behave as designed.