The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors

I guess this would fall under paint and "body" work.

How do I fix the problem with my doors of when I close them they close and the latch catches but you can still pull them open a little. Its like there is slack in the door latch?

I guess the AD's have adjustable stricker plates? If so you loosen the mounting bolts for them and slide them towards the inside a little bit, snug em and check, keep doing that till it does what you want. If you run out of adjustment then the weather strip around the door is old and worn out likely or not there.

lucky7matt,

1953 3/4 ton Chevrolet truck?

There are adjustments that can be made:

door adjustment (locate the door in the center of the cab opening)
then
door striker plate adjustment (in/out and up/down) - if these parts are significantly worn, a seemingly tightly latched door can slip out and rattle.

Is there significant wear on the contact surfaces on the striker plate and/or on the door lock/latch?

With you doors open, how tight are your hinges/hinge-pins (up and down movement of the door? (loose hinges cause significant rattling and can allow the latch/catch to loosen).

What is the condition of the door seal? (on/around the door). If all mechanical parts are tight, the seal is really a draft-seal, not an anti-rattle seal. However, a good/tight door seal will lessen rattle and maybe lessen door movement when you have other loose parts.

In a stripped-down restoration, before installing the door seal, we try to set up tight doors that cannot be moved/rattled when closed (with no seals in place).

It sounds like the guts of your latch mechanism is worn, or if you are lucky, gummed up. I had to totally disassemble my drivers side one and tig-weld badly worn pieces to replace missing metal. I used the passenger side latch as a template to know what things are supposed to look like as the passenger door is generally not subject to as much use and abuse. It was a very challenging but rewarding experience!