The Stovebolt Site Forums The Shop Area Paint and Body Shop Doors 1959 3600: Doors have 1/4 inch play in and out when closed

I've adjusted the doors on my 1959 3600. After much effort and with the help of a friend, I've been able to get a decent alignment of the doors to the cab. With the strike plates out, the doors fit in their pockets nicely. With the striker plates installed, the doors close but they have play back and forth once closed. That is, with the door handle you can push the door towards the seat and pull the door away from the seat and get play. This back and forth looseness is about a 1/4 inch. It seems the latch is not snug around the striker plate and therefore the door has play. I've adjusted the striker plates several times. Having the striker plates adjusted inboard as far as possible seems to work best. I would adjust the striker plates inboard even further if I could. There doesn't seem to be any adjustment for the latch. The striker plates and latches are new, as is door weather stripping. Each door has new lower hinges and rebuilt upper hinges. I'm out of ideas of how to get the play out of the doors when closed. Any ideas would be much appreciated.
James

you might have some new rubber that isn't "fat" enough? usually proper new rubber on the TF trucks makes them hard to latch, as in need to be slammed shut until eventually the rubber gets squashed down a bit ... how's the fit in/out with the striker adjusted all the way inward? flush with the body or sitting proud?

having effectively assembled the works with a collection of parts, you're faced with coming up with the unique solution that will improve the fit .... at the factory they'd have just changed more parts until it passed

Bill

I agree with red58. Your weather striping may not be as thick as the original. I don't know if your latches are like my 59 GMC Bigbolt LCF, but maybe you can "slot" the strikers with a round file or Dremel tool, to move them inward toward the seat.

The doors are not flush with the body with strikers adjusted all the way in. The rear of the doors are 1/8 to 1/4 inch out. The front of the doors are flush.
All the new parts, including weather stripping came from "Classic Chevy Truck Parts of America," for whatever that's worth. If the weather stripping is the issue, then I guess I'll have to do that job over again. Somehow I'm having difficulty getting excited for that again. Any suggestions on where to get a beefier set of weather stripping? Before I do that however, I'll probably try slotting the strikes as Old GMC Gold suggests. Thanks Bill
James

Yeah, that shows the problem, If the doors are flush at the front and the rear is out...then the strikes have to go IN. Either by slotting them, or the panel that holds the nuts.
(If I am thinking right as to what your latch an striker looks like)

I am just going by what mine look like.

Is it possible the two strike plates got switched?

I don't have a 59, but do the striker plates have two spots to catch on? If so, do you know for sure that it's catching on the second (most closed) spot with the striker plate all the way in? I'm wondering if you're just on the first latch. Most GM's have a double latch, including my 46, so you might want to check that if you haven't? Just a thought.

the best -and correct- weatherstrip comes from Steele Rubber Products, you might ask Classic who makes theirs, if it's "SoffSeal", that's your problem .... also, as 46 suggests, make sure the door is actually latching all the way, the door side of the latch does have a 2 stage action

Bill

Very weird. as said. New rubber should make it tight. Is it possible, besides what Caso said , that you have rubber on wrong? I don't think I would elongate holes yet until re thinking and being sure all parts are correct side and right side up and so on. I have seen many doors not fit flush and have uneven gaps but not being able to have an in and out tight fit with new rubber and latch/catch , I have not seen. Just to throw it all out there...sometimes you get parts from the wrong era.

Thanks for all your suggestions! The striker plates are side specific. I'll double check that they're on the proper side. The strikers only have one place to catch on.
The weatherstrip wasn't side specific but was for the doors. I replaced it, using the old strip that was still in place, as a model. The plastic pegs imbedded in the new strip were properly placed to go into the holes in the door for a good fit.
The two-stage action of the latch could be an issue. I've noticed no two-stage action of the latches, including when I manually close the latch with the door open. It only goes one click, no more. And the door, when closed, does feel like a door that didn't get closed all the way. I'll have to examine the latches now that I know they are two stage. Thanks, James

You are on the right track because you are going over everything. We are not suggesting you are not careful, just good to go down the list again. BTW: The door is supposed to be slightly lifted by the striker as it engages the striker. I just asked about the rubber because it can be put on wrong even with all the retainer pins snapped in place. The strikers could be put on the wrong side and up side down. Also are you sure the door strips are NOT side specific? I think they have to be? If they are preshaped to the contour of the doors and the cross section of the rubber has to be a certain way, they must be side specific. I have done TF doors and now I can't remember, just thinking out loud. I know you said you copied the old door seals. WARNING. the seals CAN BE put on wrong and look right and will not seal as yours are doing. It is possible the old one's were on wrong or you just flipped it. This is most likely your problem. You need to go on the internet on the Brothers Truck Parts website. They have a complete installation of 55-59 door seals showing how it can be put on wrong so you can see and compare.

The door rubber on a TF IS side specific.

only if you get the [best] molded in one piece rubber, the "by the foot" open end type will go on either side or the back barn doors

Bill

I guess I lucked out with either LMC or Classic... I don't recall which I ordered them from,I used both. Mine did come with the color coded T clips as a 'clue' and they fit great. Of course that didn't stop me from putting them on the wrong door and backwards or backwards on the correct door before I got happy with those lousy suppliers and their cheap foriegn goods

Steele is pre molded, side specific. Now I know I'm not crazy. Yahoooo! Steele is about 3X more than Chinese, but in this case, well worth it. You can still put Steele's on backwards. Being side specific never stops me!

This if "for what its worth" dept.

Not sure if the 59 latch is anywhere close to my 52 but I had the same problem as someone mentioned above where when the door is closed it would "push in" a little, or "pull out a little". The driver door does great but I tried and tried to get the passenger side adjusted without any success.
Then one day when ordering some parts I figured what the heck and ordered that little clip that goes over the door latch. I snapped it over the latch in about 15 seconds and shut the door. I was then jumping around the shop whooping and hollering (can you imagine that) because the door shut nice and snug. Wow....
I also recommended this to a fellow bolter and he did the same thing, and it worked for him to.

Now, not saying its the problem but it sure worked for me. Still closing good while I hunt for a good latch!

If it's that "repair clip" I always wondered what that did. It says 47-63. Good Idea Alvin. Shape of a "3", $2.99

That's it and I still can't believe that little sucker did what it did. I'd worked with that door on and off for weeks. For the cost it may be worth a try?

The weatherstripping I got is part # 03-012 from Classic Chevy Truck Parts of North America. I'll take another look at my installation of it. It has been several months since I installed it so I might not be remembering everything correctly about the installation. I'll check out the Brother's website as bartamos mentioned as well.
I just recently saw those clips that Achip mentioned and thought about ordering a pair. Thanks for the idea.
I should get back to the truck in the next day or two. I'll keep you all updated on this odyssey. James

bartamos, I copy you about the door being lifted slightly by the striker as the latch hits the striker. They do that. I know the strikers aren't upside down, but still possible the strikers are on the wrong side. I'll check.
I believe my weatherstripping came in one long piece. As it says in the description on the Classic Chevy Trucks website, "enough for both doors." And I know I had to cut it to fit. So if it was just one long piece for both doors, then mine unfortunately wasn't side specific. But I could have still put it on backwards. I'll check.
I'll also check with Classic to find out the manufacturer, as Bill suggested. James

James, if you are doing a driver, what you have is do-able. If you are doing something higher than a driver, Steele is the only rubber I would use. Also you have more rain than the average bear. Steele is USA made in their extrusion/molding factory to exact specs and quality control. I believe Red 58 has sent them examples and they have used them to create tooling for several products. Best regards.

Well, it turned out that the striker plates positions were the problem on both doors. They both needed to actually be moved out and not in!
It was the info from Bill about the latches having two closed positions that got me to thinking. Originally I could push the latch by hand to the first closed position. I couldn't move it to a second position by hand and therefore I was assuming there was only one closed position.
Now knowing about the two closed postions, I used pliers and was able move the latch to the second position. It's also obvious looking at the backside of the switch that there are two closed positions. The second position, however, is much stiffer to latch into than the first.
So now I realized that the strikers were too far in, and the door was running out of space against the cab when being closed. Therefore, the door was tight against the body before the latch could go into its second closed postion.
As for the weatherstripping, I did have it on backwards, as bartamos thought might be the problem. That wasn't causing the problem however because I was able to fix the door looseness while it was still on backwards. But I have since taken it off and put it on correctly. Now the doors fit snug and you have to slam them to get them to shut all the way as Bill said it would be. Also, the weatherstripping did come new as two pieces, but they were cut to fit.
Thanks for all your help guys! I hope to post some photos of the truck soon. FYI, this Apache is a driver and a work truck. It ranks high in character and patina.
James

excellent outcome, thanx for the report, and for keeping another old one on the road

Bill

I don't know how hard you have to slam the door, but if you don't want to have to slam it, you can move the striker outward a smidge. Once the foam squishes into place over time, then move the striker into the correct position. I did that on mine and it worked nicely.
Carl

Thanks for the tip Carl!

i have 55 2nd. had that problem YESTERDAY. kept trying everything. the latch on door is wore. put a piece of steel (experiment with different thickness) behind the latch on door. behind the part that rotates to lock and un lock on stricker. i used little pieces of wood til i found right thickness. when door latches there is no movement in or out. in restoration stage, so theres no rubber in yet.