PINTO CAR CLUB of AMERICA
Shiny is Good! => General Pinto Talk => Topic started by: demoiowa89r on February 12, 2016, 11:04:22 PM
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I can't get my passenger door to close all the way. It latchs but not tight. The striker has a washer wedged behind it. Not sure why. All help is appreciated.
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are you getting one or two latches when you close the door? The washer may or may not be factory post a picture
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This may or may not be your problem cause. The striker stud comes with a large washer at the bottom and a plastic sleeve on the shaft. The plastic sleeve occasionally fails and disappears. Loss of the plastic sleeve allows the door latch to rattle around on the stud due to the decreased diameter. For a very temporary solution, you can wrap the bare stud with tape to build it up. A permanent fix would be to replace it, see link. When unscrewing it, the threaded plate behind the door jam will probably drop. To get the plate back in position, the plastic interior panel will need to be removed to gain access. If the plastic sleeve is still in place, you may try adjusting the position of the striker stud. There are metal fingers behind the door jam to keep the threaded plate from rotating.
http://www.rockauto.com/en/catalog/ford,1974,pinto,2.3l+140cid+l4,1135156,body,door+lock+striker,1378?a=Ad%2BCode%2BFRc1433970k47112
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That's common for the bushings to wear out, especially if the door is not lined up right or the hinge pins are worn and the door sags that will tear them up quick, I just make them out of Nylatron or Delrin lot tougher than the plastic ones that come with the striker bolts..
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Yea there is no plastic around the pin. The washer is placed toward the outside of the car. It looks like it's been there awhile. I'll get A picture of it here in a little bit but sounds like it's because of the plastic.
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If you look at your latch closed you'll notice that the circle is way bigger than the striker bolt, without the bushing the latch can't grab the the bolt unless you really slam it hard, and if the door isn't lined up just right it may not shut at all..
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I had some old fuel line so I experimented and cut some and put it around the pin and close all the way now. Thank you all for the help! Changed plugs wires and coil too and runs like a top.
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Just about anything works, heck I've seen them wrapped with electrical tape, lol, glad to hear it's running good..
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I wrapped one on the driver's door of an old F-150 I had with electrical tape and it held just fine for about five years. When it finally started causing trouble again, I cut off the old tape and wrapped it again. The tape was still on there when I sold the truck a few years later and the door was still closing just fine.
Dwayne :)
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As long as the latch and striker are perfectly lined up, there's barely any wear at all to the bushing.
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..& you may already know this, but jic you don't.. the best tool to work on door hinges & door strikers is an impact driver,(the kind that's hit with a hammer to function screws on & off with), with either a #3 or #4 Phillips tip.. These areas are assembled with this type of tool originally so the degree of torque is better called, "Impact-Torque".
IHTH ;)
Michael
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Yep, one of the handiest tools around, I use it with sockets sometimes too..
(https://i.ytimg.com/vi/cUSuSn_QZmk/maxresdefault.jpg)
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Here is how I replaced my door strikers I placed two magnets one below the striker and one on top , removed the striker bolt , plate stayed in place , installed new striker bolt done in 2 minutes with no interior panels to remove to fish out the backing plate.
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Good reminder, as I need three sets.....just because I want new ones.
https://www.cjponyparts.com/door-latch-striker-bushing-1971-1993/p/HW1931/
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Those drivers are also useful on cars that have tapered head Philips screws in the brake drums.
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Just replacing just the bushing on a factory striker bolt is not easy. That large thick washer at the base has a hole with a smaller ID than the thread OD. Not sure how they manufactured it. I messed up the threads on mine when forcibly removing the washer. Maybe cutting the washer off and replacing it too. I ended up taking the easy route and replaced the whole assembly (this was when they were available from Ford). CJ sells a replacement assembly where they apparently used a washer with a larger hole ID so future bushing replacement will be easier. SSC also list a assembly but it is not obvious if it is designed the same (larger whole in washer?). Note I am assuming these are somewhat universal.
https://www.cjponyparts.com/door-striker-bolt-assembly-1979-1982/p/DLSP22/
https://www.sscenterprises.com/body-parts