My doors won't shut with being slammed (help).

[Phacade]

I'll post this in the body/paint forum as well as I am sick and tired of my doors. My '73 240Z has doors that just don't want to click. I have to slam the poop out of them to get them to stay shut all the way. If I simply close them gently or my wife does, it closes but one could jiggle the door maybe 1/2" or so. The solution up until now is to slam it hard, sometimes three or four times, to get it to shut. There has got to be some way to adjust them so you can shut it regularly and it stay shut and not jiggle. Of couse when it jiggles, it will not lock. Please help!! timberwolf@geotec.net

[joeytekno]

damn .. i have the same problem .. same year car.. i have been adjusting the latch like crazy it still wont work.. sucks.. oh well

[Mr Camouflage]

If I remember correctly (and It's been a long time since I owned a 240z, It was a 71, but I imagine the latches were the same.) the door latch works like this:

The door frame has a striker plate (or catch plate) that has a cirlcular hole (like a C shape) with a notch cut out the bottom.

The door has a circluar locking bit like a O shape with 2 lugs on it.

When you shut the door the first lug strikes the edge of the striker plate, rotating the O shaped bit and it rotates so the second lug fits into the notch in the strikerplate and locks in this position, thus holding the door shut. Untill you pull the handle to open the door then a spring causes the O shaped bit to rotate back allowing the door to open.

What happens is the Lugs wear down the corners of the Striker plate, so that when you shut the door the other bit doesn't rotate enough to shut the door properly. It rotates to the first position enough to stop the door opening, but not enough to hold it firmly shut, which is why the door moves, and why you have to really slam it hard to make it rotate to the second (fully closed) position.

I've heard the best way to adjust the striker plate is to loosen the bolts, reposition the striker plate, do up the bolts so they hold it in position,but not too tight, you want the plate to be able to move slightly. Hold the door handle in the open position and shut the door hard without releasing the handle and open the door again and tighten up the bolts. I've never tried this. I just fiddled around with the stiker plate untill i got it right.

If adjusting the striker plate doesn't work you may be able to build up the corners again by welding (I'm not welder so I don't know if this would work) some metal to it and file or grinding it back to its original shape. Or easyer (maybe, i don't know how available they are) get some new striker plates.

If I knew how to upload picture I'd draw a diagram. A picture's worth a thousand words.

Mr C

[datsrex]

I used to have the same problem on my 72 240, but after hours of cursing and filing the striker plate to make it close easier, I discovered that there's a little rubber boot that's supposed to fit over the lobe on the latch. Over the years, as the door sags, the rubber boot wears out and drops off. Just the loss of thickness of that boot causes the latch to begin to rotate too late as the door is closed, which makes it difficult to close without slamming.

My solution? Get a new boot. Trouble is, you can't buy just the boot, you must buy the whole latch assembly to get the boot! What I found is that the 69-73 510 uses the same latch assembly, and the rear doors of the 510 4-door sedan and wagon latches are often still in good shape from less use. I pulled a few of these from 510s in the salvage yards several years ago. Perhaps someone else knows of another source?

Also, I've found that an out-of-alignment (sagging) door will cause the new boot to wear out quickly, so it's best to replace worn hinges or realign the door before installing a new boot.

Hope that helps!

Rex