65 door latch questions

[65Valiant310]

Hey all, im having trouble closing my door without slamming it really hard on my 65 valiant

I installed some new windlace and now it it even harder to close

I adjusted the latch out farther, in closer, at angles, etc and cannot get it to work correctly,

Could it be door hinge pins?

Any help would be great...thanks!

 

[kenabody]

Yes, the lower door hinge is prone to rapid wear. Unlike the upper door hinge (which has a steel pin passing through bronze oilite bushings), the lower hinge is a steel to steel affair, which is not the best design for long service life. I often wonder if one engineer designed the upper hinge, and another designed the lower hinge!
The door tension spring (which acts to hold the door in the half open and full open position), while not prone to breakage, has a nylon bushed roller wheel wlhich craps out rapidly, due to pressure exerted by the spring on the relatively soft nylon bushing. When this happens, the door will not (reliablly) stay open.
But I think your problem may involve the exposed latching mechanism on the door itself. If you examine this mechanism, you should see a spring loaded white nylon piece that should be free to move, and which should "spring" back (or unload) when the door is open. Check it out.
KenAbody

 

[65Valiant310]

thanks, any idea where to get a new nylon piece?

 

[waggin]

have the doors and fenders been removed from the car at some point in time for a repaint?if so then the front of the doors needs to be moved away from the body and also the rear of the fenders,I had this same problem on two diffrent early a bodies so I install the windlase temporarily when adjusting doors and fenders when repainting from now on.Hope this was helpful. wagg's

 

[kenabody]

BTW, the factory service manual shows this piece...the only source for this that I am aware of is the junkyard.
Ken A.