Crack surrounding door striker

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indirect_connection

indirect_connection

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Noticed a crack surrounding my passenger side door striker. Driver side has already had a crack welded up by a previous owner. I know what the correct fix is, but I'm not prepared to cut out my pillar and weld in a new section at the moment.

I'm curious what others have done, because this seems to be a very common problem. I'm tempted to try and weld the crack, but I only have a 220 flux welder and am afraid of blowing holes in the sheet metal.

I've considered reinforcing it with a plate on the outside of the pillar. I could plug weld it in a few spots without worrying about blowing through.

Any ideas would be appreciated.
 
I have often cut around the "cracked" metal and weld in a 3"x 3"ish piece, grind welds flush .
Be aware of the "pocket" holding the striker nut .
 
There is a repair kit you can buy. I have one for both strikers but of course I can't find it to post a pic. You'll have to cut out a section of yours and weld it in. Do a search and you'll find it. Classic Industries MP41268 for the LH.
 
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srduster340 said:
There is a repair kit you can buy. I have one for both strikers but of course I can't find it to post a pic. You'll have to cut out a section of yours and weld it in. Do a search and you'll find it. Classic Industries MP41268 for the LH.
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I think that's what he is trying to avoid, - large areas of paint /bodywork.
 
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I've seen the Dynamic Renovation kit, but I'm trying to reduce downtime. It's cruise-in season! But I don't want to ignore the problem and have to worry about the door flying open while driving.
 
The striker damage was caused by sagging hinges, ignored door/striker adjusments, and dozens of opening/closings daily.
Today's limited use, proper alignment, and hopefully hinge repair, reduces stress.
A small patch works really well with limited time, and paint touch-up required .
Lol, I was prob doing this repair before repair kits were avail. Works on old chevie vans too .
 
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i tried to buy 2 from dynamic at indy and they did not have any and he said it would be a while. call, DO NOT TRY TO EMAIL THEM. i emailed them and no response and when i told the son at indy that i did, he asked who did i send it to. i told him DAD. deer in the headlight look from him. looks like a good kit but if you can't get them ......
 
Find an experienced welder and have them weld it back. Had it done on a Duster back in the 80's.
 
The best repairs I've seen have reinforcement plates welded behind the factory sheet metal.
 
Normally when that happens, the metal around the striker is rotten and thinned out. It's best to repair like described in post #2.
 
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If you are just trying to cobble it, grind the cracks out and have someone with the right equipment and skills to weld it for you.
 
I plug welded a piece 4” blank electrical plate with a 3/4 (IIRC) KO behind the pillar.
I did have to remove and reinstall the clip -holder- bracket-whatever you call it- from inside.
 
What I did with mine after purchasing car found it was cracking, went to pick a part and grabbed some strikers from front doors on Astro vans, only need 1, they are like 1/8 thick and 3 inches in diameter covering crack and clamping around more solid metal, they are black in color. I cut the striker to just use the washer. Great temp fix did it 6 years ago and still going strong, I've got the hinge rebuild kit but to many other items come first due to slowing down.
 
My hinge seems good. So I’ll make sure I adjust it well afterwards. The nut must act like a heat sink, because I had no problem problems with my welder.

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indirect_connection said:
Noticed a crack surrounding my passenger side door striker. Driver side has already had a crack welded up by a previous owner. I know what the correct fix is, but I'm not prepared to cut out my pillar and weld in a new section at the moment.

I'm curious what others have done, because this seems to be a very common problem. I'm tempted to try and weld the crack, but I only have a 220 flux welder and am afraid of blowing holes in the sheet metal.

I've considered reinforcing it with a plate on the outside of the pillar. I could plug weld it in a few spots without worrying about blowing through.

Any ideas would be appreciated.
Click to expand...
Harbor freight sells a 99 dollar flux core welder that is perfect for sheet metal. I’ve had much better luck with it than my 220, 800 dollar Lincoln Mig
 
Not sure why I’m getting a red X but it’s true. My Lincoln mig even on the lowest voltage was burning thru my sheet metal as soon as I sparked it. The flux core does perfect. Though it’s strictly a sheet metal type welder for sure
 
Beware when doing welding on the body. Way back around 76-78 when I was driving my 68 GTS, the striker cracked around the edge. My brother worked at an International dealer-and they had a stick welder, that was long before everybody had MIG welders. Anyhow he welded it with a small rod turned down. It looked pretty decent. I backed my car out of the shop and took off down the street. My 4 speed was making a hell of a noise, turned out I ruined both of the main shaft bearings in the trans. After we cleaned the old bearings up-you could see a little burn spot where every ball was sitting. Make sure you ground it good!
 
This is caused by mis-aligned doors from worn out hinges. Its a problem that seems to happen more with the A bodys than anything else.
 
lemondana said:
Beware when doing welding on the body. Way back around 76-78 when I was driving my 68 GTS, the striker cracked around the edge. My brother worked at an International dealer-and they had a stick welder, that was long before everybody had MIG welders. Anyhow he welded it with a small rod turned down. It looked pretty decent. I backed my car out of the shop and took off down the street. My 4 speed was making a hell of a noise, turned out I ruined both of the main shaft bearings in the trans. After we cleaned the old bearings up-you could see a little burn spot where every ball was sitting. Make sure you ground it good!
Click to expand...
I was worried about that. Before welding I used an ohmmeter to check the ground connection. The seat bolt was my first idea but it showed no continuity to the sheet metal. The spring hanger bolt was much better at .3 ohms.
 
indirect_connection said:
I don't want to ignore the problem and have to worry about the door flying open
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Not likely that the door would come open because the striker and the broken piece would be captured between the door and the nut retainer . What is very likely is getting the door jambed shut as the striker gets wedged diagonally in the latch... yeah, ask me how I know this....
 
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