Door catch striker help

[gdizzle]

66 dart sedan, the door catch is giving me fits. On the pass side, closing the door requires a hearty slam. And sometimes a few slams until it finally stays shut.
I spent over an hour and over 70 slams to try to get it working right. It seems that once I get it in the right height, I then cant get it to close to the 2nd click (hitting the door inner frame). So then I figure I need to pull it out towards outside of car, but there is no option. It wont let me pull it out, instead it wants to travel up and out, or down and out, but not straight out. I also notice that if I dont seriously torque the screws in, then if I do a test and slam it, the striker plate slides back towards car and I have to restart.
Any ideas?

 

[cudascott]

How well does the door line up to the the quarter with the striker removed?

 

[PocketAces]

I can't think of any reason for the observed behavior that you can't move the strike straight out. I would fully loosen the screws or even fully remove them to make sure the backing plate with the threaded holes is free to move whereever it needs to.

Keep in mind that in addition to in & out and up & down, you also have the ability to rotate the strike, so perhaps that is your problem. Also lube the latch mechanism to be sure everything is working smoothly.

Make sure the hinges are adjusted properly. With the strike fully removed, close the door and make sure the body lines line up between the door and the quarter panel, both up & down, and in & out at both the top and bottom of the door. You shouldn't be using the strike adjustment to correct for misaligned or sagging hinges.

To get the strike good and tight, be sure you are using the right size phillips screwdriver. Not sure the number, but you need a big one. You should have conical lock washers on the srews and I would lubricate the screws so you get more clamping force for the same amount of torque.

Hopes this all makes sense.

 

[cudascott]

I can't think of any reason for the observed behavior that you can't move the strike straight out.

The hole behind the striker is round and if moved up as high as possible it has to come down to move in or out.

 

[whitepunkonnitro]

66 dart sedan, the door catch is giving me fits. On the pass side, closing the door requires a hearty slam. And sometimes a few slams until it finally stays shut.
I spent over an hour and over 70 slams to try to get it working right. It seems that once I get it in the right height, I then cant get it to close to the 2nd click (hitting the door inner frame). So then I figure I need to pull it out towards outside of car, but there is no option. It wont let me pull it out, instead it wants to travel up and out, or down and out, but not straight out. I also notice that if I dont seriously torque the screws in, then if I do a test and slam it, the striker plate slides back towards car and I have to restart.
Any ideas?

The latch is probably shot

 

[gdizzle]

what is a conical lock washer? I am gonna remove the whole thing and see what is going on. There is a shim BTW. Also I hear springy noises when I start loosening to the point of it being very loose.

 

[PocketAces]

what is a conical lock washer?

 

[RedFish]

Mine is a 67. The hinge wear issue was corrected at the drivers door a few years ago. The same wear issue has slowly gotten worse at the passengers door. It is now to the point where needs the same hinge service. I'm only guessing yours is the same.
I'll go ahead and add the mechanical latch issue I found.. The latch post had rubbed the latch parts enough to roll burrs over the edges of those parts. Removing, filing, cleaning, and lubricating that latch so it works like new was a lot of additional work in the same door open and close repair. That's my reason for putting off the passengers door service.