Door striker posts.

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Revhendo

Revhendo

Master ACME Tech
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OK, so I had to fix (had it fixed) my striker post when I got my Val. The first metal guy spot welded the broken piece back in then slapped some filler on it.
I didn't catch it before it was painted. So, the second time around, it was fully stitched in. It's been a few years and I always get the feeling that I'm going to have to do this again.

So, the question is, what have you guys done for a permanent fix? This seems to be a common A body problem.
 
My drivers side was just repaired, next time I speak to my body guy I will ask him what was done. I think I have some pictures of it somewhere, I will start hunting for them....
 
Found a picture of it after being repaired, not much help without an explaination. I do know that he cut out the cracked area entirely and replaced it with another piece of metal. I will found out what he did about the captive nut......but I am pretty sure he just welded what he cut out to the back of the new plate....but I am not positive....
 

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It's not a common A-body problem but a common car door problem.
The striker post isn't supposed to carry the door. If the door hinges are serviced regularly there isn't a problem.
 
www.dynamicrenovation(s).com has repair panels for both driver & passenger sides. Unfortunately, I believe they are updating their site. Search for another post on this topic as another member found the dynamic parts somewhere else.
 
RedFish said:
It's not a common A-body problem but a common car door problem.
The striker post isn't supposed to carry the door. If the door hinges are serviced regularly there isn't a problem.
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I'm gonna disagree with you on this one. Since I've owned my '69 Valiant, I have seen or heard of this little nuisance a lot. I work at a Chevy restoratoin shop and can't say I have ever seen this happen on any of the GMs that use this type of post. (Not saying it doesn't, just saying out of the ones I've seen in the past fifteen years, I ain't seen it).

You are correct, nothing beats proper maintainence. The latching mechanism is a part of the vehicles integrity, though. Proof would be opening the doors when the vehicle is on a lift. Or, referencing my 73 shop manual for my Roadrunner, it actually states that the striker is supposed to pull the door down when latching.
 
inkjunkie said:
Found a picture of it after being repaired, not much help without an explaination. I do know that he cut out the cracked area entirely and replaced it with another piece of metal. I will found out what he did about the captive nut......but I am pretty sure he just welded what he cut out to the back of the new plate....but I am not positive....
Click to expand...

Hey, that looks familiar! LOL. I'ld be interested to know if he put an extra piece back there to reinforce it.
 
Dan and Dart, thanks for that link guys. I never even knew these guys existed. That's a cool site. I also noticed that they had door handle reinforcement plates. I hadn't been inside the doors in a long time, but I was wondering about that, too.
 
Just got done with this repair on my buddys duster I went to a junk yard found a good one and cut it out large and cut out bad section useing the contour line that are there and slowly snuck up on it by trimming, grinding,sanding and fileing untill it fit perfectly skip welded it all around sanded weld off and its nearly ready for paint with no filler.cost 0 dollars just some patiance.
 
It's not enough to just weld up the area. You need to add a layer of reinforcement metal to the back side. Before '71 or '72 the factory didn't do it. In later years they did (you'll find a reinforcement plate in there). The cage for the captive nut needs to be removed first and then a layer added. Of course, you want to make sure your door hinges aren't worn out too.
 
Anybody elses car have the big dent inside on the top of the door from people throwing a shoulder into it to get it open??
 
inkjunkie said:
Anybody elses car have the big dent inside on the top of the door from people throwing a shoulder into it to get it open??
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I once had a car with stiletto heel marks in the headliner above the back seat.
 
Revhendo said:
I'm gonna disagree with you on this one. Since I've owned my '69 Valiant, I have seen or heard of this little nuisance a lot. I work at a Chevy restoratoin shop and can't say I have ever seen this happen on any of the GMs that use this type of post. (Not saying it doesn't, just saying out of the ones I've seen in the past fifteen years, I ain't seen it).

You are correct, nothing beats proper maintainence. The latching mechanism is a part of the vehicles integrity, though. Proof would be opening the doors when the vehicle is on a lift. Or, referencing my 73 shop manual for my Roadrunner, it actually states that the striker is supposed to pull the door down when latching.
Click to expand...

GM ( Fisher ) and Ford bodies are a little stronger at the striker post. No body's perfect :)
 
Here's what I did on a 68 Barracuda with the patch kit from Dynamic renovations
 

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The Dynamic Renovations kit is a very good kit. I tried using it on my but my jambs were way too gone so I'm replacing mine. Have them in the garage and should get them done this winter.
 
My dart convertible drivers door was torn clear off, welded, and brazed back on before I got the car. The striker was a permanent fixture. I had to cut away all the bad metal, pieced in a clean section from a 4 door clean car, then added a thick plate to the rear (don't recall the thickness but it was substantial). From the shiny side there is no difference and it works like a charm. The downfall is it is a horrible spot to try to weld from the backside to get the plate in there. When done I leaded the area so it is all metal. I was fortunate that I was doing 1/2 panels too, so I had a bit more room, but not much. Here are pics from along the way. Although I don;t have a painted photos of that area, but believe me it is near to perfect.
 

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The reason E bodys don't have this problem is because there reinforcement plate isn't attached the the inside of the jam. (it's floating behind it) Normal opining and closing puts a lot of side load on the striker plate which is either non existent or welded to the jam on an A body...
 
Thanks guys for the input. There is some very appreciated info and excellent work here.
At least I can formulate a plan should it happen again OR maybe even plan a preemptive fix.
 
I am hoping this will be my winter project. I have the striker area out of a 74 to patch in. Good luck to you on yours. I also think there is a post in the members s=resto forum on this same subject. I can't remember who has it.
 
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