64 door won't stay closed

Hi, Due to difficulty opening Passenger door on a '64B, I tore it down and replaced the locking mechanism with one from a '63b. Things seemed to line up fine and all worked well. I buttoned it up and things were still fine. When we went out for a short ride the door opwned and closed fine but over some bumps the door would pop open just a bit - enough so you would feel it if you checked it with your hand from inside while you were riding. I stopped the car & sure enough it popped open @ 1/8" by the door handle. Anybody got any ideas on how to fix this? -plus man that isn't a lot keeping those doors closed!

Tim,
If it were on a later model I could help. I think on a '64 they were of a more simpler design--someone will be along soon to help.
For now, I believe this was a problem early on (I've heard stories). For one thing, I would check door alignment in either case and tightness of hinge bolts on door. The bumps that un-latched the door may have caused the door to move up or down. Maybe an alignment to better sit in the "U" shaped locking lug (?) is the solution. Are the door gaps too opened or closed when looking from the outside?
Sorry, thats the best I can do. Good luck
Rob

Tim: I had the same problem, so I just kept it locked. The door seal seemed to be too thick and put pressure on the catch. Obvioulsly that is the least of my challenges now. Pauor Emmanuel should chime in with your solution soon.

MGAs had similar problems and most such occurences could be laid at the feet of body flex. Convertibles tend to display more body flex, especially at the door openings simply because there is not nearly the rigidity at that point as there is with coupes, like the GT. It may or may not indicate some weakness of the sheet metal construction running fore and aft across the doorway, but more likely, it is the result of the body twisting due to unequal loads entering the suspension system from the uneven road. Next time it happens, note if it occurs during a bump in the road that affects one corner more than the others. If it does, some resetting of the latching mechanism to counteract the door's and doorway's movement relative to each other may be all you can do.

You can adjust the position of the latch onthe car body, or you can remove the interior trim and bend the flange in a bit where needed to increase the gap between the door and the seal. If tis too tight it will prevent the latch from closing completely - at least that's how the later ones work. A little light mallet work on the flange may be all you need to get it fixed, although moving the latch mechanism is the correct way to fix it.

There are a number of issues and each must be look after. The catch on the car body itself should be free of excessive wear and aligned properly--both up and down and with the shimming behind the catch piece. Next, the pin in the door that catches the "catch" on the body and it must not be excessivly worn. Replacement parts are available from Moss. Not a hard job with a good vice-anvil, hammer and a sutable drift. With the flex seal removed, you can see if the door pin is smoothly lining up with the catch. Adjust as required. Remember to leave room for replacement of the flex seal. Yes, the fuxxy ones from the primary sources are waaay too fat and cause hours upon hours of frustration in trying to make things fit correctly. MacGreggors sells the proper seal. Although nothing will makeup for misaligned resoration welding as is the case with my '64. I had to trim a little fuzzy seal away at an extreme pressure point. Seems the body shop didn't get everything just so.

In any case, I have found that all of my door-popping-open issues went away when I carefully installed new pins, new catches and new Magreggor's seals.

The early B's were certainly prone to doors popping open. My B had seatbelts added by a PO because of this occurance. Many years ago, I replaced the striker's as they were completely worn ($10 at Moss). I had to grind in a latching point on the new ones to get the doors to close properly. The other problem is the latch. There is a pin that fits in the striker, these get worn as well. My doors are in a few dozen pieces in my basement right now and I opted to buy the Moss Latch repair kit to replace the worn parts. This is not a trivial task. You have to drill out rivets and have the tools to reassemble. I'm doing a frame up (unibody up?) restoration so I am doing these sort of repairs as routine.

Guess I should proof read. "Paul or Emmanuel"

Timothy,

Question--does the door shut easily? What I'm thinking is that if its dfficult to shut then its likely the door gasket. If it shuts easily and then pops open under road stresses, then it the latching components.

I knew what you meant Bill!

Pau

Yeah, 1st thanks for the reply's - Yes the door shuts easily (whereas before it was difficult to open from the inside and sticky to pull open from the outside) hence my attempt to repair w/ another locking mechanism from an earlier car. BODY FLEX- yeah I can buy that -especially w/ this car. But considering the fact that it never popped open before w/ the 1st latch - my money is now on a combination of the 2 - flex & a new lock. - So since I like the way it opens & closes now I guess I'll try to adjust the lock - now let me see -ok - I'll try to move the lock back towards the trunk more in hopes that it will jam itself more into the pin on the body . I'll take another look at the pin and post 2 be sure that wear isn't the problem. -- But like I said it never happened until I "fixed" it. Thanks again & I'd appreciate any more input.tj

Well I bookmarked this thread as I have the same issue with my '63...Thanks guys....