[82 Conquista]

My wife loves El Caminos so a couple of her friends and I bought her a 1982 Conquista for her 40th birthday a few years ago. I am not as handy as most on this forum and I am stumped. (I am going to use incorrect terminology here..) The driver's side door was always a bit tough to close but now it won't close at all. The male part that is attached tothe body that accepts the female part of the door has moved so that they no longer line up. The door itself is positioned correctly but you can tell by looking at the paint in the door frame that the male part has moved in and down about 1/2 to 3/4 of an inch. It looks like there may be a special tool that much like a screwdriver could be used to loosen and re-position the male part. but I am not sure. I have tried leverage and blunt force to move it back to no avail. Any suggestions or should I just bring it to a body shop? Thanks in advance...

 

[DalTee]

Sounds like you need new door pins and shims. My drivers side door is sagging and has a slight line up issue. When I have the bodywork done I am going to have them fix that too. I saw a guy with a Monte Carlo not too long ago that skimped on having that fixed, painted the car, and when he finally got it fixed the lines on the two tone didn't match.

He was so upset.

 

[SINISTER]

Common on cars with incorrect door adjustment.
You have a male post on the car frame,and a c shaped catch on the door.
What has likely happened is the c is in the closed position and locked.
You'll need to pull the door handle,while prying the c part open.
Once you get the door back to how it was,get yourself a star tool and play with the male post and see if you can get the door to close correctly.
I always get bothered by folks who slam car doors.
They only need to be closed gently.
Constant slamming of the door wrecks havoc on the latch.

 

[jarhead]

While your at it, replace the striker bolt on both sides and replace the hinge bushings and pins on both side. By only doing one side you will just be postponing the inevitable. Its like headlights.. change them both and be done with it. I took my car to my mechanic and supplied all the parts. The pins and bushings were $12.00, the striker bolts were $8.00. Got them from NAPA. The mechanic charged me $75.00 to replace all the parts and alight the doors. Now my weatherstripping actually seal around the windows. FYI.. good luck:texas:

 

[John Harris]

A good independent auto body shop should be able to do this minor adjustment for you in five minutes or less, just to get it functioning again. (Another five minutes to get the door to open so he can access the male locking pin. A reasonable shop should only charge you less than $20 in order to get your good will. Any higher, go somewhere else where they repair older cars as a regular part of their business. Even a salvage yard (junk yard) might be willing to do this to get you as a customer.

 

[ccc]

most body shops wont look at it for 20$ let alone adjust it .with the door open about 4 in ,grab the bottom of the door and pick up on it .if it moves up and down the hinges are bad and need repair and must be fixed before any adjustment is made,this is a safty issue no place to cut corners. without seeing the car i would assume they kept lowering the striker to allow the door to latch,a bad thing to do.if you keep lowering the striker or readjusting bad hinges you are setting yourself up for a much bigger repair later.i have seen them so bad it cracked the door pillar at the striker, then you are in for a repair in the thousands of $ i would take it to a body shop as they are best suited for this type of job if you cant do it yourself

 

[Red Regal T]

At least try to move the striker up so that it aligns with door latch. You'll need a 3/8" drive ratchet wrench and buy a set of 3/8" drive torx bits for about $10 or $12. Find the correct size, loosen it, reposition the striker, and re-tighten and see if that works.

 

[TexasElCamino]

Mine was doing the same thing---the part that's supposed to click onto the male post would get "stuck" and not grab over that post. Thus making the door NOT close. Do like above mentioned-pull the door handle and at the same time use an open end wrench to push that c looking part in the door towards the UP position. Then, I sprayed the heck out of all I could reach with W-D 40. I have no problem with alignment of the door, just that one part was jamming up. Seems to be working fine since I sprayed it with the W-D 40. Good luck.

 

[Bobby78]

Before you move the striker (that male part) try to unlock the latch was mentioned above. If the striker isn't movig with all the force you're putting on it it probably has not moved. Maybe it was already adjusted to that position.
Get the latch unlocked and slowly move the door towards the striker. Try to eyeball and see if it looks like they will mate. If the door seems low, pull up and down on the lower rear edge of the door. If you feel alot of play then the hinge pins and bushings also need to be replaced. If the door doesn't move much try aligning the striker.

 

[Beepster]

"I always get bothered by folks who slam car doors.
They only need to be closed gently."

Ya ever do this with the windows up? Only goes to the first latch position. Either that, or gently push in, and butt the rest of the way shut. Look out dent!!!!!!:nanawrench:

 

[SINISTER]

I also find it funny..(new cars) it's nearly impossible to drive at high speeds with the windows open...
Enough turbulence to raise the dead.
Who designs these things???...Empty suits?:smileyb:

 

[82 Conquista]

Thanks everyone! I went with the star tool and was able to get the door to close. I just need it to be good enough so that my wife can drive it a bit before we sell it. It's been fun but the funds are not there for us to keep putting money in to this. Maybe again some day but for now we have to sell it. Thanks again!

 

[Bobby78]

For the record they're called "Torx" sockets.