Brian,
I'm not an expert on the doors, but here is what I discovered while adjusting
mine. There is no particular order of these suggestions:
1) The front edges of my doors were too tight. The front edge of one door
even rubbed the back edge of the front fender. I discovered that this was
because the doors had been bent slightly at the hinge mounting points. That is,
the doors had been pushed open too far bending them slightly around the hinges.
Here's how I corrected this. BE VERY CAREFUL IF YOU TRY THIS so you don't
bend the door too much. Do it just a little at a time and check the door to see
how it's fitting.
With the interior panel off the door, I braced a board between the hinge
bolts on the door, and sturdy structure in the car. I selected a board of a
length that held the door open a little. I than pushed the door CAREFULLY as if
trying to close it. This bent the door structure around the hinge back to where
it should be. I repeated this for both hinges on the door.
It is easier to find a place to brace the board if the seat and floor are out
of the car. This allows you to brace the board against the frame rail. But,
you my be able to find a strong enough point with the interior in, but be
extra careful.
2) On careful examination, I determined that my safety latches were closing
on the wrong side of the latch blocks. I needed to adjust the safety latch
blocks as far out on the door jam as possible. Even so, to engage the safety
latches properly, I have to simultaneously pull in on the door, and push OUT on
the safety latch handle. Pushing out on the handle causes the latch end to
tilt inward.
3) The primary door latch is supposed to do two clicks when you close the
door. That is, If you close the door very gently, it should click once and hold
the door closed but the door will be a little loose and wiggle in and out
easily. When you shut the door with a normal amount of force, the latch should
go
past this first click position and latch on the second click. In the second
click position, the door will be held closed snugly. If your door doesn't
latch in both of these two positions, then your door is probably latching only
in
the first click position and never reaching the second click position. You
probably need to adjust the latch plate OUT so that the latch is "looser".
This will hopefully allow the door to close to the second click position.
4) The gear wheel on the primary latch may be stiff or loose. If the gear
wheel seems stiff, then clean and lubricate it. You may need to get oil on the
mechanism that is inside the door. If the gear is loose on the shaft, then
you may need a new latch, or you can try to tighten up the one you have. To
tighten the one you have, remove the latch from the door and either try peening
the end of the shaft more with a hammer, or you might try welding the gear to
the shaft.
5) Check the sheet metal of the door and the door jam for cracks. If it is
cracked, then the latch or latch plate may flex too much when the door is
closed. One of my door jams has significant cracks around the primary latch
plate. I used sheet metal as a backing plate between the latch plate and the
door
jam to help spread the load. Having the cracks professionally welded would be
better.
6) As a last resort, you may need to enlarge the adjustment holes (behind the
latch plates) in the door jam. I did this with a file-bit chucked in my
drill motor. Again, be very careful here. Don't make the holes too big.
Roger
White '63
Seattle
In a message dated 3/3/04 8:04:27 PM Pacific Standard Time,
baddogg@direcway.com writes:
Greetings All,
What's the secret to adjusting an Amphicar door so it will close properly?
Both of my doors on the new car need a push in order to get to the first
"click". Then, while still pushing, I engage the safety latch. Even then, the
doors
are not closed tightly.
I can see that there are two adjustment points. One is the door catch
(toothed block mounted on the body) which has a lot of movement for adjusting.
The
other adjustment point is the small shim-like device referred to as number 6
"Adjusting Piece" (Plate 36) in front of the lower door hinge. I assume that
since there is only one shim on the bottom, the top hinge acts as a pivot point
or is this shim only for moving the door towards the body and away from the
body?
Is there another point of adjustment that I am missing? Any and all advice
would be appreciated.
Brian Crombie
Faribault, Mn.
Twin Euro-Amphi's
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