203 Door Adjusters? - SEIZED

James Gelido

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Hi guys,

Having a bit of trouble with my doors. The 2 front doors need to be slammed HARD to hit the second striker. Which, after observing others 203's, know is not necessary. Also passenger front is now snagging on side skirt. There is a bit of wear/play on the bottom hinge on passenger side which may have caused it to drop slightly. Can slightly rock door up and down with wear.

Wondering if anyone knows if there are adjusters inside of door and if not, whether to make shims to correct wear points in bottom hinge?

If this is the case, does anyone know how to remove door pins? Have wacked them with a punch and hammer after soaking in wd40, to no avail. Such an awkward position to wack it from below while being seized.

Thanks in advance fellas,

James
 
There is no adjustment available in this area other than to heat and bend the hinges. However, it sounds like your problem is wear and shims will be necessary to correct it. With regard to the hinge pins they normally drive out fairly easily. If not, you could try heat - get the pin up to red heat and quickly quench with cold water. Hinge pin removers are available or if you have the facilities one could be made up. They consist of a cylindrical body cut away to fit over the hinge. A bolt is screwed into the bottom and used to push the hinge pin upwards.

Tony
 
James,

Further to Tony's advice, you can also use a long pin punch. They are available from any auto stool.

Cheers,

Dano
 
James , I don't want to be the voice of doom , but have you checked the solidity of the base of the B pillar. 203 's are prone to serious rust ( internally ) in the base of the B pillar. Check by opening the back door slightly and then observe the base of the B pillar while rocking the front edge of the front door up and down. I have seen 203's where the B pillar looks sound but is totally unsafe as a result of the internal rust.
 
before any more whacking of hingepins - open both doors, lift them up ... if the pillar tears away from from the sill, that was the least of your problems.
 
Agree with above advice , by chance have you replaced the door seal rubbers ?

local ones are bit too meaty as a consequence doors can be hard to close
 
Gentlemen,
Can the base of the B pillars be welded back into position? I guess this would depend on the condition of the sill section. Would the whole pillar require replacing? Or can the damaged section be removed and re-fabricated safely?
Dano
 
James , I don't want to be the voice of doom , but have you checked the solidity of the base of the B pillar. 203 's are prone to serious rust ( internally ) in the base of the B pillar. Check by opening the back door slightly and then observe the base of the B pillar while rocking the front edge of the front door up and down. I have seen 203's where the B pillar looks sound but is totally unsafe as a result of the internal rust.

Good point. Before our restoration B Pillars were gone. Thankfully, since then, we have rebuilt the whole undercarriage, pillars and floor pans. Looking at the hinges, they have definitely sagged over time and worn causing the doors to drop off centre.
 
Agree with above advice , by chance have you replaced the door seal rubbers ?

local ones are bit too meaty as a consequence doors can be hard to close

I have, but doors were hard to close even before I did this ...
 
Gentlemen,
Can the base of the B pillars be welded back into position? I guess this would depend on the condition of the sill section. Would the whole pillar require replacing? Or can the damaged section be removed and re-fabricated safely?
Dano

Hey Dano,

If the top of the pillar is okay then I see no harm in only cutting bottom rust out and fabricating new base pillars or patch work, whatever suites your rust. This is what we have done.

James
 
Hi James: My beloved "Poubelle" was minus the bottom of both B pillars when purchased to a height of about 40 mm. Mate who was a great welder and I did exactly what you're suggesting.However, before cutting and "tidying up" the (non-existant) bases of yours take a template of the profile first to guide you when cutting a strong replacement section.
You don't have to do a "Dano" and be ultra scientific ,but make sure you get the height right . We did not remove door at this time.
Supported by a jack or "whatever" on the open door bottom you can keep the hinge in the right place and door pretty well lined up whilst you weld new section in place........if you know what I mean. If you are planning on keeping existing duco then the further away you can keep heat the better.That applies to 'Thor like' hammer blows as well! :mallet::doh:
It's pretty straight forward and I really do suggest you do it this way.
Good Luck.
Deane.................PS: " G'Day Dano! Sorry about the dig (NOT!)" :cheers: "Merry Christmas" to everyone in the pond by the way.:dance: CHEERS & have a "COOL YULE"!
 
Hi James: My beloved "Poubelle" was minus the bottom of both B pillars when purchased to a height of about 40 mm. Mate who was a great welder and I did exactly what you're suggesting.However, before cutting and "tidying up" the (non-existant) bases of yours take a template of the profile first to guide you when cutting a strong replacement section.
You don't have to do a "Dano" and be ultra scientific ,but make sure you get the height right . We did not remove door at this time.
Supported by a jack or "whatever" on the open door bottom you can keep the hinge in the right place and door pretty well lined up whilst you weld new section in place........if you know what I mean. If you are planning on keeping existing duco then the further away you can keep heat the better.That applies to 'Thor like' hammer blows as well! :mallet::doh:
It's pretty straight forward and I really do suggest you do it this way.
Good Luck.
Deane.................PS: " G'Day Dano! Sorry about the dig (NOT!)" :cheers: "Merry Christmas" to everyone in the pond by the way.:dance: CHEERS & have a "COOL YULE"!

haha, great post! Thanks for the tip, will be doing this way, that's for sure :) Merry Christmas and Happy New Year to all!!
 
Yep, rust in the B pillar revealed itself when I made an error while in a rally in an old 203C with Flash Flanagan, hit a LARGE tree stump with the B pillar. Bounced back on the road sideways with me being slowly truncated by the seatbelt as the two doors were now being dragged along the road by the top seat belt mounting. Rather alarming at 2.00am pitch black and VERY noisy! It would have made the perfect paper boy car after that.
 
What he didn't tell you is that the tree also split the diff and it failed to proceed after not very long. Meant a bit of a walk in the forest to get to somewhere where we could get a ride home.

Anyway, back to 203 door hinge adjustments - years ago we made up am adjuster that was a flat bar which was just wider than the hinge and about three foot long, rolled one end to take a pin the same size as the one through the hinge and then cut the rolled end out so that we could put the flat bar over the hinge, drop a pin through the holes and through the hinge and then either lever it up or down to get the door to the right height and to open smoothly and properly; particularly handy after welding up the bottom of the B pillar or fitting new door rubbers and the having to adjust the door hinges to the right everything so they worked properly.
 
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