Door/Lock alignment

[GarethP]

Hi all, first post but I've been lurking a while whilst gathering info.

Picked up my Herald 13/60 soft top at the weekend.  The previous owner (a collegue at work) has done a remarkable amount of work rebuilding it from an awful state.  It only really has one problem that, on teh face of it looks extremely easy to fix.

Both doors drop when opened.  To the extent that, in order to open or close them you need to 'lift' them slightly - not much, about a 1/4 of an inch, but not easy from within the car!!

The bloke I bought it off said that he had replaced the door pins but that it had made little difference.  Is the solution as easy as 'shimming' out the bottom hinge in order to lift the lock?  or does it bode something more sinister?

Any help or advice would be gratefully received.

Oh, and a photo for you...

[Jason]

Welcome to the wonderful world of Jasmine yellow 13/60 convertible ownership :-) We have one a bit like that too. Who did you buy it off? Was it a guy called Chris Wilcox by any chance?
Doors dropping on Heralds is a common problem. The hinges were marginal when new and the doors are quite heavy. Coupled with teh fact that the body could be misaligned or the mountings a bit squiffy means that the possibilities for causation are pretty high! Fear not though  :o You need to go through things methodically to ensure you don't go spending out on new parts when you don't need to.
Are the hinges OK? replacing pins in worn hinges won't do much so examine the hinges carefully, are they worn? A little wear here relates to a lot of movement at the latch. Replacements are available. With the door open can you get someone to lift it up whilst you check where the movement is - ensure the hinges are bolted up to the A post and door frame securely, they can come loose especially if they've been replaced and threads crossed etc.
If the door itself is moving up and down relative to the A post then it's hinges.
If the door seems secure to the A post but the whole lot is moving then you could have a body mounting problem, there is a diby mount just under the A post and they do rot - get oiner the car and have a poke about - serious rot here is possible but you should see it. Remedy is involved and a proper job will mean some serius dismantling.
If all seems OK then take a look at your striker plates on the B posts - are they secure and adjusted correctly? Strikers are mainly aluminium and wear quite badly.
Doors looking a bit fat? Doors rot and it's not uncommon for them to be bodged up with an inch of filler, I've had some with playes pop rivetted over the rust, I've also seen a door skin attached over the old one - nasty. Are the doors twisted?

Where exactly ar ethe doors clashing? When you open and close them they will mark the door apature, mine do. You can then figure out where to add some shims at the hinges - shims can be nothing more technical than some cardboard - a little packing here goes a long way.

Prices? Surprisingly not much is available new here - I am still thinking about remaking striker plates. New hinges are available, watch the quality though, the Canley ones are OK - http://www.canleyclassics.com/partfinder.asp?partnumber=door%20hinge

[Jason]

Oh, I forgot, here's a picture

[GarethP]

Hi - thanks for your reply and the welcome.

I bought it off a collegue at work - Stuart Leigh.  He's had it since 1998 when his wife bought it for him!

It's pretty much standard apart from a Spitfire 1500 engine/gearbox and a moto-lita steering wheel (due to be replaced with the original soon), oh, and a modern stereo tucked away in teh glove box!

Before that it was bought from someone unknown - It's on the V5, but as I currently only have section 2 (section 1 having been posted on Saturday!) I won't know until I get it back.  Checks show only 3 previous owners since 1970!

Stuart passed on a stack of old photos and looking at them it was originally a burgandy colour.  The owner before Stuart had done a semi-reasonable job in getting it running from being a scrap heap but appeared to have 'made done' in several areas.  Stuart basicall took it down to bare metal all over and replaced many panels.

But back to my problem...

He did do a reskin on the doors and my initial thoughs were that if the skins were not done correctly then they may have pulled the doors out of shape.

The locks actually strike the strike plate just low enough to scrape over the top outside corner (if you know what I mean) you can see the shiny surface of the alluminium - they don't hit bodywork at all.  In fact, apart from a little flaring at the bottom (as you can see in teh photo) the doors are a pretty good fit which makes me think teh door is actually OK.

I'll try and get around to having a quick soon but as it's chucking it down with rain and I've been told that the car hasn't been out in the wet in 5 years, it's stopping in the garage for now!!

I'll keep you posted.

[Tim Bancroft]

The world is full of Jasmine Yellow Heralds.

I wenrt home in convoy from Gaydon with Richard Stubbs in his maroon and white Vitesse Convertible and Bob King in his Jasmine Yellow Herald.

His is also running a 1500 lump.

[rotten herald]

dropping herald doors, are a pain. i now get door right before final bolting down or rear tubs. but this only really is required on body off restos.
its a fiddly job to do right.
i had to staighten a bulkhead on my mk1 transit after my sister sat on door and swung on it.