Hi All

My 89 Shorty needs some body tightening :-)

The passenger side door closes fine, but seems to rattle a little bit when driving - is there an easy way to just adjust the hinge on it, so that it makes just a slightly tighter close? when the door is closed, you can push on it near the handle, and it can go another 1/4 inch... I only want an 1/8th more... Doesn't sound tight when you close it either, slight rattle there as well...

Same door, the power mirror is loose too, and the two nuts that hold it on seem like plastic? and are semi tight, but just keep spinning when I go to tighten them... the mirror is not falling off the van, but I would like to get it tighter...

Thanks

 

adjust the Catch located on the door jamp to fix the door movement when you push on it near the door handle;

For that adjustment you need a large Torx bit and a large ½ ratchet with 3/8" and 1/4" adapters/reducers. The Torx bolt is very tight and needs to be very tight.

if the door looks correctly aligned when you close it, then the only adjustment needed is to slightly move the Catch inwards about 1/8" inch. Make sure you scribe the top and bottom position of the catch bracket with a pencil so you don't lose the up-down alignment. Then loosen the Torx bolt and move it towards the interior of the van.

The black mirror "nuts" are designed to fail, so one option is to go to a hardware store and get new nuts made of stainless steel if you really want to tighten the mirror.

Another option is to remove the mirror and inspect the two stubs to see if they are slipping/spinning at the mirror side, which sometimes they do.

 

El door catcho

 

My guess is the plastic tube on the (catch) striker is broken, disintegrated, gone, whatever. I'm not sure if you can replace just the plastic. I replaced the complete striker.

 

hi all,

nope, it was what Jose said! - but on this one, there is no real "up and down" to worry about.. it slid in just perfect now, door is as tight as it was new!

The mirror's bottom bolt is moving... how can I access that to hold it still while I tighten it? it's all covered up...

I assume that inner bolt is not supposed to move?

Thanks

 

BTW the torx is a 45 as I recall - I just used my 3/8ths breaker bar, and then the same to really tighten it down. - I never like using adapters, I think you loose something, unless you have to that is!

I do also have a 1/2 inch drive, and a Torx 60 that is used on GM front brake calipers... That beast needs a 1/2 drive for sure!

Thanks

 

congrats on fixing the door play. I gave up on the vinyl bushing because they just don't last.

if the stub is moving, you need to try and remove the nuts by grabbing part of the stub, then disconnect the mirror wire connector, then pull the mirror to find out why, the thread might have been damaged and you'll need to retap the thread and put a slightly larger stub. For example, toilet-to-floor brass stubs make excellent replacements, just cut one to the right length.

 

If you can get the old stud out, this would be a perfect use for good old J-B Weld. Mix a little up and put in on the threads inside the mirror - before screwing the stud back in as best you can and let it set overnight before putting the nut back on.

 

great idea, I did not think of just gluing the stub back.

the trick will be to get the nut off the stud first if the stud is revolving.

 

I did this with a replacement vinyl sleeve, and it seemed to work.

Use a sharp razor blade and cut it in a spiral angle. Then pull it apart enough to get it over the striker stud. It will wrap around the stud and provide full isolation.