How do I make my Sud doors shut easily?

[evanbottcher]

Hi folks,

All (!) of my Suds require a fair whack to get the doors to shut. Any tips on how to get them to shut more easily?

Looking for things like door alignment, rubbers, latches etc. I'm going to have a proper look myself, but any pointers would be great.

thanks,
Evan.

[PETROLHEAD]

i shouldn't think rubbers, as they tend to shrink back rather than swell and make life harder.

but the other options are all feesible.


is it the swing itself that is resistive or the latching / catching of the lock?

[evanbottcher]

The latching of the lock. The door requires a good slam to fully latch, otherwise it'll bounce back to the first 'click' of the catch.

On the race car, it is clearly alignment of the latch as the doors have sagged. On the new sedan, it's not so clear as the doors appear very straight. I agree don't think it's the rubbers at all (not like the 105s with new rubbers). I may need to lubricate the latch and look at alignment of the striker.

Was hoping it was a common problem and someone will say 'oh yeah you need to do XYZ and it'll be perfect'

[SteffenJ3316V]

Just open the window a bit before you close it That is what i do on my Sprint. Only works from the inside of course

[vecchioalfa]

If its on a 2-door car then most probably the lower hinge area on the 'A' post has pushed back, the standard 'A' post is not strong enough and will push back over time even if only 1 or 2mm this will be exaggerated over the length of the door to be 6mm or so at the other end. to check this just allow the door to stop against the striker but not engage in it, the body line, door to wing should be spot on, if its not, that's the problem. You can shim between the ''A' post and hinge which will cure it for a time. The saloons with shorter/lighter front doors don't tend to have this problem. I am unsure if later cars SII & SIII were stronger in this area but I know it is a problem with series 1 Ti's unless strengthened up a bit.